{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_58809/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_58809","id":"gutenberg_58809","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58809","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - British","Folklore -- Great Britain","Great Britain -- Social life and customs"],"text":"Produced by Chris Curnow, Ethan W. Kent, Harry Lame and\nthe Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images\ngenerously made available by The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  In this e-text, text between _underscores_ represents text printed in\n  italics, text between =equal signs= represents bold face text, and\n  text between ~tildes~ represents text printed in Insular font. Small\n  capitals have been replaced by ALL CAPITALS. ^{text} represents\n  superscript text.\n\n  More Transcriber\u2019s Notes may be found at the end of this text.\n\n\n\n\n  BRITISH POPULAR CUSTOMS\n\n  PRESENT AND PAST\n\n\n  GEORGE BELL AND SONS, LTD.\n\n  LONDON: PORTUGAL ST., KINGSWAY\n  CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO.\n  NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.\n  BOMBAY: A. H. WHEELER AND CO.\n\n\n\n\n  BRITISH\n  POPULAR CUSTOMS\n\n  PRESENT AND PAST\n\n  ILLUSTRATING THE SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC\n  MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE\n\n  ARRANGED\n  ACCORDING TO THE CALENDAR OF THE YEAR\n\n  BY THE REV.\n  T. F. THISELTON DYER, M.A.\n  PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXON.\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n  LONDON\n  G. BELL AND SONS, LIMITED\n  1911\n\n\n\n\n[_Reprinted from Stereotype plates._]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIn presenting the following pages to the Public I do not lay claim to\nany originality, my object simply having been to collect together, into\na readable and condensed form, from various sources within my reach,\naccounts of Customs which, if not already obsolete, are quickly becoming\nso.\n\nWith regard to the general plan of the book, it speaks for itself. It\nshould, however, be stated that the movable feasts are placed under the\nearliest days on which they can fall.\n\nIn conclusion, I would only add that I am much indebted to Mr. James\nBritten, of the British Museum, for the valuable help and suggestions\nwhich he has given me whilst passing the proof-sheets through the Press.\n\n  T. F. THISELTON DYER.\n\n  _September 15th, 1875._\n\n\n\n\nPOPULAR CUSTOMS.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 1.] NEW YEAR\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nNew Year\u2019s Day has always been a time of general rejoicing and\nfestivity, its observance being characterised by many a curious custom\nand superstitious practice. History tells us how on this day the Druids\nwere accustomed, with much pomp and ceremony, to distribute branches of\nthe sacred mistletoe amongst the people; those precious gifts having the\nnight before been cut from the oak-tree in a forest dedicated to the\ngods. Among the Saxons of the northern nations the new year was ushered\nin by friendly gifts, and celebrated with such extraordinary festivity\nthat people actually used to reckon their age by the numbers of annual\nmerry-makings in which they had participated. Fosbroke, in his\n_Encyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities_, notices the continuation of the Roman\npractice of interchanging gifts during the middle and later ages; a\ncustom which prevailed especially amongst our kings, queens, and the\nnobility. According to Matthew Paris, Henry III., following the\ndiscreditable example of some of the Roman emperors, even extorted them\nfrom his subjects.\n\nIn Rymer\u2019s _F\u0153dera_ (vol. x. p. 387) a list is given of the gifts\nreceived by Henry VI. between Christmas Day and February 4th, 1428,\nconsisting of sums of 40_s._, 20_s._, 13_s._ 4_d._, 10_s._, 6_s._ 8_d._,\nand 3_s._ 4_d._\n\nIn the reign of Henry VII. the reception of the New Year\u2019s gifts\npresented by the king and queen to each other and by their household\nand courtiers, was reduced to a solemn formula.\n\nAgnes Strickland, in her _Lives of the Queens of England_ (1864, vol.\nii. p. 83), quotes the following extract from a MS. of Henry VII.\u2019s\nNorroy herald, in possession of Peter Le Neve, Esq.: \u201cOn the day of the\nNew Year, when the king came to his foot-sheet, his usher of his\nchamber-door said to him, \u2018Sire, here is a New Year\u2019s gift coming from\nthe queen;\u2019 then the king replied, \u2018Let it come in.\u2019 Then the king\u2019s\nusher let the queen\u2019s messenger come within the _yate_\u201d (meaning the\ngate of the railing which surrounded the royal bed, instances of which\nare familiar to the public in the state bedrooms at Hampton Court to\nthis day, and it is probable that the scene was very similar), \u201cHenry\nVII. sitting at the foot of the bed in his dressing-gown, the officers\nof his bed-chamber having turned the top sheet smoothly down to the foot\nof the bed when the royal personage rose. The queen,[1] in like manner,\nsat at her foot-sheet, and received the king\u2019s New Year\u2019s gift within\nthe gate of her bed-railing. When this formal exchange of presents had\ntaken place between the king and his consort, they received, seated in\nthe same manner, the New Year\u2019s gifts of their nobles. \u2018And,\u2019 adds the\nherald, assuming the first person, \u2018I shall report to the queen\u2019s grace\nand them that be about her, what rewards are to be given to them that\nbring her grace New Year\u2019s gifts, for I trow they are not so good as\nthose of the king.\u2019\u201d\n\n  [1] Elizabeth of York.\n\nThere is in the possession of the Marquis of Bath, Longleat, a\nmanuscript, which contains a list of moneys given to King Henry VIII. in\nthe twenty-fourth year of his reign, as New Year\u2019s gifts. They are from\narchbishops, bishops, noblemen, doctors, gentlemen, &c. The amount which\nthe king\u2019s grace complacently pocketed on this occasion was 792_l._\n10_s._ 10_d._--_N. &. Q. 4th S._ vol. xi. p. 8.\n\nHonest old Latimer, however, says Hone (_Every Day Book_, 1836, vol. i.\np. 7), instead of presenting Henry VIII. with a purse of gold, put into\nthe king\u2019s hand a New Testament, with a leaf conspicuously doubled down\nat Hebrews xiii. 4, which, on reference, will be found to have been\nworthy of all _acceptation_, though not, perhaps, well accepted.\n\nA manuscript roll of the public revenue of the fifth year of Edward VI.\nhas an entry of rewards given on New Year\u2019s Day to the king, officers,\nand servants, amounting to 155_l._ 5_s._, and also of sums given to the\nservants of those who presented New Year\u2019s gifts to the king.\n\nDuring the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the custom of presenting New Year\u2019s\ngifts to the sovereign was carried to an extravagant height. Indeed, Dr.\nDrake is of opinion that the wardrobe and jewelry of Queen Elizabeth\nwere principally supported by these annual contributions on New Year\u2019s\nDay. He cites lists of New Year\u2019s gifts presented to her from the\noriginal rolls published in her \u201cprogresses\u201d by Mr. Nichols; and from\nthese it appears that the presents were made by the great officers of\nstate, peers and peeresses, bishops, knights and their ladies, gentlemen\nand gentlewomen, physicians and apothecaries, and others of lower grade,\ndown to her Majesty\u2019s dustman. The presents consisted of sums of money,\ncostly articles of ornament for the queen\u2019s person or apartments,\ncaskets studded with precious stones, valuable necklaces, bracelets,\ngowns, embroidered mantles, smocks, petticoats, looking-glasses, fans,\nsilk stockings, and a great variety of other articles. The largest sum\ngiven by any of the temporal lords was 20_l._; but the Archbishop of\nCanterbury gave 40_l._, the Archbishop of York 30_l._, and the other\nspiritual lords, 20_l._ and 10_l._ Dr. Drake says, that although\nElizabeth made returns to the New Year\u2019s gifts, in plate and other\narticles, yet she nevertheless took sufficient care that the balance\nshould be in her own favour.\n\nIn the reign of James I. the money gifts seem to have been continued for\nsome time, but the ornamental articles presented seem to have been few\nand of small value. No rolls, nor, indeed, any notices of New Year\u2019s\ngifts presented to Charles I. seem to have been preserved, though\nprobably there were such. The custom, no doubt, ceased entirely during\nthe Commonwealth, and was never afterwards revived, at least, to any\nextent worthy of notice. Mr. Nichols mentions that the last remains of\nthe custom at court consisted in placing a crown-piece under the plate\nof each of the chaplains in waiting on New Year\u2019s Day, and that this\ncustom had ceased early in the nineteenth century.\n\nThe New Year\u2019s gifts, says Chambers (_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 31),\npresented by individuals to each other were suited to sex, rank,\nsituation, and circumstances. From Bishop Hall\u2019s _Satires_ (1598), it\nappears that the usual gift of tenantry in the country to their\nlandlords was a capon; and Cowley, addressing the same class of society\nsays:\n\n    \u201cYe used in the former days to fall\n    Prostrate to your landlord in his hall,\n    When with low legs, and in an humble guise,\n    Ye offer\u2019d up a capon sacrifice\n    Unto his worship, at a New Year\u2019s tide.\u201d\n\nBen Jonson, in his _Christmas Masque_, among other characters introduces\n\u201cNew Year\u2019s gift in a blue coat, serving-man like, with an orange, and a\nsprig of rosemary on his head, his hat full of brooches, with a collar\nof gingerbread, his torch-bearer carrying a marchpane, with a bottle of\nwine on either arm.\u201d An orange stuck with cloves was a common present,\nand is explained by Lupton, who says that the flavour of the wine is\nimproved, and the wine itself preserved from mouldiness, by an orange or\nlemon stuck with cloves being hung within the vessel, so as not to touch\nthe liquor.\n\nWhen pins were first invented, and brought into use about the beginning\nof the sixteenth century, they were a New Year\u2019s gift very acceptable to\nladies, instead of the wooden skewers which they had hitherto used.\nSometimes, however, in lieu of pins, they received a composition in\nmoney, called _pin money_, an expression which has been extended to a\nsum of money secured by a husband on his marriage for the private\nexpenses of his wife.\n\nGloves, too, were customary New Year\u2019s gifts. They were far more\nexpensive than nowadays, and occasionally a sum of money was given\ninstead, which was called _glove money_.\n\nA hundred years ago, the Poet Laureate not only wrote a New Year\u2019s ode,\nby way of salutation to the sovereign and royal family, but those\nillustrious personages sat in state at St. James\u2019s, and heard it, as it\nwas sung by celebrated vocalists, for whom it had been composed by some\nexpert in music. Now that the Laureate\u2019s song would be worth the\nlistening to, we have none written especially for the New Year. This\nmusical festival has ceased to be.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. xi. p. 8.\n\nLatterly, New Year\u2019s Day has been celebrated with but little public\nfestivity, the only open joyous demonstration being the sound of merry\npeals from the church bells, as they ring out the Old and ring in the\nNew Year.\n\nMany persons make a point of wearing new clothes on this day, and\nconsider any omission of the kind unlucky. At court it is one of the\ntwelve _Offering Days_.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ Hampson, 1841, vol. i. p 33.\n\nIn the North of England it is considered unlucky for any inmate to go\nout of the house until some one from without has entered it; and the\nfirst foot across the threshold is watched with great anxiety, the good\nor bad luck of the house during the year, depending on the first comer\nbeing a man or a woman.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. xi. p. 244.\n\nOpening the Bible on this day is a superstitious practice observed in\nsome parts of the country, and much credit is attached to it. It is\nusually set about with some little ceremony on the morning, before\nbreakfast, as it must be performed fasting. The Bible is laid on the\ntable unopened, and the parties who wish to consult it are then to open\nit in succession. They are not at liberty to choose any particular part\nof the book, but must open it at random. Wherever this may happen to be,\nthe inquirer is to place his finger on any chapter contained in the two\nopen pages, but without any previous perusal or examination. It is\nbelieved that the good or ill fortune, the happiness or the misery, of\nthe consulting party, during the ensuing year, will be in some way or\nother described and foreshown by the contents of the chapter. The custom\nis called _dipping_.--_Pop. Antiq._ Brand, 1849, vol. i. p. 20; _N. & Q.\n2nd S._ vol. xii. p. 303.\n\nIt is customary in some places for persons to carry about decorated\napples, and present them to their friends. The apples have three skewers\nof wood stuck into them, so as to form a tripod foundation; and their\nsides are ornamented with oat grains, while various evergreens and\nberries adorn the top. A raisin is occasionally fastened on each oat\ngrain, but this is probably an innovation.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. i. p.\n214.\n\nIn some parts of the county of Nottingham, on the first day of the New\nYear, troops of little children might be seen a few years ago, each\nbearing an orange, an apple, or a nutmeg, sometimes gilded, and stuck\nwith cloves or rosemary, which they were carrying to their friends to\nask their blessing; the present thus given was generally carefully\nreserved.--_Jour. of the Arch\u00e6ological Association_, 1853, vol. viii. p.\n231.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIt appears from a MS. in the British Museum (_Status Schol\u00e6 Etonensis_,\nA.D. 1560, MS. Brit. Mus. Donat. 4843, fol. 423), that the boys of Eton\nSchool used, on the day of the Circumcision, to play for little New\nYear\u2019s gifts before and after supper; and that boys had a custom on that\nday, for good luck\u2019s sake, of making verses, and sending them to the\nprovost, masters, &c., as also of presenting them to each other.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND AND WESTMORELAND.\n\nEarly in the morning the common people assemble together, carrying\nstangs and baskets. Any inhabitant, stranger, or whoever joins not this\nruffian tribe in sacrificing to their favourite saint-day, if\nunfortunate enough to be met by any of the band, is immediately mounted\nacross the stang (if a woman, she is basketed), and carried shoulder\nhigh to the nearest public house, where the payment of sixpence\nimmediately liberates the prisoner. None, though ever so industriously\ninclined, are permitted to follow their respective avocations on that\nday.--_Gent. Mag._ 1791, vol. lxi. p. 1169.\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nFormerly the bailiffs of Maldon sent on the first day of the year, to\nthe king\u2019s vice-admiral of Essex a present of oysters and wild fowl. Sir\nJohn Bramston notices the arrival of the gift on New Year\u2019s Day (March\n26), 1688, in his _Autobiography_, printed for the Camden Society in\n1845.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Bromyard and its neighbourhood, as twelve o\u2019clock on the 31st of\nDecember draws near, and the last of the Christmas carols are heard\nwithout doors, and a pleasurable excitement is playing on the faces of\nthe family around the last Christmas log within, a rush is made to the\nnearest spring of water, and whoever is fortunate enough to first bring\nin the \u201ccream of the well,\u201d as it is termed, and those who first taste\nof it, have \u201cprospect of good luck through the forthcoming year.\u201d Also,\nin the early hours of the New Year, after a funeral service has been\nsaid over \u201cOld Tom\u201d as the old year is called, at the public-houses and\nale and cider stores, the streets are filled with boys and men, singing\nin the loudest tones possible:\n\n    \u201cI wish you a merry Christmas\n      And a happy New Year,\n    A pocket full of money,\n      And a cellar full of beer,\n    And a good fat pig\n      To serve you all the year.\n    Ladies and gentlemen\n      Sat (_sic_) by the fire,\n    Pity we poor boys\n      Out in the mire.\u201d\n\n  _The Antiquary_, 1873, vol. iii. p. 7.\n\nIn the neighbourhood of Ross, it is deemed most unfortunate for a woman\nto enter the house first, and therefore an inquiry is generally made\nwhether a male has previously been there. It is customary for the\npeasantry to send about on this day a small pyramid, made of leaves,\napples, nuts, &c.--Fosbroke, _Sketches of Ross_, 1822, p. 58.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nShould a female, or a light-haired male, be the first to enter a house\non the morning of New Year\u2019s Day, it is supposed to bring bad luck for\nthe whole of the year then commencing. Various precautions are taken to\nprevent this misfortune: hence many male persons with black or dark\nhair are in the habit of going from house to house, on that day, to take\nthe New Year in; for which they are treated with liquor, and presented\nwith a small gratuity. So far is the apprehension carried, that some\nfamilies will not open the door to any one until satisfied by the voice\nthat he is likely to bring the house a year\u2019s good luck by entering it.\n\nThe most kindly and charitable woman in a neighbourhood will strongly\nrefuse to give any one a light on the morning of New Year\u2019s Day, as most\nunlucky to the one who gives it away.--Harland and Wilkinson\u2019s\n_Lancashire Folk-Lore_, 1867, p. 214.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nOn this day an old custom, says Train in his _History of the Isle of\nMan_ (1845, vol. ii. p. 115), is observed called the _quaaltagh_. In\nalmost every parish throughout the island, a party of young men go from\nhouse to house singing the following rhyme:\n\n    \u201cAgain we assemble, a merry New Year\n    To wish to each one of the family here,\n    Whether man, woman, or girl, or boy,\n    That long life, and happiness, all may enjoy,\n    May they of potatoes and herrings have plenty,\n    With butter and cheese, and each other dainty;\n    And may their sleep never, by night or day,\n    Disturbed be by even the tooth of a flea;\n    Until at the Quaaltagh again we appear,\n    To wish you, as now, all a happy New Year.\u201d\n\nWhen these lines are repeated at the door, the whole party are invited\ninto the house to partake of the best the family can afford. On these\noccasions a person of dark complexion always enters first, as a\nlight-haired male or female is deemed unlucky to be the first-foot or\n_quaaltagh_ on New Year\u2019s morning. The actors of the _quaaltagh_ do not\nassume fantastic habiliments like the mummers of England, or the\nguisards of Scotland, nor do they, like these rude performers of the\nAncient Mysteries, appear ever to have been attended by minstrels\nplaying on different kinds of musical instruments.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nThe following extract, relating to Newcastle-on-Tyne, is taken from the\n_North of England Advertiser_ of January 4th, 1873:\n\nThe children on New Year\u2019s morn are busy begging their New Year\u2019s gifts,\nsaying, \u201cOld Year out, New Year in; please give us my New Year\u2019s gift;\u201d\nor \u201cA merry Christmas and a happy New Year;\u201d followed by the usual\nappeal for a present. The first-foot is an important personage. If he\nshould be a dark man, it is a sign of good luck; if a light one not so\nlucky; but alas! if a woman, the worst luck will befall the household.\nSimilar to the first hearing of the cuckoo, it is of the greatest\nimportance whether or not you have money in your pocket and your\ncupboard full on New Year\u2019s Day.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIn this county it is considered unlucky to remove anything from a house\nuntil something has been brought in, and therefore, early in the\nmorning, each member of the family carries some trifling thing in. In\nthe neighbourhood of Newark, this rhyme is sung:\n\n    \u201cTake out, and take in,\n    Bad luck is sure to begin;\n    But take in and take out.\n    Good luck will come about.\u201d\n\n  _Jour. of Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. viii. p. 231.\n\nBrand, in his _Pop. Antiq._ (1849, vol. i. p. 15), alludes to this\ncustom as existing in Lincoln and its neighbourhood. The rhyme he quotes\nis slightly different from the above:\n\n    \u201cTake out, then take in,\n    Bad luck will begin;\n    Take in, then take out,\n    Good luck comes in.\u201d\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nPointer, in his _Oxoniensis Academia_ (1749, p. 71), alludes to a\ncustom, observed at Brasenose College, Oxford, of the Bachelors of Arts\nand Undergraduates belonging to the college going in a body on New\nYear\u2019s Day to their Principal, and each presenting him with an epistle\nby way of a New Year\u2019s gift, wishing him a happy New Year.\n\nWe learn from the same writer, that it was formerly the practice at\nQueen\u2019s College to give a needle and thread to the Fellows, being a\nrebus on their founder\u2019s name, Eglesfield, _aiguille_ in French\nsignifying a needle, and _fil_ a thread (p. 38).\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nA grotesque manorial custom is described as being kept up in the reign\nof Charles II., in connection with Hilton. There existed in that house a\nhollow brass image, about a foot high, representing a man kneeling in an\nindecorous position. It was known all over the country as Jack of\nHilton. There were two apertures; one very small at the mouth, another\nabout two-thirds of an inch in diameter at the back, and the interior\nwould hold rather more than four pints of water, which, says Plot\n(_History of Staffordshire_, 1686, p. 433), \u2018when set to a strong fire,\nevaporates in the same manner as in an \u00c6olopile, and vents itself at the\nmouth in a constant blast, blowing the fire so strongly that it is very\naudible, and makes a sensible impression in that part of the fire where\nthe blast lights.\u2019\n\nThe custom was this. An obligation lay upon the lord of the adjacent\nmanor of Essington, every New Year\u2019s Day, to bring a goose to Hilton,\nand drive it three times round the hall-fire, which Jack of Hilton was\nall the time blowing by the discharge of his steam. He was then to carry\nthe bird into the kitchen and deliver it to the cook; and when it was\ndressed he was to carry it in a dish to the table of his lord paramount,\nthe lord of Hilton, receiving in return a dish of meat for his own mess.\n\nAn annual payment, called Moseley\u2019s Dole, was formerly made by the\ncorporation, consisting of a penny a piece to all the inhabitants of\nWalsall, and of the adjoining parish of Rushall, which is supposed to\nhave anciently formed part of that of Walsall.\n\nThree persons were employed to make the distribution, who began on New\nYear\u2019s Day, and went through the parishes, giving a penny to each inmate\nof every house, whether permanently or accidentally abiding there.\n\nIt is stated by Plot (_History of Staffordshire_), that the earliest\nmention of this dole is in the 36th Henry VIII., when 7_l._ 10_s._ 9_d._\ndischarged it. The first trace of it, however, that is found in the\ndocuments of the corporation is in 1632, when its amount was 14_l._\n9_s._ 4_d._ The amount increased gradually till 1799, when it was\n60_l._, and until the time of its cessation in 1825, it remained yearly\nabout the same.\n\nThere are many traditions respecting the origin of this dole, but they\nall concur in attributing it to one Thomas Moseley, from whom an estate\nat Bascott in Warwickshire was derived. The donor, in granting this\nestate to the Corporation, charged it with the annual payment of nine\nmarks to the Abbot of Hales Owen, \u201cwho should keep one mark for his\nlabours in distributing the remaining eight marks, at the _obit_ of the\nsaid Thomas Moseley at Walsall, for the souls of the said Thomas and\nMargary his wife, and others; and this by the oversight of the Vicar of\nWalsall, and of all the chaplains of the Guild of St. John the Baptist,\nof the church of Walsall.\u201d\n\nThe eight marks above named were no doubt the origin of the dole, and\nwould, before the Reformation, be amply sufficient to supply a penny a\npiece to all the parishioners, or at least to all who repaired to the\nchurch on the obit day, to pray for the donor and his wife--a\nsuperstitious custom which caused the estate to be seized by Henry\nVIII., when he suppressed the monasteries.--_History of Staffordshire_,\nWhite, 1857, p. 645; _Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 55.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nAt Hastings, apples, nuts, oranges, &c., as well as money, are thrown\nout of the windows to be scrambled for by the fisher-boys and men. The\ncustom is not kept up with the spirit of former days.\n\n\nWARWICKSHIRE.\n\nIn the city of Coventry a sort of cake known by the name of _God-cakes_\nis sent. They are used by all classes, and vary in price from a\nhalfpenny to one pound. They are invariably made in a triangular shape,\nan inch thick, and filled with a kind of mincemeat. So general is the\nuse of them on the first day of the New Year, that the cheaper sorts are\nhawked about the streets as hot cross buns are on Good Friday in London.\nThis custom seems peculiar to Coventry.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ii. p.\n229.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nA belief exists in this county, that if the carol singer who first comes\nto the door on New Year\u2019s morning be admitted at the front door,\nconducted through the house, and let out at the back the inmates will\nhave good luck during the year.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. iii. p. 313.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nThe following quaint account of a whimsical custom formerly observed on\nNew Year\u2019s Day is taken from Blount\u2019s _Fragmenta Antiquitatis_, 1815, p.\n555:\n\nNear Hutton Conyers there is a large common, called Hutton Conyers Moor,\nwhereof William Aislabie, Esq., of Studley Royal (lord of the Manor of\nHutton Conyers), is lord of the soil, and on which there is a large\nconey-warren belonging to the lord. The occupiers of messuages and\ncottages within the several towns of Hutton Conyers, Baldersby, Rainton,\nDishforth, and Hewick, have right of estray for their sheep to certain\nlimited boundaries on the common, and each township has a shepherd.\n\nThe lord\u2019s shepherd has a pre-eminence of tending his sheep on every\npart of the common; and wherever he herds the lord\u2019s sheep, the several\nother shepherds are to give way to him, and give up their\n_hoofing-place_ so long as he pleases to depasture the lord\u2019s sheep\nthereon. The lord holds his court the first day in the year, to entitle\nthose several townships to such right of estray; the shepherd of each\ntownship attends the court, and does fealty, by bringing to the court a\nlarge apple-pie, and a twopenny sweetcake (except the shepherd of\nHewick, who compounds by paying sixteen-pence for all, which is drunk as\nafter mentioned,) and a wooden spoon; each pie is cut in two, and\ndivided by the bailiff, one half between the steward, bailiff, and the\ntenant of the coney-warren before mentioned, and the other half into six\nparts, and divided amongst the six shepherds of the above mentioned six\ntownships. In the pie brought by the shepherd of Rainton an inner one is\nmade, filled with prunes. The cakes are divided in the same manner. The\nbailiff of the manor provides furmenty and mustard, and delivers to each\nshepherd a slice of cheese and a penny roll. The furmenty, well mixed\nwith mustard, is put into an earthen pot, and placed in a hole in the\nground, in a garth belonging to the bailiff\u2019s house; to which place the\nsteward of the court, with the bailiff, tenant of the warren, and six\nshepherds, adjourn with their respective wooden spoons. The bailiff\nprovides spoons for the stewards, the tenant of the warren, and himself.\nThe steward first pays respect to the furmenty, by taking a large\nspoonful; the bailiff has the next honour, the tenant of the warren\nnext, then the shepherd of Hutton Conyers, and afterwards the other\nshepherds by regular turns; then each person is served with a glass of\nale (paid for by the sixteen-pence brought by the Hewick shepherd), and\nthe health of the lord of the manor is drank; then they adjourn back to\nthe bailiff\u2019s house, and the further business of the court is proceeded\nwith.\n\nEach pie contains about a peck of flour, is about sixteen or eighteen\ninches diameter, and as large as will go into the mouth of an ordinary\noven. The bailiff of the manor measures them with a rule, and takes the\ndiameter; and if they are not of a sufficient capacity, he threatens to\nreturn them, and fine the town. If they are large enough, he divides\nthem with a rule and compasses into four equal parts; of which the\nsteward claims one, the warrener another, and the remainder is divided\namongst the shepherds. In respect to the furmenty, the top of the dish\nin which it is put is placed level with the surface of the ground; all\npersons present are entitled to eat of it, and those who do not, are not\ndeemed loyal to the lord. Every shepherd is obliged to eat of it, and\nfor that purpose is to take a spoon in his pocket to the court; for if\nany of them neglect to carry a spoon with him he is to lay him down upon\nhis belly, and sup the furmenty, with his face to the pot or dish; at\nwhich time it is usual, by way of sport, for some of the bystanders to\ndip his face into the furmenty; and sometimes a shepherd, for the sake\nof diversion, will purposely leave his spoon at home.\n\nIn the North Riding of Yorkshire, those who have not the common\nmaterials for making a fire, generally sit without one on New Year\u2019s\nDay; for none of their neighbours, although hospitable at other times,\nwill suffer them to light a candle at their fires. If they do, it is\nbelieved that one of the family will die within the year.--_Gent. Mag._\n1811, vol. lxxxi. p. 424.\n\nSubjoined is all that appears to have survived of the Yorkshire _Hagmena\nsong_:[2]\n\n    \u201cTo-night it is the New Year\u2019s night, to-morrow is the day,\n    And we are come for our right and for our ray,\n    As we used to do in old King Henry\u2019s day\n        Sing fellows, sing, hag man, ha!\n\n    If you go to the bacon-flick, cut me a good bit;\n    Cut, cut, and low, beware of your maw;\n    Cut, cut, and round, beware of your thumb,\n    That me and my merry men may have some.\n        Sing fellows, sing, hag-man, ha!\n\n    If you go to the black ark, bring me ten marks;\n    Ten marks, ten pound, throw it down upon the ground,\n    That me and my merry men may have some.\n        Sing fellows, sing, hag-man, ha!\u201d\n\n  Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1870, vol. i. p. 11.\n\n  [2] See \u2018New Year\u2019s Eve.\u2019\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nIn the Memoirs of Lord Langdale by Sir T. D. Hardy, 1852, vol. i. p. 55,\noccurs the following:\n\n\u201cBeing in Scotland, I ought to tell you of Scotch customs; and really\nthey have a charming one on this occasion (i.e. New Year\u2019s Day). Whether\nit is meant as a farewell ceremony to the old one, or an introduction\nto the New Year, I can\u2019t tell; but on the 31st of December, almost\neverybody has a party, either to dine or sup. The company, almost\nentirely consisting of young people, wait together till twelve o\u2019clock\nstrikes, at which time every one begins to move, and they all fall to\nwork. At what? why, kissing. Each male is successively locked in pure\nPlatonic embrace with each female; and after this grand ceremony, which\nof course creates infinite fun, they separate and go home. This matter\nis not at all confined to these, but wherever man meets woman it is the\nparticular privilege of this hour. The common people think it necessary\nto drink what they call _hot-pint_, which consists of strong beer,\nwhisky, eggs, &c.; a most horrid composition; as bad, or worse than that\ninfamous mixture called _fig-one_,[3] which the English people drink on\nGood Friday.\u201d\n\n  [3] Doubtless a misprint for _fig-sue_. See under Good Friday.\n\nThe letter from which this is an extract is signed Henry Beckersteth,\nand dated Edinburgh, January 1st, 1802.\n\nTill very few years ago, in Scotland (says a correspondent of Chambers\u2019\n_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 28), the custom of _first-footing_ was\npractised on New Year\u2019s morning.\n\nOn the approach of twelve o\u2019clock of the last night of the old year, a\n_hot-pint_[4] was prepared--that is, a kettle or flagon full of warm,\nspiced, and sweetened ale, with an infusion of spirits. When the clock\nhad struck the knell of the departed year, each member of the family\ndrank of this mixture, \u201cand good health, and a happy New Year, and many\nof them, to all the rest,\u201d with a general hand-shaking, and perhaps a\ndance round the table, with the addition of a song to the tune of Hey\ntuttie taitie:\n\n    \u201cWeel may we a\u2019 be,\n    Ill may we never see.\n    Here\u2019s to the king\n    And the gude companie!\u201d &c.\n\n  [4] Called also a _het-pint_. _Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1824, p. 3.\n\nThe elders of the family would then most probably sally out with the hot\nkettle, and bearing also a competent provision of buns and short-bread,\nor bread-and-cheese, with the design of visiting their neighbours, and\ninterchanging with them the same cordial greetings. If they met by the\nway another party similarly bent whom they knew, they would stop, and\ngive and take sips from their respective kettles. Reaching the friend\u2019s\nhouse, they would enter with vociferous good wishes, and soon send the\nkettle circulating. If they were the first to enter the house since\ntwelve o\u2019clock they were deemed as the _first-foot_; and as such it was\nmost important for luck to the family in the coming year, that they\nshould make this entry not empty-handed, but with their hands full of\ncakes, and bread-and-cheese; of which, on the other hand, civility\ndemanded that each individual in the house should partake.\n\nTo such an extent did this custom prevail in Edinburgh, in the\nrecollection of persons still living, that according to their account,\nthe principal streets were more thronged between twelve and one in the\nmorning than they usually were at mid-day. Much innocent mirth\nprevailed, and mutual good feelings were largely promoted. An unlucky\ncircumstance which took place on the 1st January, 1812, proved the means\nof nearly extinguishing the custom. A small party of reckless boys\nformed the design of turning the innocent festivities of _first-footing_\nto account for purposes of plunder. They kept their counsel well. No\nsooner had the people come abroad on the principal thoroughfares of the\nOld Town than these youths sallied out in small bands, and commenced the\nbusiness which they had undertaken. Their previous agreement was _to\nlook out for the white neckcloths_, such being the best mark by which\nthey could distinguish in the dark individuals likely to carry any\nproperty worthy of being taken. A great number of gentlemen were thus\nspoiled of their watches and other valuables. The least resistance was\nresented by the most brutal maltreatment. A policeman and a young man of\nthe rank of a clerk in Leith died of the injuries they had received. An\naffair so singular, so uncharacteristic of the people among whom it\nhappened, produced a widespread and lasting feeling of surprise. The\noutrage was expiated by the execution of three of the youthful rioters\non the chief scene of their wickedness; but from that time it was\nobserved that the old custom of going about with the _hot pint_--the\nancient wassail--fell off.\n\nThere was in Scotland also a _first-footing_ independent of the\n_hot-pint_. It was a time for some youthful friend of the family to\nsteal to the door, in the hope of meeting there the young maiden of his\nfancy, and obtaining the privilege of a kiss as her _first-foot_. Great\nwas the disappointment on his part, and great the joking among the\nfamily, if, through accident or plan, some half-withered aunt or ancient\ngrand-dame came to receive him instead of the blooming Jenny.--_Book of\nDays_, vol. i. p. 29.\n\nIn the south of Scotland, as soon as the clock has struck the midnight\nhour, one of a family goes to the well as quickly as possible, and\ncarefully skims it; this they call getting the scum or ream (cream) of\nthe well:\n\n    \u201cTwall struck--twa neebour hizzies raise,\n      An\u2019 liltin gaed a sad gate;\n    The flower o\u2019 the well to our house gaes\n      An\u2019 I\u2019ll the bonniest lad get.\u201d\n\nThe _flower of the well_ signifies the first pail of water, and the girl\nwho is so fortunate as to obtain the prize is supposed to have more than\na double chance of obtaining the most accomplished young man in the\nparish.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 129.\n\nAs soon as the last night of the year sets in, it is the signal with the\nStrathdown Highlander for the suspension of his usual employment, and he\ndirects his attention to more agreeable callings. The men form into\nbands, with tethers and axes, and shaping their course to the juniper\nbushes, they return home laden with mighty loads, which are arranged\nround the fire to dry until morning. A certain discreet person is\ndespatched to the _dead and living ford_ to draw a pitcher of water in\nprofound silence, without the vessel touching the ground, lest its\nvirtue should be destroyed, and on his return all retire to rest. Early\non New Year\u2019s morning the _usque-cashrichd_, or water from the _dead and\nliving ford_, is drunk, as a potent charm until next New Year\u2019s Day,\nagainst the spells of witchcraft, the malignity of evil eyes, and the\nactivity of all infernal agency. The qualified Highlander then takes a\nlarge brush, with which he profusely asperses the occupants of all beds;\nfrom whom it is not unusual for him to receive ungrateful remonstrances\nagainst ablution. This ended, and the doors and windows being thoroughly\nclosed, and all crevices stopped, he kindles piles of the collected\njuniper in the different apartments, till the vapour from the burning\nbranches condenses into opaque clouds, and coughing, sneezing, wheezing,\ngasping, and other demonstrations of suffocation ensue. The operator,\naware that the more intense the \u201csmuchdan\u201d the more propitious the\nsolemnity, disregards these indications, and continues, with streaming\neyes and averted head, to increase the fumigation, until in his own\ndefence he admits the air to recover the exhausted household and\nhimself. He then treats the horses, cattle, and other bestial stock in\nthe town with the same smothering, to keep them from harm throughout the\nyear. When the gude wife gets up, and having ceased from coughing, has\ngained sufficient strength to reach the bottle _dhu_, she administers\nits comfort to the relief of the sufferers; laughter takes the place of\ncomplaint, all the family get up, wash their faces, and receive the\nvisits of their neighbours, who arrive full of congratulations peculiar\nto the day. _Mu nase choil orst_, \u201cMy Candlemas bond upon you,\u201d is the\ncustomary salutation, and means, in plain words, \u201cYou owe me a New\nYear\u2019s gift.\u201d A point of great emulation is, who shall salute the other\nfirst, because the one who does so is entitled to a gift from the person\nsaluted. Breakfast, consisting of all procurable luxuries, is then\nserved, the neighbours not engaged are invited to partake, and the day\nends in festivity.--_Popular Superstitions of the Highlanders of\nScotland_, Stewart, 1851.\n\nPennant, in his _Tour in Scotland_ (1790, vol. i. p. 206), says that on\nNew Year\u2019s Day the Highlanders burn juniper before their cattle.\n\n\nFORFARSHIRE.\n\nAt the commencement of the New Year[5] the opulent burghers of Montrose\nbegin to feast with their friends, and to go a round of visits, which\ntakes up the space of many weeks. Upon such occasions, the gravest is\nexpected to be merry, and to join in a cheerful song.--_Stat. Acc. of\nScotland_, Sinclair, 1793, vol. v. p. 48.\n\n  [5] Also at Christmas.\n\n\nORKNEY ISLES.\n\nAt Lady, companies of men go to the houses of the rich, and awake the\nfamily by singing the New Year\u2019s song, in full chorus. When the song is\nconcluded, the family entertain the musicians with ale and bread, and\ngive them a smoked goose or a piece of beef.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_,\n1845, vol. xv. p. 142.\n\nAt the parishes of Cross, Burness, &c., New Year\u2019s gifts, under the\ntitle of \u201cChristmas presents,\u201d are given to maid-servants by their\nmasters.--_Stat. Account of Scotland_, Sinclair, 1793, vol. vii. p. 488.\n\n\n\n\nHANDSEL MONDAY.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nThe first Monday of the year is a great holiday among the peasantry of\nScotland and children generally, as being the day peculiarly devoted in\nthat country to the giving and receiving of presents. It is on this\naccount called _Handsel Monday_, handsel being in Scotland the\nequivalent of a Christmas-box, but more especially implying a gift at\nthe commencement of a season or the induing of some new garment. The\nyoung people visit their seniors in expectation of _tips_ (the _word_,\nbut not the _action_, unknown in the north). Postmen, scavengers, and\ndeliverers of newspapers look for their little annual guerdons. Among\nthe rural population, _Auld Handsel Monday_, i.e. Handsel Monday old\nstyle, or the first Monday after the twelfth of the month, is the day\nusually held. The farmers used to treat the whole of their servants on\nthat morning to a liberal breakfast of roast and boiled, with ale,\nwhisky, and cake, to their utmost contentment, after which the guests\nwent about seeing their friends for the remainder of the day. It was\nalso the day on which any disposed for change gave up their places, and\nwhen new servants were engaged. Even now, when most old fashions are\nmuch decayed, _Auld Handsel Monday_ continues to be the holiday of the\nyear to the class of farm-labourers in Scotland.--_Book of Days_, vol.\ni. p. 52.\n\n\nCO. OF EDINBURGH.\n\nAt Currie the annual fair and Old Handsel Monday are the only periodical\nholidays for the working classes; on which latter occasion the servants\nenjoy the pleasure of returning to the bosom of their families, and\nspending the close of the day with their friends. The early part is\ngenerally observed in the less innocent amusement of raffles, and\nshooting with fire-arms, which, being often old and rusty, as well as\nwielded by inexperienced hands, have occasioned some disagreeable\naccidents.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_ 1845, vol. i. p. 550.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 5.] EVE OF THE EPIPHANY.\n\n\nFormerly itinerant minstrels used to bear a bowl of spiced wine to the\nhouses of the gentry and others, from whom they expected a hospitable\nreception, and calling their bowl a wassail-bowl, they drank wassail to\ntheir entertainers.\n\nIn ancient kalendars is an observation on the 5th day of January, the\nVigil of the Epiphany, \u201cKings created by beans,\u201d and the sixth day is\ncalled \u201cFestival of Kings,\u201d with another remark, that \u201cthe ceremony of\nelecting kings was continued with feasting for many days.\u201d--_Med. \u00c6vi\nKalend._ vol. i. p. 134.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nAt Kingsbridge and Salcombe it was formerly customary for the ciderist,\nattended by his workmen with a large can or pitcher of cider, guns\ncharged with powder, &c., to repair to the orchard, and there at the\nfoot of one of the best-bearing apple-trees, drink the following toast\nthree times repeated, discharging the fire-arms in conclusion:\n\n    \u201cHere\u2019s to thee, old apple tree,\n    Whence thou may\u2019st bud,\n    And whence thou may\u2019st blow!\n    And whence thou may\u2019st bear apples enow!\n    Hats full! caps full!\n    Bushel--bushel-sacks full!\n    And my pockets full too! Huzza!\u201d\n\nThe pitcher being emptied, they returned to the house, the doors of\nwhich they were certain to find bolted by the females; who, however bad\nthe weather might be, were inexorable to all entreaties to open them,\ntill some one had divined what was on the spit. This was generally not\neasily thought of, and if edible was the reward of him who first named\nit. The party were then admitted.--_Kingsbridge and Salcombe\nHistorically Depicted_, 1819, p. 71. Vide _Gent. Mag._ 1791, vol. lxi.\np. 403.\n\nBrand, on the authority of a Cornishman, relates it also as a custom\nwith the Devonshire people to go after supper into the orchard with a\nlarge milk-pan full of cider, having roasted apples pressed into it. Out\nof this each person in company takes what is called a _clome_--i.e.\nearthenware--cup, full of liquor, and standing under each of the more\nfruitful apple-trees, passing by those that are not good bearers, he\naddresses them in the following words:\n\n    \u201cHealth to thee, good apple tree,\n    Well to bear pocket-fulls, hat-fulls,\n    Peck-fulls, bushel bag-fulls;\u201d\n\nand then drinking up part of the contents, he throws the rest, with the\nfragments of the roasted apples, at the tree. At each cup, the company\nset up a shout.--_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 29.\n\nHerrick thus alludes to this custom and the superstition attached to it:\n\n    \u201cWassail the trees, that they may bear\n    You many a plum and many a pear;\n    For more or less fruit they will bring,\n    As you do give them wassailing.\u201d\n\n\nGLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\nIn the parish of Pauntley, and the surrounding neighbourhood, the\nservants of each farmer formerly assembled together in one of the fields\nthat had been sown with wheat. At the end of twelve lands, they made\ntwelve fires in a row with straw, around one of which, much larger than\nthe rest, they drank a cheerful glass of cider to their master\u2019s health,\nand success to the future harvest; then, returning home, they feasted on\ncakes soaked in cider, which they claimed as a reward for their past\nlabours in sowing the grain.--Fosbrooke, _Hist. of Gloucestershire_,\n1807, vol. ii. p. 232.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt the approach of the evening, the farmers with their friends and\nservants meet together, and about six o\u2019clock walk out to a field where\nwheat is growing. In the highest part of the ground, twelve small fires\nand one large one, are lighted up.[6] The attendants, headed by the\nmaster of the family, pledge the company in old cider, which circulates\nfreely on these occasions. A circle is formed round the large fire, when\na general shout and hallooing takes place, which you hear answered from\nall the adjacent villages and fields. Sometimes fifty or sixty of these\nfires may be seen all at once. This being finished, the company return\nhome, where the good housewife and her maids are preparing a good\nsupper. A large cake is always provided, with a hole in the middle.\nAfter supper, the company all attend the bailiff (or head of the oxen)\nto the wain-house, where the following particulars are observed: The\nmaster, at the head of his friends, fills the cup (generally with strong\nale), and stands opposite the first or finest of the oxen. He then\npledges him in a curious toast, the company follow his example with all\nthe other oxen, addressing each by his name. This being finished, the\nlarge cake is produced, and, with much ceremony put on the horn of the\nfirst ox, through the hole above mentioned.\n\n  [6] These fires represented our Lord and the twelve Apostles.\n\nThe ox is then tickled, to make him toss his head; if he throw the cake\nbehind, it is the mistress\u2019s perquisite; if before (in what is termed\nthe boosy) the bailiff himself claims the prize. The company then return\nto the house, the doors of which they find locked, nor will they be\nopened until some joyous songs are sung. On their gaining admittance a\nscene of mirth ensues, which lasts the greater part of the\nnight.--_Gent. Mag._ 1791, vol. lxi. p. 116.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nAccording to Blount the inhabitants of this county at one time made a\nfire on the eve of the Epiphany, in memory of the blazing star that\nconducted the three Magi to the manger at Bethlehem.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nIn the neighbourhood of Leeds, families formerly invited their\nrelations, friends, and neighbours to their houses, for the purpose of\nplaying at cards, and partaking of a supper of which mince pies were an\nindispensable ingredient. After supper was over the wassail-cup or\nwassail-bowl was brought in, of which every one partook, by taking with\na spoon out of the ale a roasted apple and eating it, and then drinking\nthe healths of the company out of the bowl, wishing them a merry\nChristmas, and a happy New Year. The festival of Christmas used in this\npart of the country to be held for twenty days, and some persons\nextended it even to Candlemas.\n\nThe ingredients put into the bowl, viz., ale, sugar, nutmeg, and roasted\napples, were usually called _lambs\u2019 wool_, and the night on which it was\ndrunk was commonly called _Wassail Eve_.--_Gent. Mag._ 1784, vol. liv.\np. 98.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nIn Ireland \u201con Twelve Eve in Christmas, they use to set up as high as\nthey can a sieve of oats, and in it a dozen of candles set round, and in\nthe centre one larger, all lighted. This in memory of our Saviour and\nhis Apostles, light of the world.\u201d--Sir Henry Piers\u2019 _Description of the\nCounty of Westmeath_, 1682, in Vallancey\u2019s _Collectanea de Rebus\nHibernicis_, vol. i. No. 1, p. 124.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 6.] TWELFTH DAY.\n\n_THE EPIPHANY._\n\n\nIn its character as a popular festival, Twelfth Day stands only inferior\nto Christmas. The leading object held in view is to do honour to \u201cthe\nthree wise men,\u201d or, as they are more generally denominated, \u201cthe three\nkings.\u201d It is a Christian custom, ancient past memory, and probably\nsuggested by a paean custom, to indulge in a pleasantry called the\n_Election of kings by beans_. Some, however, maintain it to have been\nderived from the custom observed by the Roman children, who, at the end\nof their saturnalia, drew lots with beans, to see who would be king.\n\nIn England in later times, a large cake was made, with a bean or silver\npenny inserted, and this was called _Twelfth-cake_. The family and\nfriends being assembled, the cake was divided by lot, and whoever got\nthe piece containing the bean was accepted as the king for the day, and\ncalled King of the Bean. It appears also that there was always a queen\nas well as a king on Twelfth-Night. A writer, speaking of the\ncelebration in the South of England in 1774, says: \u201cAfter tea a cake is\nproduced with two bowls containing the fortunate chances for the\ndifferent sexes. The host fills up the tickets, and the whole company,\nexcept the king and queen, are to be ministers of state, maids of\nhonour, or ladies of the bed-chamber. Often the host and hostess, more\nby design than accident, become king and queen. According to Twelfth Day\nlaw, each party is to support his character till midnight.\u201d\n\nIn the sixteenth century it would appear that some peculiar ceremonies\nfollowed the election of the king and queen. Barnaby Googe, in his\nparaphrase of the curious poem of Naogeorgus, _The Popish Kingdom_,\n1570, states that the king, on being elected, was raised up with great\ncries to the ceiling, where with chalk he inscribed crosses on the\nrafters to protect the house against evil spirits.--_Book of Days_,\n1863, vol. i. p. 62. See also _Every Day Book_, 1827, vol. i. p. 51.\n\nHerrick, the poet of our festivals, has several allusions to the\ncelebration of this day of our ancestors, as may be seen in the\nsubjoined poem:\n\n\u201cTWELFE-NIGHT, OR KING AND QUEENE.\n\n      \u201cNow, now the mirth comes\n      With the cake full of plums,\n    Where beane\u2019s the king of the sport here;\n      Besides, we must know,\n      The pea also\n    Must revell, as queene, in the court here.\n\n      Begin then to chuse\n      (This night as ye use)\n    Who shall for the present delight here,\n      Be a king be the lot,\n      And who shall not\n    Be Twelfe-day queene for the night here.\n\n      Which knowne, let us make\n      Joy-sops with the cake;\n    And let not a man then be seene here.\n      Who unurg\u2019d will not drinke,\n      To the base from the brink,\n    A health to the king and queene here.\n\n      Next crowne the bowle full\n      With gentle lamb\u2019s-wooll;\n    Adde sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,\n      With store of ale too;\n      And thus ye must doe\n    To make the wassaile a swinger.\n\n      Give them to the king\n      And queene wassailing;\n    And though with ale ye be whet here;\n      Yet part ye from hence,\n      As free from offence,\n    As when ye innocent met here.\u201d\n\nIn the last century _Twelfth Night Cards_ represented ministers, maids\nof honour, and other attendants of a court, and the characters were to\nbe supported through the night. John Britton, in his _Autobiography_\ntells us \u201che suggested and wrote a series of Twelfth Night characters,\nto be printed on cards, placed in a bag, and drawn out at parties on the\nmemorable and merry evening of that ancient festival. They were sold in\nsmall packets to pastrycooks, and led the way to a custom which annually\ngrew to an extensive trade. For the second year my pen-and-ink\ncharacters were accompanied by prints of the different personages by\nCruikshank (father of the inimitable George), all of a comic or\nludicrous kind.\u201d Such characters are still printed.--_Book of Days_,\nvol. i. p. 64.\n\nFormerly the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and the Guilds of London, used to\ngo to St. Paul\u2019s on Twelfth Day to hear a sermon. This is mentioned as\nan old custom in the early part of Queen Elizabeth\u2019s reign.\n\nTwelfth Day and its customs appear to have been observed by royalty\nalmost from time immemorial. At the English court in the eighth year of\nthe reign of Edward III., the majestic title of _King of the Bean_ was\nconferred upon one of the king\u2019s minstrels, as appears by a _Compotus_\nof that date, which states that sixty shillings were given by the king\non the day of the Epiphany to Regan, the trumpeter, and his associates,\nthe court minstrels, in the name of the king of the bean.--Strutt,\n_Sports and Pastimes_, 1801, p. 255.\n\nThe grand state of the sovereign on Twelfth Day, and the manner of\nkeeping festival at court, in the reign of King Henry VII., are set\nforth in Le Neve\u2019s MS., called _The Royalle Book_, to the following\neffect:\n\nAs for Twelfth Day, the king must go crowned in his royal robes, kirtle,\nsurcoat, his furred hood about his neck, his mantle with a long train,\nand his cutlas before him; his armills upon his arms, of gold set full\nof rich stones; and no temporal man to touch it but the king himself;\nand the squire for the body must bring it to the king in a fair\nkerchief, and the king must put them on himself; and he must have his\nsceptre in his right hand, and the ball with the cross in the left hand,\nand the crown upon his head. And he must offer that day gold, myrrh, and\nsense; then must the dean of the chapel send unto the Archbishop of\nCanterbury by clerk or priest the king\u2019s offering that day; and then\nmust the Archbishop give the next benefice that falleth in his gift to\nthe same messenger. And then the king must change his mantle when he\ngoeth to meat, and take off his hood and lay it about his neck, and\nclasp it before with a great rich ouche; and this must be of the same\ncolour that he offered in. And the queen in the same form when she is\ncrowned.\n\nThe same day that he goeth crowned he ought to go to matins; to which\narray belongeth his kirtle, surcoat, tabard, and his furred hood slyved\nover his head, and rolled about his neck; and on his head his cap of\nestate, and his sword before him.\n\nAt even-song he must go in his kirtle and surcoat, and hood laid about\nhis shoulders, and clasp the tippet and hood together before his breast\nwith a great rich ouche, and his hat of estate upon his head.\n\nAs for the _void_ on the Twelfth Night, the king and the queen ought to\nhave it in the hall. And as for the wassail, the steward, the treasurer,\nand the controller, shall come for it with their staves in their hands;\nthe king\u2019s sewer and the queen\u2019s having fair towels about their necks,\nand dishes in their hands, such as the king and queen shall eat of; the\nking\u2019s carvers and the queen\u2019s shall come after with chargers or dishes,\nsuch as the king or the queen shall eat of, and with towels about their\nnecks. And no man shall bear anything unless sworn for three months. And\nthe steward, treasurer, comptroller, and marshall of the hall shall\nordain for all the hall. And, if it be in the great chamber, then shall\nthe chamberlain and ushers ordain, after the above form; and if there be\na bishop, his own squire, or else the king\u2019s, such as the officers\nchoose to assign, shall serve him; and so of all the other estates, if\nthey be dukes or earls; and so of duchesses and countesses. And then\nthere must come in the ushers of the chamber, with the pile of cups, the\nking\u2019s cups and the queen\u2019s, and the bishop\u2019s with the butlers and wine\nto the cupboard, and then a squire for the body to bear the cup, and\nanother for the queen\u2019s cup, such as is sworn for hire.\n\nThe singers [of the chapel] may stand at the one side of the hall, and\nwhen the steward cometh in at the hall-door, with the wassail, he must\ncry thrice \u201cWassaile,\u201d &c., and then shall the chapel answer it anon\nwith a good song, and thus in likewise, if it please the king to keep\nthe great chamber. And then when the king and queen have done, they will\ngo into the chamber. And there belongeth for the king, two lights with\nthe void, and two lights with the cup; and for the queen as\nmany.--_Antiq. Rep._ 1807, vol. i. p. 328.\n\nOn Twelfth Day, 1563, Mary Queen of Scots celebrated the French pastime\nof the King of the Bean at Holyrood, but with a queen instead of a king,\nas more appropriate, in consideration of herself being a female\nsovereign. The lot fell to the real queen\u2019s attendant, Mary Fleming, and\nthe mistress good-naturedly arrayed the servant in her own robes and\njewels, that she might duly sustain the mimic dignity in the festivities\nof the night. The English resident, Randolph, who was in love with Mary\nBeton, another of the queen\u2019s maids of honour, wrote in excited terms\nabout this festival to the Earl of Leicester. \u201cHappy was it,\u201d says he,\n\u201cunto this realm, that her reign endured no longer. Two such sights, in\none state, in so good accord, I believe was never seen, as to behold two\nworthy queens possess, without envy, one kingdom, both upon a day. I\nleave the rest to your lordship to be judged of. My pen staggereth, my\nhand faileth, further to write.----The Queen of the Bean was that day in\na gown of cloth of silver; her head, her neck, her shoulders, the rest\nof her whole body, so beset with stones, that more in our whole\njewel-house were not to be found. The cheer was great. I never found\nmyself so happy, nor so well treated, until that it came to the point\nthat the old Queen (Mary) herself, to show her mighty power, contrary\nunto the assurance granted me by the younger Queen (Mary Fleming), drew\nme into the dance; which part of the play I could with good will have\nspared unto your lordship as much fitter for the purpose.\u201d--_Lives of\nthe Queens of Scotland_, Strickland, vol. iv. p. 20.\n\nDown to the time of the Civil Wars, the feast of the Epiphany was\nobserved with great splendour, not only at court, but at the Inns of\nCourt, and the Universities (where it was an old custom to choose the\nking by the bean in a cake), as well as in private mansions and smaller\nhouseholds. We read, too, of our nobility keeping Twelfth Night by the\ndiversion of blowing up pasteboard castles; letting claret flow like\nblood out of a stag made of paste; the castle bombarded from a\npasteboard ship, with cannon, in the midst of which the company pelted\neach other with egg-shells filled with rose-water; and large pies were\nmade, filled with live frogs, which hopped and flew out upon some\ncurious person lifting up the lid. Twelfth Night grew to be a court\nfestival, in which gaming was a costly feature. Evelyn tells us that on\nTwelfth Night, 1662, according to custom, His Majesty (Charles II.)\nopened the revels of that night by throwing the dice himself in the\nprivy chamber, where was a table set on purpose, and lost his\n100_l._--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 63.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nIn Cumberland, and other northern parts of England, on Twelfth Night,\nwhich finishes the Christmas holidays, the rustics meet together in a\nlarge room. They begin dancing at seven o\u2019clock, and finish at twelve,\nwhen they sit down to _lobscouse_ and _ponsondie_; the former is made of\nbeef, potatoes, and onions, fried together; and in ponsondie we\nrecognise the wassail or waes-hael of ale, boiled with sugar and nutmeg,\ninto which are put roasted apples; the anciently admired lambs\u2019-wool.\nThe feast is paid for by subscription; two women are chosen, who with\ntwo wooden bowls placed one within the other, so as to leave an opening\nand a space between them, go round to the female part of the society in\nsuccession, and what one puts into the uppermost bowl the attendant\ncollectress slips into the bowl beneath it. All are expected to\ncontribute something, but not more than a shilling, and they are best\nesteemed who give most. The men choose two from themselves and follow\nthe same custom, except that as the gentlemen are not supposed to be so\nfair in their dealings as the ladies, one of the collectors is furnished\nwith pen, ink, and paper, to set down the subscription as soon as\nreceived.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1825, p. 13.\n\nIn many of the small towns they partake of scalded field-peas, and a\nhare or some other kind of game. The peas are brought to table with the\nhare, and are scalded in water with the husks on, after which a lump of\nbutter is put in the middle, and they are picked out as they are eaten.\nThe supper concludes with a _tharve-cake_, a large, flat, oaten cake,\nbaked on a girdle, sometimes with plums in it. Dancing and drinking then\noccupy the remainder of the evening. Tar barrels are common at all their\nfestivals, and scarcely a town is without them.--_Ibid._ 1829, p. 11.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nThe morris-dancers who go about from village to village about Twelfth\nDay, have their fool, their Maid Marian (generally a man dressed in\nwoman\u2019s clothes, and called \u201cthe fool\u2019s wife,\u201d) and sometimes the\nhobby-horse; they are dressed up in ribbons and tinsel, but the bells\nare usually discarded.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 201.\n\n\nDORSETSHIRE.\n\nThe rector of Piddle Hinton gives away on Old Christmas Day a pound of\nbread, a pint of ale, and a mince pie, to every poor person in the\nparish. This distribution is regularly made by the rector to upwards of\nthree hundred persons.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_,\n1842, p. 6.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nAnciently the Mowbrays had great possessions in and about the Isle of\nAxholme, and a seat, at which they principally resided, and were\nconsidered the greatest folks in that part of the country. It so\nhappened that on Old Christmas Day, while a young lady (the daughter of\nthe then Mowbray) was riding over the Meeres to the church by an old\nroad (at that time the principal one across the village) a gale of wind\nblew off her hood. Twelve farming men who were working in the fields saw\nthe occurrence, and ran to gather up the hood, and in such earnest were\nthey that the lady took so much amusement at the scene she forbade her\nown attendants joining in the pursuit. The hood being captured, and\nreplaced on the lady\u2019s head, she expressed her obligation to the men,\ngiving them each some money, and promised a piece of land (to be vested\nin certain persons in trust) to throw up a hood annually on Old\nChristmas Day.[7] She also ordered that the twelve men engaged to\ncontest the race for the hood should be clothed (_pro temp._) in scarlet\njerkins and velvet caps: the hood to be thrown in the same place as the\none where she lost hers. The custom is yet followed; and though the\nMeeres on which she was riding has long ago been brought into a state of\ncultivation, and the road through been diverted, yet an old mill stands\nin the field where the road passed through, and is pointed out as the\nplace where the original scene took place, and the hood is usually\nthrown up from this mill. There is generally a great concourse of people\nfrom the neighbouring villages who also take part in the proceedings;\nand when the hood is thrown up by the chief of the _boggons_, or by the\nofficials, it becomes the object of the villagers to get the hood to\ntheir own village, by throwing or kicking it, similar to the foot-ball.\nThe other eleven men, called _boggons_, being stationed at the comers\nand sides of the field to prevent, if possible, its being thrown out of\nthe field; and should it chance to fall into any of their hands it is\n\u201cboggoned,\u201d and forthwith returned to the chief, who again throws it up\nfrom the mill as before. Whoever is fortunate enough to get it out of\nthe field, tries to get it to his village, and usually takes it to the\npublic house he is accustomed to frequent, and the landlord regales him\nwith hot ale and rum.\n\n  [7] The quantity of land given by Lady Mowbray was forty acres, known\n  by the name of the Hoodlands.\n\nThe game usually continues until dusk, and is frequently attended by\nbroken shins and bruised heads. The next day is occupied by the boggons\ngoing round the villages, singing as waits, who are regaled with hot\nfurmenty; from some they get coppers given them, and from others a small\nmeasure of wheat, according to the means of the donor. The day after\nthat they assume the character of plough bullocks, and at a certain part\nof West Woodside they \u201csmoke the fool;\u201d that is, straw is collected by\nthose who like, and piled on a heap, a rope being tied or slung over\nthe branches of the tree next the pile of straw; the other end of the\nrope is fastened round the waist of the \u201cfool,\u201d and he is drawn up, and\nfire is put to the straw, the \u201cfool\u201d being swung to and fro through the\nsmoke, until he is well nigh choked; after which he goes round with his\ncap, and collects whatever the spectator thinks proper to give. The\nperformance is then at an end until the following year. See _N. & Q. 2nd\nS._ vol. v. p. 94. Peek\u2019s _History of Axholme_, 1815, vol. i. p. 277.\n\nIn the _History of Lincolnshire_ (vol. ii. p. 214) is the following\naccount of this custom, differing but little from the notice already\ngiven. At Haxey, Old Twelfth Day is devoted to _throwing the hood_, an\namusement, which according to tradition, was instituted by one of the\nMowbrays. A roll of canvas, tightly corded together, from four to six\npounds in weight, is taken to an open field, and contended for by the\nrustics. An individual appointed casts it from him, and the first person\nwho can convey it into the cellars of any public house receives the\nreward of one shilling, paid by the plough-bullocks or _boggins_. A new\nhood being furnished when the others are carried off, the contest\nusually continues till dark. The next day the plough-bullocks or boggins\ngo round the town collecting alms, and crying \u201cLargess.\u201d They are\ndressed like morris-dancers, and are yoked to and drag a small plough.\nThey have their farmer, and a fool called Billy Buck, dressed like a\nharlequin, with whom the boys make sport. The day is concluded by the\nbullocks running with the plough round the cross on the green; and the\nman that can throw the other down, and convey the plough into the cellar\nof a public house, receives one shilling for his agility.--See _N. & Q.\n4th S._ vol. ix. p. 158.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nIn London on Twelfth Night, in former days, boys assembled round the\ninviting shops of the pastrycooks, and dexterously nailed the coat-tails\nof spectators who ventured near enough to the bottoms of the window\nframes, or pinned them strongly together by their clothes. Sometimes\neight or ten persons found themselves thus connected. The dexterity and\nforce of the nail-driving was so quick and sure that a single blow\nseldom failed of doing the business effectually.--Withdrawal of the nail\nwithout a proper instrument was out of the question, and consequently,\nthe person nailed was forced either to leave part of his coat as a\ncognisance of his attachment, or quit the spot with a hole in it. At\nevery nailing and pinning shouts of laughter arose from the\nperpetrators, yet it often happened to one who turned and smiled at the\nduress of another, that he also found himself nailed. Efforts at\nextrication increased mirth; nor was the presence of a constable, who\nwas usually employed to attend and preserve free \u201cingress, egress, and\nregress,\u201d sufficiently awful to deter the offender.--_Every Day Book_,\nvol. i. p. 50.\n\nA curious custom of medi\u00e6val origin is observed at the Chapel Royal, St.\nJames\u2019s Palace, on the festival of the Epiphany. After the reading of\nthe sentence at the offertory, \u201cLet your light so shine before men,\u201d\n&c., while the organ plays, two members of her Majesty\u2019s household,\nwearing the royal livery, descend from the royal pew and advance to the\naltar rails, preceded by the usher, where they present to one of the two\nofficiating clergymen a red bag, edged with gold lace or braid, which is\nreceived in an offertory basin, and then reverently placed on the altar.\nThis bag or purse is understood to contain the Queen\u2019s offering of gold,\nfrankincense, and myrrh, in commemoration of the gifts of the Magi to\nthe infant Saviour.--_Echo_, Jan. 7th, 1869.\n\nIn the _Lady\u2019s Mag._ for 1760, is the following:\n\nSunday Jan. 6th, being Twelfth Day, and a collar and offering day at St.\nJames\u2019, his Majesty, preceded by the heralds, pursuivants, &c., and the\nknights of the Garter, Thistle, and Bath, in the collars of their\nrespective orders, went to the Royal Chapel at St. James\u2019, and offered\ngold, myrrh, and frankincense, in imitation of the Eastern Magi offering\nto our Saviour.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nIn this island there is not a barn unoccupied on the whole twelve days\nafter Christmas, every parish hiring fiddlers at the public charge. On\nTwelfth Day the fiddler lays his head in the lap of some one of the\nwenches, and the _mainstyr fiddler_ asks who such a maid, or such a\nmaid, naming all the girls one after another, shall marry, to which he\nanswers according to his own whim, or agreeable to the intimacies he has\ntaken notice of during the time of merriment, and whatever he says is\nabsolutely depended on as an oracle; and if he happen to couple two\npeople who have an aversion to each other, tears and vexation succeed\nthe mirth; this they call \u201ccutting off the fiddler\u2019s head,\u201d for after\nthis he is dead for a whole year.--Waldron\u2019s _Description of the Isle of\nMan_, 1859, p. 156.\n\n\nSOMERSETSHIRE.\n\nA friend of mine, says Mr. C. W. Bingham in _N. & Q._ (_3rd S._ vol. ix.\np. 33), met a girl on Old Christmas Day, in a village of North Somerset,\nwho told him that she was going to see the Christmas thorn in blossom.\nHe accompanied her to an orchard, where he found a tree, propagated from\nthe celebrated Glastonbury thorn, and gathered from it several sprigs in\nblossom. Afterwards the girl\u2019s mother informed him that it had been\nformerly the custom for the youth of both sexes to assemble under the\ntree at midnight on Christmas Eve, in order to hear the bursting of the\nbuds into flower, and she added, \u201cAs they comed out, you could hear \u2019um\n_haffer_.\u201d\n\nJennings, and after him Halliwell, give this word _haffer_ for to\ncrackle, to patter, to make repeated loud noises.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Paget\u2019s Bromley a curious custom went out in the seventeenth century.\nA man came along the village with a mock horse fastened to him, with\nwhich he danced, at the same time making a snapping noise with a bow and\narrow. He was attended by half a dozen fellow-villagers, wearing mock\ndeers\u2019 heads, and displaying the arms of the several landlords of the\ntown. This party danced _the Hays_, and other country dances, to music,\namidst the sympathy and applause of the multitude. There was also a huge\npot of ale with cakes, by general contribution of the village, out of\nthe very surplus of which \u201cthey not only repaired their church, but kept\ntheir poor too; which charges,\u201d quoth Dr. Plot, \u201care not now, perhaps,\nso cheerfully borne.\u201d--Plot\u2019s _Nat. Hist. of Staffordshire_, 1680, p.\n434.\n\n\nWESTMORELAND.\n\nTwelfth Night, or Holly Night, was formerly celebrated at Brough, by\ncarrying through the town a holly-tree with torches attached to its\nbranches. The procession set out at 8 o\u2019clock in the evening preceded by\nmusic, and stopped at the town-bridge, and again at the cross, where it\nwas greeted each time with shouts of applause. Many of the inhabitants\ncarried lighted branches as flambeaux; and rockets, squibs, &c., were\ndischarged on the joyful occasion. After the tree had been carried\nabout, and the torches were sufficiently burnt, it was placed in the\nmiddle of the town, when it was again cheered by the surrounding crowd,\nand then was thrown among them. The spectators at once divided into two\nparties, one of which endeavoured to take the tree to one of the inns,\nand the other to a rival inn. The innkeeper whose party triumphed was\nexpected to treat his partisans liberally.--Hone\u2019s _Table Book_, 1838,\np. 26; _Handbook for the Lakes_, Murray, 1866, p. 113.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nIn some parts of Pembrokeshire, the following practice is observed. A\nwren is secured in a small house made of wood, with door and windows,\nthe latter glazed. Pieces of ribbon of various colours are fixed to the\nridge of the roof outside. Sometimes several wrens are brought in the\nsame cage, and oftentimes a stable-lantern, decorated as above\nmentioned, serves for the wren\u2019s-house. The proprietors of this\nestablishment go round to the principal houses in their neighbourhood:\nwhere, accompanying themselves with some musical instrument, they\nannounce their arrival by singing the \u2018Song of the Wren.\u2019 The wren\u2019s\nvisit is a source of much amusement to children and servants, and the\nwren\u2019s men, or lads, are usually invited to have a draught from the\ncellar, and receive a present in money. The \u2018Song of the Wren\u2019 is\ngenerally _encored_, and the proprietors very commonly commence high\nlife below stairs, dancing with the maid-servants, and saluting them\nunder the kissing bush, where there is one. The following is the \u2018Song\nof the Wren:\u2019\n\n    \u201cJoy, health, love, and peace,\n    Be to you in this place.\n    By your leave we will sing,\n    Concerning our king:\n    Our king is well drest;\n    In silks of the best;\n    With his ribbons so rare,\n    No king can compare.\n    In his coach he does ride,\n    With a great deal of pride;\n    And with four footmen\n    To wait upon him.\n    We were four at watch,\n    And all nigh of a match;\n    And with powder and ball\n    We fired at his hall.\n    We have travell\u2019d many miles,\n    Over hedges and stiles,\n    To find you this king,\n    Which we now to you bring.\n    Now Christmas is past,\n    Twelfth Day is the last.\n    Th\u2019 Old Year bids adieu;\n    Great joy to the New.\u201d\n\nIt would appear from the ninth line of the song that the wren at one\ntime used to occupy a coach, or that her house was placed upon\nwheels.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. v. p. 109.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 7.] ST. DISTAFF\u2019S DAY.--ROCK DAY.\n\n\nThe day after Twelfth Day was called Rock Day[8] and St. Distaff\u2019s Day,\nbecause on that day women resumed their spinning, which had been\ninterrupted by the sports of Christmas; for our ancestors, it seems,\nreturned to their work in a very leisurely manner. From Herrick\u2019s\n_Hesperides_ (p. 374) we learn that the men, in boisterous merriment,\nburned the women\u2019s flax, and that they in retaliation dashed pails of\nwater upon the men:\n\n    \u201cPartly work, and partly play\n    Ye must on St. Distaff\u2019s Day:\n    From the plough soone free your teame,\n    Then home and fother them;\n    If the maides a spinning goe,\n    Burn the flax and fire the tow.\n\n           *       *       *       *       *\n\n    Bring in pails of water, then\n    Let the maides bewash the men;\n    Give St. Distaff all the night,\n    Then bid Christmas sport good night;\n    Then next morning, every one\n    To his own vocation.\u201d\n\n  _Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 138.\n\n  [8] See \u2018Things not generally known,\u2019 by John Timbs, 1859, pp. 1-6.\n\n\n\n\nPLOUGH MONDAY.\n\n\nThis was the name of a rustic festival, held the first Monday after\nTwelfth Day, formerly of great account in England, bearing in its first\naspect, like St. Distaff\u2019s Day, reference to the resumption of labour\nafter the Christmas holidays. In Catholic times, the ploughmen kept\nlights burning before certain images in churches to obtain a blessing on\ntheir work; and they were accustomed on this day to go about in\nprocession, gathering money for the support of these _plough lights_, as\nthey were called. The Reformation put out the lights, but it could not\nextinguish the festival. The peasantry contrived to go about in\nprocession, collecting money, though only to be spent in conviviality in\nthe public-house. It was at no remote date a very gay and rather\npleasant-looking affair. A plough was dressed up with ribbons and other\ndecorations--the _Fool plough_. Thirty or forty stalwart swains, with\ntheir shirts over their jackets, and their shoulders and hats flaming\nwith ribbons, dragged it along from house to house, preceded by one in\nthe dress of an old woman, but much bedizened, bearing the name of\n_Bessy_. There was also a fool, in fantastic attire. In some parts of\nthe country morris-dancers attended the procession; occasionally, too,\nsome reproduction of the ancient Scandinavian sword-dance added to the\nmeans of persuading money out of the pockets of the lieges.--_Book of\nDays_, vol. i. p. 94.\n\nIn Tusser\u2019s _Five Hundred Points of Husbandry_, under the account of the\nPloughman\u2019s Feast Days, are the following lines:\n\n    \u201cPlough Munday, next after that twelf-tide is past,\n    Bids out with the plough: the worst husband is last.\n    If plowman get hatchet or whip to the skrene,\n    Maids loseth their cocke, if no water be seen.\u201d\n\nWhich are thus explained in _Tusser Redivivus_ (1744, p. 79): \u201cAfter\nChristmas (which formerly, during the twelve days, was a time of very\nlittle work), every gentleman feasted the farmers, and every farmer\ntheir servants and task-men. _Plough Monday_ puts them in mind of their\nbusiness. In the morning, the men and the maid-servants strive who shall\nshow their diligence in rising earliest. If the ploughman can get his\nwhip, his ploughstaff, hatchet, or anything that he wants in the field,\nby the fireside, before the maid hath got her kettle on, then the maid\nloseth her shrove-tide cock, and it wholly belongs to the men. Thus did\nour forefathers strive to allure youth to their duty, and provided them\nwith innocent mirth as well as labour. On this Plough Monday they have a\ngood supper and some strong drink.\u201d See also _Every Day Book_, 1826,\nvol. i. p. 71.\n\nIn the _British Apollo_ (fol. 1710, ii. 92), to an inquiry why the first\nMonday after Twelfth Day is called _Plough Monday_, answer is given:\n\u201cPlough Monday is a country phrase, and only used by peasants, because\nthey generally used to meet together at some neighbourhood over a cup of\nale, and feast themselves, as well as wish themselves a plentiful\nharvest from the great corn sown (as they call wheat and rye), as also\nto wish a God-speed to the plough as soon as they begin to break the\nground, to sow barley, and other corn, which they at that time make a\nholiday to themselves as a finishing stroke after Christmas, which is\ntheir master\u2019s holiday time, as \u2019prentices in many places make it the\nsame, appropriated by consent to revel among themselves.\u201d\n\nFormerly the following custom prevailed in the northern counties of\nEngland on Plough Monday. If a ploughman came to the kitchen-hatch, and\ncould cry, \u201cCock in the pot,\u201d before the maid could cry \u201cCock on the\ndunghill,\u201d he was entitled to a cock for Shrove Tuesday.--_N. & Q. 2nd\nS._ vol. i. p. 386.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nPlough Monday is observed at Cambridge by parties going about the town\nvariously dressed in ribbons, etc.; some with a female among them, some\nwith a man in women\u2019s clothes, some with a plough: they dance and\ncollect money which is afterwards spent in a feast.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_,\n1816, p. 3.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nOn Plough Monday the \u201cPlough bullocks\u201d are occasionally seen; they\nconsist of a number of young men from various farmhouses, who are\ndressed up in ribbons, their shirts (for they wear no coats or\nwaistcoats) literally covered with rosettes of various colours and their\nhats bound with ribbons, and decorated with every kind of ornament that\ncomes in their way; these young men yoke themselves to a plough, which\nthey draw about, preceded by a band of music, from house to house,\ncollecting money. They are accompanied by the Fool and Bessy; the Fool\nbeing dressed in the skin of a calf, with the tail hanging down behind,\nand Bessy generally a young man in female attire. The Fool carries an\ninflated bladder tied to the end of a long stick, by way of whip, which\nhe does not fail to apply pretty soundly to the heads and shoulders of\nhis team. When anything is given a cry of \u201cLargess!\u201d is raised, and a\ndance performed round the plough. If a refusal to their application for\nmoney is made they not unfrequently plough up the pathway, door-stone,\nor any other portion of the premises they happen to be near.--_Jour. of\nArch. Assoc. 1852_, vol. vii. p. 202.\n\n\nHUNTINGDONSHIRE.\n\nPlough Monday is observed in this county. The mummers are called\n\u201cPlough-Witchers,\u201d and their ceremony, \u201cPlough-Witching.\u201d--_N. & Q. 2nd\nS._ vol. ix. p. 381.\n\n\nLEICESTERSHIRE.\n\nMacaulay (_History of Claybrook_, 1791, p. 128,) says: On _Plough\nMonday_ I have taken notice of an annual display of morris-dancers at\nClaybrook, who come from the neighbouring villages of Sapcote and\nSharnford.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nA correspondent of the _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 94, giving the\nfollowing interesting account as to how Plough Monday was, in days gone\nby, celebrated in the county, says:--Rude though it was, the Plough\nprocession threw a life into the dreary scenery of winter, as it came\nwinding along the quiet rutted lanes, on its way from one village to\nanother; for the ploughmen from many a surrounding hamlet and lonely\nfarmhouse united in the celebration of Plough Monday. It was nothing\nunusual for at least a score of the \u201csons of the soil\u201d to yoke\nthemselves with ropes to the plough, having put on clean smock frocks in\nhonour of the day. There was no limit to the number who joined in the\nmorris-dance, and were partners with \u201cBessy,\u201d who carried the money-box;\nand all these had ribbons in their hats, and pinned about them wherever\nthere was room to display a bunch. Many a hardworking country Molly lent\na helping hand in decorating out her Johnny for Plough Monday, and\nfinished him with an admiring exclamation of \u201cLawks, John! thou does\nlook smart, surely.\u201d Some also wore small bunches of corn in their hats,\nfrom which the wheat was soon shaken out by the ungainly jumping which\nthey called dancing. Occasionally, if the winter was severe, the\nprocession was joined by threshers carrying their flails, reapers\nbearing their sickles, and carters with their long whips, which they\nwere cracking to add to the noise, while even the smith and the miller\nwere among the number, for the one sharpened the ploughshares and the\nother ground the corn; and Bessy rattled his box, and danced so high\nthat he showed his worsted stockings and corduroy breeches; and very\noften, if there was a thaw, tucked up his gown skirts under his\nwaistcoat, and shook the bonnet off his head, and disarranged the long\nringlets that ought to have concealed his whiskers. For Bessy is to the\nprocession of Plough Monday what the leading _figurante_ is to an opera\nor ballet, and dances about as gracefully as the hippopotami described\nby Dr. Livingstone. But their rough antics were the cause of much\nlaughter, and rarely do we ever remember hearing any coarse jest that\nwould call up the angry blush to a modest cheek.\n\nNo doubt they were called \u201cplough-bullocks,\u201d through drawing the plough,\nas bullocks were formerly used, and are still yoked to the plough in\nsome parts of the country. The rubbishing verses they recited are not\nworth preserving, beyond the line, which graces many a public-house\nsign, \u201cGod speed the plough.\u201d At the large farmhouse, besides money they\nobtained refreshment, and through the quantity of ale they thus drank\nduring the day managed to get what they called \u201ctheir load by night.\u201d\nEven the poorest cottagers dropped a few pence into Bessy\u2019s box.\n\nBut the great event of the day was when they came before some house\nwhich bore signs that the owner was well-to-do in the world, and nothing\nwas given to them. Bessy rattled his box, and the ploughmen danced,\nwhile the country lads blew the bullocks\u2019 horns, or shouted with all\ntheir might; but if there was still no sign, no coming forth of either\nbread-and-cheese or ale, then the word was given, the ploughshare driven\ninto the ground before the door or window, the whole twenty men yoked\npulling like one, and in a minute or two the ground before the house was\nas brown, barren, and ridgy as a newly-ploughed field. But this was\nrarely done, for everybody gave something, and were it but little the\nmen never murmured, though they might talk about the stinginess of the\ngiver afterwards amongst themselves, more especially if the party was\nwhat they called \u201cwell off in the world.\u201d We are not aware that the\nploughmen were ever summoned to answer for such a breach of the law, for\nthey believe, to use their own expressive language, \u201cthey can stand by\nit, and no law in the world can touch \u2019em, \u2019cause it\u2019s an old charter;\u201d\nand we are sure it would spoil their \u201cfolly to be wise.\u201d\n\nOne of the mummers generally wears a fox\u2019s skin in the form of a hood;\nbut beyond the laughter the tail that hangs down his back awakens by its\nmotion as he dances, we are at a loss to find a meaning. Bessy formerly\nwore a bullock\u2019s tail behind, under his gown, and which he held in his\nhand while dancing, but that appendage has not been worn of late.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nHone\u2019s _Year Book_, p. 29, gives a quotation from a _Briefe Relation_,\n&c., 1646, wherein the writer says, that the Monday after Twelfth Day is\ncalled \u201cPlowlick Monday\u201d by the husbandmen in Norfolk, \u201cbecause on that\nday they doe first begin to plough.\u201d\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nIn the northern and eastern parts of the county Plough Monday is more\nnoticed than in the neighbourhood of Northampton. The pageant varies in\ndifferent places; sometimes five persons precede the plough, which is\ndrawn by a number of boys with their faces blackened and reddled.\nFormerly, when the pageant was of a more important character than now,\nthe plough was drawn by oxen decorated with ribbons. The one who walks\nfirst in the procession is styled the Master, and is grotesquely\nattired, having on a large wig; two are gaily bedizened in women\u2019s\nclothes; and two others have large hunches on their backs, on which is\nsewed the knave of hearts. These two are called Red Jacks, or fools.\nEach of the five carries a besom, and one of them a box, which he\nrattles assiduously among the spectators to obtain their donations,\nwhich are spent at night in conviviality and jollification. In some\ninstances they plough up the soil in front of the houses of such\npersons as refuse their contributions. Before the inclosure of open\nfields, there was another custom in connection with the day. When the\nploughman returned from his labours in the evening, the servant-maid\nused to meet him with a jug of toast and ale; and if he could succeed in\nthrowing his plough-hatchet into the house before she reached the door,\nhe was entitled to a cock to throw at Shrovetide; but if she was able to\npresent him with the toast and ale first, then she gained the cock. (See\npage 38.)--Baker\u2019s _Northamptonshire Words and Phrases_, 1854, ii. 1257.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nOn the Monday after Twelfth Day, says Clarkson (_Hist. of Richmond_,\n1821, p. 293), a number of young men from the country, yoked to a\nplough, drag it about the streets, begging money, in allusion to the\nlabours of the plough having ceased in that severe weather. In like\nmanner the watermen in London, when the Thames is covered with ice in\nhard frosts, haul a boat about the streets, to show that they are\ndeprived of the means of earning their livelihood.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 10.] OXFORDSHIRE.\n\n\nPointer, in his _Oxoniensis Academia_ (1749, p. 96), alludes to a\npractice observed at St. John\u2019s and Corpus Christi Colleges, Oxford, of\nhaving a speech spoken on this day, _in laudem Laudi Archiepiscopi_.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 12.] SCOTLAND.\n\n\nThis day is observed by the people of Halkirk, as New Year\u2019s Day, a time\nwhen servants are too apt to spend their hard-earned penny in drink and\nother equally useless purposes.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1845, vol.\nxv. p. 75.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 13.] ST. HILARY\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nSt. Hilary is memorable in the annals of Richmond, in the county of\nYork, as on the anniversary of his festival the mayor is chosen for the\nensuing year, which causes it to be observed as a jubilee-day among the\nfriends, and those concerned in corporation matters.\n\nSt. Hilary likewise gives name to one of the four seasons of the year\nwhen the courts of justice are opened.--Clarkson\u2019s _Hist. of Richmond_,\n1821, p. 293.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 14.] MALLARD NIGHT.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nThis day was formerly celebrated in All Souls College, Oxford, in\ncommemoration of the discovery of a very large mallard or drake in a\ndrain, when digging for the foundation of the college; and though this\nobservance no longer exists, yet on one of the college \u201cgaudies\u201d there\nis sung in memory of the occurrence a very old song called \u201cThe\nswapping, swapping mallard.\u201d\n\n\u201cTHE MERRY OLD SONG OF THE ALL SOULS MALLARD.\n\n    \u201cGriffin, bustard, turkey, capon,\n    Let other hungry mortals gape on;\n    And on the bones their stomach fall hard,\n    But let All Souls\u2019 men have their Mallard.\n\n      Oh! by the blood of King Edward,[9]\n      Oh! by the blood of King Edward,\n      It was a swapping, swapping Mallard.\n\n    The Romans once admired a gander\n    More than they did their chief commander;\n    Because he saved, if some don\u2019t fool us,\n    The place that\u2019s called th\u2019 \u2018_head of Tolus_.\u2019\n\n        Oh! by the blood of King Edward, &c.\n\n    The poets feign Jove turned a swan,\n    But let them prove it if they can;\n    As for our proof, \u2019tis not at all hard,\n    For it was a swapping, swapping Mallard.\n\n        Oh! by the blood of King Edward, &c.\n\n    Therefore let us sing and dance a galliard,\n    To the remembrance of the Mallard;\n    And as the Mallard dives in pool,\n    Let us dabble, dive, and duck in bowl.\n\n        Oh! by the blood of King Edward,\n        Oh! by the blood of King Edward,\n        It was a swapping, swapping Mallard.\u201d\n\n  [9] The allusion to King Edward is surely an anachronism, as King\n  Henry VI. was reigning at the time of the foundation of the\n  college.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 114.\n\nWhen Pointer wrote his _Oxoniensis Academia_ (1749), he committed a\ngrave offence by insinuating that this immortalised mallard was no other\nthan a _goose_. The insinuation produced a reply from Dr. Buckler,\nreplete with irresistible irony; but Pointer met a partisan in Mr.\nBilson, chaplain of All Souls, who issued a folio sheet entitled\n\u2018Proposals for printing by subscription the History of the Mallardians,\u2019\nwith the figure of a cat prefixed, said to have been found starved in\nthe college library.--_Hist. of Co. of Oxford_, 1852, p. 144.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 17.] SEPTUAGESIMA.\n\n\nSeptuagesima occurs between this day and February the 22nd, according as\nthe Paschal full moon falls. It was formerly distinguished by a strange\nceremony, denominated the _Funeral of Alleluia_. On the Saturday of\nSeptuagesima, at nones, the choristers assembled in the great vestiary\nof the cathedral, and there arranged the ceremony. Having finished the\nlast _benedicamus_, they advanced with crosses, torches, holy waters,\nand incense, carrying a turf in the manner of a coffin, passed through\nthe choir, and went howling to the cloister as far as the place of\ninterment; and then having sprinkled the water and censed the place,\nreturned by the same road.--Fosbroke\u2019s _British Monachism_, 1843, p. 56.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 20.] ST. AGNES\u2019 EVE.\n\n\nThis night was formerly much venerated by young maidens who wished to\nknow when and whom they should marry. It was required that on this day\nthey should not eat, which was called \u201cfasting St. Agnes\u2019 fast.\u201d Keats\nhas made this custom the subject of one of his poems. The following are\na few stanzas from it:\n\n    \u201cSt. Agnes\u2019s Eve! Ah, bitter chill it was!\n    The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;\n    The hare limp\u2019d trembling through the frozen grass,\n    And silent was the flock in woolly fold.\n\n           *       *       *       *       *\n\n    They told me how, upon St. Agnes\u2019s Eve\n    Young virgins might have visions of delight;\n    And soft adorings from their loves receive,\n    Upon the honey\u2019d middle of the night,\n    If ceremonies due they did aright;\n    As supperless to bed they must retire,\n    And couch supine their beauties, lilywhite;\n    Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require\n    Of Heaven, with upward eyes, for all that they desire.\n\n           *       *       *       *       *\n\n                                Her vespers done,\n    Of all its wretched pearls her hair she frees;\n    Unclasp\u2019d her warmed jewels one by one;\n    Loosens her fragrant bodice; by degrees\n    Her rich attire creeps rustling to her knees:\n    Half hidden, like a mermaid in sea-weed,\n    Pensive awhile she dreams awake, and sees,\n    In fancy, fair St. Agnes in her bed,\n    But dares not look behind, or all the charm is fled.\u201d\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nFormerly on the eve of St. Agnes\u2019 Day the following custom was, and\nperchance still is observed in the northern parts of Scotland by the\nmountain peasantry. A number of young lads and lasses meeting together\non the eve of St. Agnes, at the hour of twelve, went one by one to a\ncertain cornfield, and threw in some grain, after which they pronounced\nthe following rhyme:\n\n    \u201cAgnes sweet and Agnes fair,\n    Hither, hither, now repair;\n    Bonny Agnes, let me see\n    The lad who is to marry me.\u201d\n\nThe prayer was granted by their favourite saint, and the shadow of the\ndestined bride or bridegroom was seen in a mirror on this very\nnight.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1832, p. 15.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 21.] ST. AGNES\u2019 DAY.\n\n\nSince the Reformation, St. Agnes has by degrees lost her consequence in\nthis country as superstition has subsided; though our rural virgins in\nthe north are yet said to practise some singular rites, in keeping \u201cwhat\nthey call St. Agnes\u2019 Fast, for the purpose of discovering their future\nhusbands.\u201d--_Clavis Calendaria_, Brady, 1815, vol. i. p. 170. See Mother\nBunch\u2019s _Closet Newly Broke Open_, 1825 (?). _Anatomy of Melancholy_,\nBurton, 1660, p. 538.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 24.] ST. PAUL\u2019S EVE.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nThe first red-letter day in the Tinner\u2019s Calendar is St. Paul\u2019s\nPitcher-day, or the Eve of Paul\u2019s Tide. It is marked by a very curious\nand inexplicable custom, not only among tin-streamers, but also in the\nmixed mining and agricultural town and neighbourhood of Bodmin, and\namong the seafaring population of Padstow. The tinner\u2019s mode of\nobserving it is as follows:--On the day before the Feast of St. Paul, a\nwater-pitcher is set up at a convenient distance, and pelted with\nstones until entirely demolished. The men then leave their work, and\nadjourn to a neighbouring ale-house, where a new pitcher bought to\nreplace the old one is successively filled and emptied, and the evening\nis given up to merriment and misrule.\n\nOn inquiry whether some dim notion of the origin and meaning of this\ncustom remained among those who still keep it up, it was found to be\ngenerally held as an ancient festival intended to celebrate the day when\ntin was first turned into metal--in fact, the discovery of smelting. It\nis the occasion of a revel, in which, as an old streamer observes, there\nis an open rebellion against the water-drinking system which is enforced\nupon them whilst at work.\n\nThe custom of observing _Paul\u2019s Pitcher Night_ is probably\nhalf-forgotten even in Cornwall at the present time, where many of the\nancient provincial usages have been suffered to die out. It was,\nhowever, in full vigour so recently as 1859. The boys of Bodmin parade\nthe town with broken pitchers, and other earthenware vessels, and into\nevery house, where the door can be opened, or has been inadvertently\nleft so, they hurl a \u201cPaul\u2019s pitcher,\u201d exclaiming,\n\n    \u201cPaul\u2019s Eve,\n    And here\u2019s a heave.\u201d\n\nAccording to custom, the first \u201cheave\u201d cannot be objected to; but upon\nits repetition the offender, if caught, may be punished.--Brand\u2019s _Pop.\nAntiq._ 1870, vol. i. p. 23; _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. iii. p. 239; _2nd S._\nvol. viii. p. 312.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 25.] ST. PAUL\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nStrype, in his _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. part i. p.\n331), says: On the 25th of January (1554), being St. Paul\u2019s Day, was a\ngeneral procession of St. Paul by every parish, both priests and clerks,\nin copes, to the number of an hundred and sixty, singing _Salve festa\ndies_, with ninety crosses borne. The procession was through Cheap unto\nLeadenhall. And before went two schools; that is, first, all the\nchildren of the Gray Friars, and then those of St. Paul\u2019s school. There\nwere eight bishops, and the Bishop of London, mitred, bearing the\nSacrament, with many torches burning, and a canopy borne over. And so\nabout the churchyard, and in at the West door, with the Lord Mayor and\nAldermen, and all the Companies in their best liveries. And within a\nwhile after, the King came, and the Lord Cardinal, and the Prince of\nPiemont, and divers lords and knights. At the foot of the steps to the\nchoir, as the King went up, kneeled the gentlemen lately pardoned,\noffering him their service. After mass, they returned to the court to\ndinner. And at night bonfires, and great ringing of bells in every\nchurch. And all this joy was for the conversion of the realm.\n\nIt was on this day that the husbandmen of old used to make prognostics\nof the weather, and of other matters for the whole year, a custom which\nBourne (_Antiquitates Vulgares_, chap. xviii. p. 159) has tried to\nunravel.--_New Curiosities of Literature_, Soane, 1847, p. 42.\n\n\n_St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral._--One of the strangest of the old ceremonies in\nwhich the clergy of St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral used to figure was that which\nwas performed twice a year, namely, on the day of the Conversion, and on\nthat of the Commemoration of St. Paul. On the former of these festivals\na fat buck, and on the latter a fat doe, was presented to the church by\nthe family of Baud, in consideration of some lands which they held of\nthe Dean and Chapter at West Lee in Essex. The original agreement made\nwith Sir William Le Baud, in 1274, was that he himself should attend in\nperson with the animals; but some years afterwards it was arranged that\nthe presentation should be made by a servant, accompanied by a\ndeputation of part of the family. The priests, however, continued to\nperform their part in the show. On the aforesaid days, the buck and doe\nwere brought by one or more servants at the hour of the procession, and\nthrough the midst thereof, and offered at the high altar of St. Paul\u2019s\nCathedral; after which the persons that brought the buck received of the\nDean and Chapter, by the hands of their chamberlain, twelvepence for\ntheir entertainment; but nothing when they brought the doe. The buck\nbeing brought to the steps of the altar, the Dean and Chapter,\napparelled in copes and proper vestments, with garlands of roses on\ntheir heads, sent the body of the buck to be baked, and had the head and\nhorns fixed on a pole before the cross in their procession round about\nthe church, till they issued at the West door, where the keeper that\nbrought it blowed the death of the buck, and then the horns that were\nabout the city answered him in like manner; for which they had each of\nthe Dean and Chapter three and fourpence in money, and their dinner; and\nthe keeper, during his stay, meat, drink, and lodging, and five\nshillings in money at his going away; together with a loaf of bread,\nhaving on it the picture of St. Paul. This custom was continued till the\nreign of Elizabeth.--_Beauties of England_, Brayley and Britton, 1803,\nvol. v. p. 486.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 31.] EXECUTION OF CHARLES I.\n\n\nThe anniversary of the execution of King Charles I. was formerly\ncelebrated, and a special form of prayer made use of, which was removed\nfrom the Prayer Book by an Act of Parliament (22 Vict. c. 2, March 25,\n1859).\n\nThe following extract is taken from the _Courier_, of the 30th of\nJanuary, 1826:\n\n\u201cThis being the anniversary of King Charles\u2019 Martyrdom (in 1649), the\nRoyal Exchange gates were shut till twelve o\u2019clock, when they were\nopened for public business.\u201d\n\nThere is a story told regarding a Miss Russell, great granddaughter of\nOliver Cromwell, who was waiting-woman to the Princess Amelia, daughter\nof George II., to the effect that, while engaged in her duty one 30th of\nJanuary, the Prince of Wales came into the room, and sportively said,\n\u201cFor shame, Miss Russell! why have you not been at church, humbling\nyourself with weepings and wailings for the sins on this day committed\nby your ancestor?\u201d To which Miss Russell answered, \u201cSir, for a\ndescendant of the great Oliver Cromwell, it is humiliation sufficient to\nbe employed, as I am, in pinning up the tail of your sister!\u201d--Rede\u2019s\n_Anecdotes_, 1799, quoted in _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 192.\n\n\n\n\nJAN. 31.] ISLE OF MAN.\n\n\nOn the eve of the 1st of February a festival was formerly kept, called\nin the Manks language _Laa\u2019l Breeshey_, in honour of the Irish lady who\nwent over to the Isle of Man to receive the veil from St. Maughold. The\ncustom was to gather a bundle of green rushes, and standing with them in\nthe hand on the threshold of the door, to invite the holy Saint Bridget\nto come and lodge with them that night. In the Manks language, the\ninvitation ran thus:--\u201cBrede, Brede, tar gys my thie, tar dyn thie ayms\nnoght. Foshil jee yn dorrys da Brede, as lhig da Brede e heet staigh.\u201d\nIn English, \u201cBridget, Bridget, come to my house, come to my house\nto-night--open the door for Bridget, and let Bridget come in.\u201d After\nthese words were repeated, the rushes were strewn on the floor by way of\na carpet or bed for St. Bridget.--Train\u2019s _History of the Isle of Man_,\n1845, vol. ii. p. 116.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nThe following extract from the _Newark Advertiser_ of Feb. 2nd. 1870,\ndescribes a custom that existed for a long time at Newark:\n\n\u201cFor many years past the last day in January has been observed in Newark\nas a raffling day for oranges in the market-place. On Monday last\napplication was made to Mr. Superintendent Riddell, at the Post Office,\nas to whether the practice would be allowed this year as usual. He\nadvised them to apply to the sitting magistrates, and upon doing so Mr.\nWallis (deputy clerk) read to them the Act of Parliament, which stated\nthat they would be liable to three months\u2019 hard labour if they raffled.\nThe applicants said they believed there was some old charter which gave\nthem the privilege in Newark for raffling on that day, but they were\ntold the Act of Parliament made no exceptions, and the magistrates said\nthey could not give them permission to break the law. On Monday,\ntherefore, no raffling took place, and we may regard the practice as\nfinally put an end to, which will be a matter of great satisfaction to\nmany.--See, _Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 161.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nBy the common people, the Saturday preceding Shrove Tuesday is called\nEgg Saturday. This name is employed as a date by Anthony \u00e0 Wood: \u201cOne\nhundred and ninety-two bachelors to determine this Lent, but\ntwenty-three or thereabouts were not presented on Egg Saturday.\u201d--_Med.\n\u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 158. _Lives of Leland, Hearne, and Wood_, 1772,\nvol. ii. p. 297.\n\n\n\n\nFEB. 1.] CANDLEMAS EVE.\n\n\nOn Candlemas Eve was kindled the _yule-brand_, which was allowed to burn\ntill sunset, when it was quenched and carefully laid by to _teend_ (i.e.\nlight) the Christmas clog or log at the next return of the season. Thus\nHerrick, _Hesperides_, p. 337, says:\n\n    \u201cKindle the _Christmas Brand_, and then\n      Till sunne-set let it burne;\n    Which quencht, then lay it up agen\n      Till Christmas next returne.\n\n    Part must be kept wherewith to teend\n      The _Christmas Log_ next yeare;\n    And where \u2019tis safely kept, the fiend\n      Can do no mischiefe there.\u201d\n\nThe rosemary, the bay, the ivy, the holly, and the mistletoe, the\nChristmas decorations of hall and cottage, were now pulled down, when,\naccording to the popular superstition, not a branch, nor even a leaf,\nshould be allowed to remain.\n\n    \u201cDown with the _Rosemary_ and so\n    Down with the _Baies_ and the _Misleto_:\n    Down with the _Holly, Ivie, all\n    Wherewith ye dress the Christmas Hall_:\n    That so the superstitious find\n    _No one least branch there left behind_:\n    For look, _how many leaves_ there be\n    Neglected there (maids trust to me),\n    _So many goblins you shall see_.\u201d\n\n  Herrick (_Hesperides_, p. 361).\n\nIn the place, however, of the Christmas decorations, the \u201cgreener box\nwas upraised,\u201d and Christmas now was positively at an end. Some indeed,\nconsidered this to have been the case on Twelfth Night, and old Tusser,\nin his _Five Hundred Points of good Husbandry_, strongly contends for\nit; but then his head was more full of the cart and plough than of\nregard for old customs; and like any other master, he was naturally\nanxious that the holidays should be ended, and the labourers should get\nto work again as soon as possible; and merry-making, however agreeable\nit may be, will not help to dig the land or sow the grain. But in spite\nof these wise saws, the truth of which nobody would contest, human\nfeelings are stronger than human reason, and customs, when they tend to\npleasure, will maintain their ground till they are superseded, not by\nprivations, but by other forms of amusement.--_New Curiosities of\nLiterature_, Soane, 1847, vol. i. p. 52.\n\nThe following is from Herrick\u2019s _Hesperides_, p. 337.\n\n          \u201cDown with the Rosemary and Bayes,\n            Down with the Misleto;\n          Instead of Holly, now up-raise\n            The greener Box for show.\n\n          The Holly hitherto did sway,\n            Let Box now domineere,\n          Until the dancing Easter Day,\n            Or Easter\u2019s Eve appeare.\n\n          Then youthful Box, which now hath grace\n            Your houses to renew,\n          Grown old, surrender must his place\n            Unto the crisped Yew.\n\n          When Yew is out, then Birch comes in,\n            And many flowers beside;\n          Both of a fresh and fragrant kinne\n            To honour Whitsontide.\n\n          Green Rushes then, and sweetest Bents,\n            With cooler Oaken boughs,\n          Come in for comely ornaments\n            To re-adorn the house.\n\n    Thus times do shift; each thing his turne does hold;\n    New things succeed, as former things grow old.\u201d\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIt was at one time customary, in the villages bordering on the Trent, to\ndecorate not only churches but houses with branches of box, and to light\nup a number of candles in the evening, as being the last day of\nChristmas rejoicings. \u201cOn Candlemas Day throw candles away\u201d is a popular\nproverb for the following day.--_Jour. Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. viii. p.\n231.\n\n\n\n\nFEB. 2.] CANDLEMAS DAY.\n\n\nThis day, the festival of the \u201cPurification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,\u201d\nis sometimes called _Christ\u2019s Presentation_, the _Holiday of St.\nSimeon_, and _The Wives\u2019 Feast_. The ceremony of candle-bearing (which\ncontinued in England till it was repealed for its Popish tendency by an\norder in council in the second year of King Edward VI.) is generally\nconsidered to refer to what Simeon said when he took the infant Jesus in\nhis arms, and declared that he was _a light to lighten the Gentiles_.\n\nPope Innocent, in a sermon on this festival quoted in _Pagano Papismus_,\nin reply to the question \u201cWhy do we (the Catholics) in this feast carry\ncandles?\u201d says, \u201cBecause the Gentiles dedicated the month of February to\nthe infernal gods; and as at the beginning of it Pluto stole Proserpine,\nand her mother, Ceres, sought her in the night with lighted candles, so\nthey in the beginning of this month, walked about the city with lighted\ncandles. Because the holy fathers could not utterly extirpate this\ncustom, they ordained that Christians should carry about candles in\nhonour of the blessed Virgin Mary; and thus what was done before to the\nhonour of Ceres is now done to the honour of the Virgin.\u201d\n\nFrom whatever cause, however, the ceremony originated, it acquired many\nadditional rites in the process of time, according to the manners and\nhabits of those who adopted it. We are told in Dunstan\u2019s _Concord of\nMonastic Rules_ that \u201cthe monks went in surplices to the church for\ncandles, which were to be consecrated, sprinkled with holy water, and\nincensed by the abbot. Every monk took a candle from the sacrist and\nlighted it. A procession was made, thirds and mass were celebrated, and\nthe candles, after the offering, were presented to the priest. The\nmonks\u2019 candles signified the use of them in the parable of the wise\nvirgins.\u201d\n\nAccording to some authorities, there was on this day a general\nconsecration of all the candles to be burnt in the Catholic churches\nthroughout the whole year; and it should also be mentioned that from\nCandlemas the use of tapers at vespers and litanies, which had continued\nthrough the whole winter, ceased until the ensuing _All Hallow Mass_,\nwhich will serve to explain the old English proverb in Ray\u2019s collection:\n\n    \u201cOn Candlemas Day,\n    Throw candle and candlestick away.\u201d\n\n  _New Curiosities of Literature_, vol. i. p. 25.\n\n\nDORSETSHIRE.\n\nFormerly at Lyme Regis the wood-ashes of the family being sold\nthroughout the year as they were made, the person who purchased them\nannually sent a present on this day of a large candle. When night came,\nthis candle was lighted, and, assisted by its illumination, the inmates\nregaled themselves with cheering draughts of ale, and sippings of punch,\nor some other animating beverage, until the candle had burnt out. The\ncoming of the Candlemas Candle was looked forward to by the young ones\nas an event of some importance; for of usage they had a sort of right to\nsit up that night, and partake of the refreshment, till all retired to\nrest, the signal for which was the self-extinction of the Candlemas\nCandle.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 206.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nFormerly at Ripon, on the Sunday before Candlemas Day, the collegiate\nchurch was illuminated with candles.--_Gent. Mag._ 1790, vol. lx. p.\n719.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nAt grammar schools it is, or was, an universal custom for the children\nattending schools to make small presents of money to their teachers. The\nmaster sits at his desk or table, exchanging for the moment his usual\nauthoritative look for one of bland civility, and each child goes up in\nturn and lays his offering down before him, the sum being generally\nproportioned to the abilities of the parent. Sixpence and a shilling are\nthe usual sums in most schools, but some give half, and whole crowns,\nand even more. The boy and girl who give most are respectively styled\nking and queen. The children being then dismissed for a holiday proceed\nalong the streets in a confused procession, carrying the king and queen\nin state, exalted upon that seat, formed of crossed hands, which,\nprobably from this circumstance, is called \u201cthe king\u2019s chair.\u201d In some\nschools it used to be customary for the teacher, on the conclusion of\nthe offerings, to make a bowl of punch, and regale each boy with a glass\nto drink the king and queen\u2019s health, and a biscuit. The latter part of\nthe day was usually devoted to what was called the _Candlemass bleeze_\nor blaze, namely, the conflagration of any piece of furze which might\nexist in their neighbourhood, or, were that wanting, of an artificial\nbonfire.\n\nAccording to Sinclair the king\u2019s power lasted for six weeks, and during\nhis reign he was not only entitled to demand an afternoon\u2019s play for the\nscholars once a week, but had also the royal privilege of remitting\npunishments.--_Book of Days_, vol i. p. 214. _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_,\nSinclair, 1794, vol. xiii. p. 211.\n\nIt was formerly customary in Scotland to hold a football match, the east\nend of a town against the west, the unmarried men against the married,\nor one parish against another. The \u201cCandlemas ba\u2019,\u201d as it was called,\nbrought the whole community out in a state of high excitement. On one\noccasion when the sport took place in Jedburgh, the contending parties,\nafter a struggle of two hours in the streets, transferred the contention\nto the bed of the river Jed, and there fought it out amidst a scene of\nfearful splash and dabblement, to the infinite amusement of a multitude\nlooking on from the bridge.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 214.\n\n\nWESTERN ISLES OF SCOTLAND.\n\nAs Candlemas Day comes round, the mistress and servants of each family\ntaking a sheaf of oats, dress it up in woman\u2019s apparel, and after\nputting it in a large basket, beside which a wooden club is placed, they\ncry three times, \u201cBriid is come! Briid is welcome!\u201d This they do just\nbefore going to bed, and as soon as they rise in the morning, they\nlook among the ashes, expecting to see the impression of Briid\u2019s\nclub there, which if they do, they reckon it a true presage of\na good crop and prosperous year, and the contrary they take as an\nill-omen.--_Description of the Western Isles of Scotland_, Martin, 1703,\np. 119.\n\n\n\n\nCOLLOP MONDAY.\n\n\nThe Monday before Shrove Tuesday is so called because it was the last\nday of flesh-eating before Lent, and our ancestors cut their fresh meat\ninto collops or steaks, for salting or hanging up until Lent was over;\nand hence in many places it is customary to have eggs and collops, or\nslices of bacon at dinner on this day.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p.\n241.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nAt Eton it was the custom for the scholars to write verses either in\npraise or dispraise of Father Bacchus, poets being considered as\nimmediately under his protection. He was therefore sung on this occasion\nin all kinds of metres, and the verses of the boys of the seventh and\nsixth, and some of the fifth forms, were affixed to the inner doors of\nthe college. Verses are still written and put up on this day, but the\nyoung poets are not confined to the subject of writing eulogiums on the\nGod of Wine. It retains, however, the name of Bacchus.--Brand\u2019s _Pop.\nAntiq_., vol. i. p. 62. _Status Schol\u00e6 Etonensis_, A.D. 1560, fol. 423.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nOn the day termed Hall\u2019 Monday, which precedes Shrove Tuesday, about the\ndusk of the evening it is the custom for boys, and in some cases for\nthose who are above the age of boys, to prowl about the streets with\nshort clubs, and to knock loudly at every door, running off to escape\ndetection on the slightest sign of a motion within. If, however, no\nattention be excited, and especially if any article be discovered\nnegligently exposed, or carelessly guarded, then the things are carried\naway; and on the following morning are discovered displayed in some\nconspicuous place, to expose the disgraceful want of vigilance supposed\nto characterise the owner. The time when this is practised is called\n\u201cNickanan night;\u201d and the individuals concerned are supposed to\nrepresent some imps of darkness, who seize on and expose unguarded\nmoments.\n\nOn the following eve (Shrove Tuesday), the clubs are again in\nrequisition; but on this occasion the blows on the door keep time to the\nfollowing chant:\n\n    \u201cNicka, nicka nan;\n    Give me some pancake, and then I\u2019ll be gone.\n    But if you give me none,\n    I\u2019ll throw a great stone,\n    And down your doors shall come.\u201d\n\n  _Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall for 1842_; _N. & Q. 1st\n  S._ vol. xii. p. 297.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nIn the neighbourhood of Bridestow, Okehampton, the children go round to\nthe different houses in the parish on the Monday before Shrove Tuesday,\ngenerally by twos and threes, and chant the following verses, by way of\nextracting from the inmates sundry contributions of eggs, flour, butter,\nhalfpence, &c., to furnish out the Tuesday\u2019s feast:\n\n    \u201cLent Crock, give a pancake,\n    Or a fritter, for my labour,\n    Or a dish of flour, or a piece of bread,\n    Or what you please to render.\n    I see, by the latch,\n    There\u2019s something to catch;\n    I see, by the string,\n    There\u2019s a good dame within.\n    Trap, trapping throw,\n    Give me my mumps, and I\u2019ll be go\u201d (gone).\n\nThe above is the most popular version, and the one indigenous to the\nplace; but there is another set, which was introduced some years ago by\na late schoolmistress, who was a native of another part of the country,\nwhere her version was customary:\n\n    \u201cShrovetide is nigh at hand,\n    And we are come a-shroving;\n    Pray, Dame, give something,\n    An apple, or a dumpling,\n    Or a piece of crumple cheese,\n    Of your own making,\n    Or a piece of pancake.\n    Trip, trapping throw;\n    Give me my mumps, and I\u2019ll be go.\u201d\n\nThis custom existed also in the neighbourhood of Salisbury.--_N. & Q.\n1st S._ vol. v. p. 77. _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 62.\n\n\n\n\nFEB. 3.] ST. BLAIZE\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nSt. Blasius was Bishop of Sebaste, a city of Cappadocia, in the Lesser\nAsia, and is said to have suffered martyrdom in the persecution of\nLicinus in 316. The fact of iron combs having been used in tearing the\nflesh of the martyr appears to be the reason for his having been adopted\nby the wool-combers as their patron saint. The large flourishing\ncommunities engaged in this business in Bradford, and other English\ntowns, are accustomed to hold a septennial jubilee on the 3rd of\nFebruary, in honour of Jason of the Golden Fleece and St. Blaize; and\nnot many years ago the f\u00eate was conducted with considerable state and\nceremony.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 219.\n\nIn 1825 the procession was drawn up in the following order:\n\n  _Herald_ bearing a flag.\n\n  _Woolstaplers_ on horseback, each horse caparisoned with a fleece.\n\n  _Worsted Spinners and manufacturers_ on horseback, in white stuff\n  waistcoats, with each a sliver over the shoulder, and a white stuff\n  sash; the horses\u2019 necks covered with nets made of thick yarn.\n\n  _Merchants_ on horseback, with coloured sashes.\n\n  Three guards. Masters\u2019 Colours. Three guards.\n\n  _Apprentices and Masters\u2019 Sons_, on horseback, with ornamented caps,\n  scarlet stuff coats, white stuff waistcoats, and blue pantaloons.\n\n  _Bradford_ and _Keighley Bands_.\n\n  _Mace-bearer_, on foot.\n\n  Six guards. King. Queen. Six guards.\n\n  Guards. Jason. Princess Medea. Guards.\n\n  Bishop\u2019s Chaplain.\n\n  Bishop Blase.\n\n  _Shepherd and Shepherdess._\n\n  _Shepherd Swains._\n\n  _Woolsorters_, on horseback, with ornamented caps, and various\n  coloured slivers.\n\n  _Comb Makers._\n\n  _Charcoal Burners._\n\n  _Combers\u2019 Colours._\n\n  Band.\n\n  _Woolcombers_, with wool wigs, &c.\n\n  Band.\n\n  _Dyers_, with red cockades, blue aprons, and crossed slivers of red\n  and blue.\n\nBefore the procession started it was addressed by Richard Fawcett, Esq.,\nin the following lines:\n\n    Hail to the day, whose kind auspicious rays\n    Deign\u2019d first to smile on famous Bishop Blase!\n    To the great author of our Combing trade,\n    This day\u2019s devoted, and due honour\u2019s paid\n    To him whose fame thro\u2019 Britain\u2019s isle resounds,\n    To him whose goodness to the poor abounds.\n    Long shall his name in British annals shine,\n    And grateful ages offer at his shrine!\n    By this our trade are thousands daily fed,\n    By it supplied with means to earn their bread.\n    In various forms our trade its work imparts,\n    In different methods, and by different arts:\n    Preserves from starving indigents distress\u2019d,\n    As Combers, Spinners, Weavers, and the rest.\n    We boast no gems, or costly garments vain,\n    Borrow\u2019d from India or the coast of Spain;\n    Our native soil with wool our trade supplies,\n    While foreign countries envy us the prize.\n    No foreign broil our common good annoys,\n    Our country\u2019s product all our art employs;\n    Our fleecy flocks abound in every vale,\n    Our bleating lambs proclaim the joyful tale.\n    So let not Spain with us attempt to vie,\n    Nor India\u2019s wealth pretend to soar so high;\n    Nor Jason pride him in his Colchian spoil,\n    By hardships gain\u2019d, and enterprising toil;\n    Since Britons all with ease attain the prize,\n    And every hill resounds with golden cries,\n    To celebrate our founder\u2019s great renown.\n    Our shepherd and our shepherdess we crown.\n    For England\u2019s commerce and for George\u2019s sway\n    Each loyal subject give a loud Huzza.\n                      Huzza!\n\n  _Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 209. See also _Northamptonshire Words and\n  Phrases_, ii. p. 416.\n\nMinshen, in his _Ductor in Linguas_, (1617, p. 236), under the word\nHock-tide speaks of S. Blase his day, about Candlemas, when countrywomen\ngoe about and make good cheere; and if they finde any of their neighbour\nwomen a spinning that day, they burne and make a blaze of fire of the\ndistaffe, and thereof called S. Blaze his day.\n\nDr. Percy, in his _Notes to the Northumberland Household Book_ (1825,\npp. 333-435), tells us that the anniversary of St. Blasius is the 3rd\nof February, when it is customary in many parts of England to light\nfires on the hills on St. Blayse night: a custom anciently taken up,\nperhaps, for no better reason than the jingling resemblance of his name\nto the word \u201cblaze.\u201d\n\n\n_Candles offered to St. Blaze._--In honour of St. Blaze there formerly\nwere offered to him candles, which after receiving benediction were\nconsidered holy, and became highly serviceable to all pious uses.\n\n_Clavis Calendaria_, Brady, 1812. vol. i. p. 299. _Beauties of England\nand Wales_, Brayley and Britton, 1809, vol. ii. p. 418.\n\n\n\n\nSHROVE TUESDAY.\n\n\nShrove Tuesday derives its distinctive epithet in English, from the\ncustom of the people in applying to the priest to _shrive_ them, or hear\ntheir confessions, before entering on the great fast of Lent the\nfollowing day. Its Latin and Continental names have all a reference to\nthe last time of eating flesh. After the people had made the confession\nrequired by the ancient discipline of the Church, they were permitted to\nindulge in festive amusements, though restricted from partaking of any\nrepasts beyond the usual substitutes for flesh; hence the name\n_carnaval_, etymologically signifying, _Flesh, fare thee well_. From\nthis cause originated the custom of eating pancakes at Shrovetide, which\nbegan on the Sunday before the first in Lent.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol.\ni. p. 158.\n\nThat none, however, might plead forgetfulness of the ceremony of\nconfessing and being _shriven_, the great bell was rung at an early hour\nin every parish, and in after times this ringing was still kept up in\nsome places, though the cause of it ceased with the introduction of\nProtestantism; it then got the name of the _Pancake Bell_.\n\nTaylor, the water poet (in his _Jacke-a-Lent Workes_, 1630, vol. i. p.\n115), gives the following curious account as to the way in which Shrove\nTuesday was celebrated in olden times:\n\n\u201cAlways before Lent there comes waddling a fat, grosse groome, called\n_Shrove Tuesday_, one whose manners show he is better fed than taught,\nand indeed he is the only monster for feeding amongst all the dayes of\nthe yeere, for he devoures more flesh in fourteene houres than this old\nkingdom doth (or at least should doe) in sixe weekes after. Such boyling\nand broyling, such roasting and toasting, such stewing and brewing, such\nbaking, frying, mincing, cutting, carving, devouring, and gorbellied\ngurmondizing, that a man would thinke people did take in two months\u2019\nprovision at once. Moreover it is a goodly sight to see how the cookes\nin great men\u2019s kitchins doe frye in their master\u2019s suet, that if ever a\ncooke be worth the eating, it is when Shrove Tuesday is in towne, for he\nis so stued and larded, basted, and almost over-roasted, that a man may\neate every bit of him and never take a surfet. In a word, they are that\nday extreme cholerike, and too hot for any man to meddle with, being\nmonarchs of the marrow-bones, marquesses of the mutton, lords high\nregents of the spit and kettle, barons of the gridiron and sole\ncommanders of the frying-pan. And all this hurly burly is for no other\npurpose than to stop the mouth of the land-wheale, _Shrove-Tuesday_, at\nwhose entrance in the morning all the whole kingdome is in quiet, but by\nthe time the clocke strikes eleven--which by the help of a knavish\nsexton is commonly before nine,--then there is a bell rung called the\n_Pancake-Bell_, the sound whereof makes thousands of people distracted\nand forgetful either of manner or humanitie. Then there is a thing cal\u2019d\nwheat\u2019n flowre, which the sulphory, necromanticke cookes doe mingle with\nwater, eggs, spice, and other tragicall, magicall inchantments, and then\nthey put it little by little into a frying-pan of boyling suet, where it\nmakes a confused dismal hissing--like the Lernean snakes in the reeds of\nAcheron, Stix, or Phlegeton--until at last by the skill of the cooke it\nis transformed into the forme of a _flap-jack_, which in our translation\nis call\u2019d a _pancake_, which ominous incantation the ignorant people doe\ndevoure very greedily--having for the most part well dined before--but\nthey have no sooner swallowed that sweet candied baite, but straight\ntheir wits forsake them, and they runne starke mad, assembling in routs\nand throngs numberlesse of ungovernable numbers, with uncivill civil\ncommotions.\n\n\u201cThen Tim Tatters--a most valiant villaine--with an ensign made of a\npiece of a baker\u2019s maukin fixed upon a broomstaffe, he displaies his\ndreadful colours, and calling the ragged regiment together, makes an\nilliterate oration, stuft with most plentiful want of discretion, the\nconclusion whereof is that somewhat they will doe, but what they know\nnot; until at last comes marching up another troupe of tatterdemalions,\nproclayming wars against no matter who, so they may be doing. Then these\nyouths arm\u2019d with cudgels, stones, hammers, rules, trowels, and\nhandsawse, put play-houses to the sacke, and *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0* to the spoyle, in\nthe quarrel breaking a thousand _quarrels_--of glasse, I mean--making\nambitious brickbats breake their neckes, tumbling from the tops of lofty\nchimnies, terribly untyling houses, ripping up the bowels of feather\nbeds, to the inriching of upholsters, the profit of plaisterers and\ndirt-dawbers, the gaine of glasiers, joyners, carpenters, tylers and\nbricklayers; and, what is worse, to the contempt of justice; for what\navails it for a constable with an army of reverend rusty bill-men to\ncommand peace to these beastes? for they with their pockets, instead of\npistols, well charged with stone-shot, discharge against the image of\nauthority whole volleys as thicke as hayle, which robustious repulse\nputs the better sort to the worst part, making the band of unscowered\nhalberdiers retyre faster than ever they come on, and show exceeding\ndiscretion in proving tall men of their heels. So much for _Shrove\nTuesday_, Jacke-a-Lent\u2019s gentleman usher; these have been his humours in\nformer times, but I have some better hope of reformation in him\nhereafter, and indeed I wrote this before his coming this yeere, 1617,\nnot knowing how hee would behave himselfe; but tottering betwixt\ndespaire and hope I leave him.\u201d\n\nIn connection with the custom of eating pancakes on this day, Fosbroke\nin his _Encyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities_ (vol. ii. p. 572) says that\n\u201cPancakes, the Norman _Crispell\u00e6_, are taken from the Fornacalia, on\nFeb. 18th, in memory of the practice in use before the goddess Fornax\ninvented ovens.\u201d\n\nThe Saxons called February \u201cSolmonath,\u201d which Dr. F. Sayers, in his\n_Disquisitions_, says is explained by Bede\u2019s \u201cMensis Placentarum,\u201d and\nrendered by Spelman, in an inedited MS., \u201cPancake month,\u201d because in the\ncourse of it cakes were offered by the Pagan Saxons to the Sun.\n\nOur most usual name of this Tuesday, says Hampson (_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._\nvol. i. p. 158), is originally Swedish: _pankaka_, an omelette; but, it\nhas been absurdly derived from the Greek \u03c0\u03b1\u03bd and \u03ba\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03b9, _all bad_, in\nreference to the penitents at confession.\n\nAt one time Shrove Tuesday was the great holiday of the apprentices. Why\nit should have been so, says Hone (_Every Day Book_, 1826, vol. i. p.\n258), is easy to imagine, on recollecting the sports that boys were\nallowed on that day at school. The indulgences of the ancient city\napprentices were great, and their licentious disturbances stand recorded\nin the annals of many a fray. The old plays make us aware of a licence\nwhich they took on Shrove Tuesday to assail houses of dubious repute,\nand cart the unfortunate inmates through the city.--_Book of Days_, vol.\ni. p. 239; See Dekker\u2019s _Seven Deadly Sinnes_, 1606, p. 35.\n\n\n_Cock-Fighting._--Cock-fighting was a very general amusement up to the\nend of the last century. It entered into the occupations of the old and\nyoung. Schools had their cockfights. Travellers agreed with coachmen\nthat they were to wait a night if there was a cock-fight in any town\nthrough which they passed. A battle between two cocks had five guineas\nstaked upon it. Fifty guineas, about the year 1760, depended upon the\nmain or odd battle. This made the decision of a \u201clong-main\u201d at\ncock-fighting an important matter. The church bells at times announced\nthe winning of a \u201clong-main.\u201d Matches were sometimes so arranged as to\nlast the week. When country gentlemen had sat long at table, and the\nconversation had turned upon the relative merits of their several birds,\na cock-fight often resulted, as the birds in question were brought for\nthe purpose into the dining-room.--Roberts, _Social History of S.\nCounties of England_, 1856, p. 421.\n\nFormerly cock-fighting was practised on Shrove Tuesday to a very great\nextent; and in the time of King Henry VII. this diversion seems to have\nbeen practised within the precincts of the court. In a royal household\naccount, occurs the following:--\u201cMarch 2, 7 Hen. VII. Item, to Master\nBray for rewards to them that brought Cokkes at Shrovetide, at\nWestm^{r}. xx^{s}.\u201d\n\nThe earliest mention of cock-fighting in England is by FitzStephens, who\ndied in 1191. He mentions it as one of the amusements of the Londoners,\ntogether with the game of foot-ball. He says; \u201cYearly at Shrove-tide the\nboys of every school bring fighting-cocks to their masters, and all the\nforenoon is spent at school, to see these cocks fight together. After\ndinner all the youth of the city goeth to play at the ball in the\nfields; the scholars of every study have their balls; the practisers\nalso of the trades have everyone their ball in their hands. The\nancienter sort, the fathers, and the wealthy citizens, come on horseback\nto see these youngsters contending at their sport, with whom, in a\nmanner, they participate by motion; stirring their own natural heat in\nthe view of the active youth, with whose mirth and liberty they seem to\ncommunicate.\u201d Cock-fighting is now happily by law a misdemeanour, and\npunishable by penalty.\n\n\n_Throwing at Cocks._--In days not very long gone by, the inhuman sport\nof throwing at cocks was practised at Shrovetide, and nowhere was it\nmore certain to be seen than at the grammar-schools. The poor animal was\ntied to a stake by a short cord, and the unthinking men and boys who\nwere to throw at it took their station at the distance of about twenty\nyards. Where the cock belonged to some one disposed to make it a matter\nof business, twopence was paid for three _shies_ at it, the missile used\nbeing a broomstick. The sport was continued till the poor creature was\nkilled outright by the blows. Such outrage and tumult attended this\ninhuman sport a century ago that it was sometimes dangerous to be near\nthe place where it was practised.--_Book of Days_, 1863, vol. i. p. 238.\n\nThe following extract is taken from the _Daily London Advertiser_,\nWednesday, March 7th, 1759:--Yesterday, being Shrove Tuesday, the orders\nof the justices in the City and Liberty of Westminster were so well\nobserved that few cocks were seen to be thrown at, so that it is hoped\nthis barbarous custom will be left off.\n\nIn _Men-Miracles_ (by M. Lluellin, student of Christ Church, Oxon,\n1679, p. 48), quoted by Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 78, is\nthe following ironical song on cock-throwing:\n\n    \u201cCocke a doodle doe, \u2019tis the bravest game,\n    Take a cock from his dame,\n      And bind him to a stake:\n    How he struts, how he throwes,\n    How he staggers, how he crowes,\n      As if the day newly brake.\n\n    \u201cHow his mistress cackles,\n    Thus to find him in shackles.\n      And tied to a packe-thread garter.\n    Oh, the beares and the bulls\n    Are but corpulent gulls\n      To the valiant Shrove-tide martyr.\u201d\n\n\n_Shying at Leaden Cocks._--This was probably in imitation of the\nbarbarous custom already described of \u201cshying\u201d or throwing at the living\nanimal. The \u201ccock\u201d was a representation of a bird or beast, a man, a\nhorse, or some device, with a stand projecting on all sides, but\nprincipally behind the figure. These were made of lead cast in moulds.\nThey were shyed at with dumps from a small distance agreed upon by the\nparties, generally regulated by the size or weight of the dump, and the\nvalue of the cock. If the thrower overset or knocked down the cock, he\nwon it; if he failed, he lost his dump.\n\n\n_Shy for Shy._--This was played at by two boys, each having a cock\nplaced at a certain distance, generally at about four or five feet\nasunder, the players standing behind their cocks, and throwing\nalternately; a bit of stone or wood was generally used to throw with;\nthe cock was won by him who knocked it down.\n\nCorks and dumps were exposed for sale on the butchers\u2019 shambles on a\nsmall board and were the perquisites of the apprentices who made them;\nand many a pewter plate, and many an ale-house pot, were melted at this\nseason for shying at cocks, which was as soon as fires were lighted in\nthe autumn.\n\nThese games, and all others among the boys of London, had their\nparticular times or seasons; and when any game was out, as it was\ntermed, it was lawful to steal the thing played with; this was called\n_smugging_, and it was expressed by the boys in a doggrel air.\n\n    \u201cTops are in, spin \u2019em agin.\n    Tops are out, smugging about.\u201d\n\nor,\n\n    \u201cTops are in, spin \u2019em agin.\n    Dumps are out, &c.\u201d\n\nThe fair cock was not allowed to have his stand extended behind more\nthan his height and half as much more, nor much thicker than himself,\nand he was not to extend in width more than his height, nor to project\nover the stand; but fraudulent cocks were made extending laterally over\nthe side, so as to prevent his lying down sideways, and with a long\nstand behind; the body of the cock was made thinner, and the stand\nthicker, by which means the cock bent upon being struck, and it was\nimpossible to knock him over.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 253.\n\n\n_Threshing the Hen_ was a custom formerly practised on this day. The\nfollowing account taken from _Tusser Redivivus_, 1710 (8vo. June, p.\n15), is curious. \u201cThe hen,\u201d says the writer, \u201cis hung at a fellow\u2019s\nback, who also has some horse-bells about him, the rest of the fellows\nare blinded, and have boughs in their hands, with which they chase this\nfellow and his hen about some large court or small enclosure. The fellow\nwith his hen and bells shifting as well as he can, they follow the\nsound, and sometimes hit him and his hen; other times, if he can get\nbehind one of them, they thresh one another well favouredly; but the\njest is, the maids are to blind the fellows, which they do with their\naprons, and the cunning baggages will endear their sweethearts with a\npeeping-hole, whilst the others look out as sharp to hinder it. After\nthis the hen is boiled with bacon, and store of pancakes and fritters\nare made.\u201d\n\nThe same writer adds that after the hen-threshing, \u201cshe that is noted\nfor lying a-bed long, or any other miscarriage, hath the first pancake\npresented to her, which most commonly falls to the dogs\u2019 share at last,\nfor no one will own it their due.\u201d\n\nWith regard to the origin of this custom, it has been conjectured that\nas the fowl was a delicacy to the labourer, it was therefore given to\nhim on Shrove Tuesday for sport and food.--Tusser, in his _Five Hundred\nPoints of Good Husbandry_ (1620), has the following lines:\n\n    \u201cAt Shrovetide to shroving, go thresh the fat hen,\n    If blindfold can kill her, then give it thy men.\n    Maids, fritters, and pancakes enough see you make,\n    Let Slut have one pancake, for company sake.\u201d\n\nIn some places, if flowers are to be procured so early in the season,\nthe younger children carry a small garland, for the sake of collecting a\nfew pence, saying:\n\n    \u201cFlowers, flowers, high do!\n    Shreeny, greeny, rino!\n    Sheeny greeny, sheeny greeny,\n    Rum tum fra!\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 68.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nAt Eaton, on Shrove Tuesday, as soon as ever the clock strikes nine, all\nthe boys in the school cry \u03a4\u03a9 \u0392\u0391\u039a\u03a7\u03a9, \u03a4\u03a9 \u0392\u0391\u039a\u03a7\u03a9, \u03a4\u03a9 \u0392\u0391\u039a\u03a7\u03a9, as loud they\ncan yell, and stamp and knock with their sticks; and then they doe all\nrunne out of the schoole.--_Aubrey MS._, A.D. 1686, Brit. Mus.\n\nA MS. in the British Museum already alluded to (_Status Schol\u00e6\nEtonensis_, A.D. 1560, MS. Brit. Mus. Donat. 4843 fol. 423) mentions a\ncustom of the boys of Eton school being allowed to play from eight\no\u2019clock for the whole day; and of the cook\u2019s coming in and fastening a\npancake to a crow, which the young crows are calling upon, near it, at\nthe school door.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nPennant, in his _Journey from Chester to London_, tells us of a place at\nChester without the walls, called the Rood-Eye, where the lusty youth in\nformer days exercised themselves in manly sports of the age: in archery,\nrunning, leaping, and wrestling, in mock fights and gallant romantic\ntriumphs. A standard was the prize of emulation.\n\nIn a pamphlet also, entitled, _Certayne Collection of Anchiante Times,\nconcerninge the Anchiante and Famous Cittie of Chester_, published in\nLysons\u2019 _Magna Britannia_ (1810, vol. ii. p. 585), is the following:\n\n\u201cThat whereas the Companye and Corporation of Shoemakers within the\ncittie of Chester did yearely, time out of memory of man, upon Tewsday,\ncommonly called Shrove Tuesday, or otherwise Goteddesse day afternoon,\nat the Cross upon the Roode-Dee, before the Mayor of the said cittie,\noffer unto the Company of Drapers of the same cittie a ball of leather,\ncalled a foote-ball, of the value of 3_s._ 4_d._ or thereabouts: and by\nreason of the greate strife which did arise among the younge persons of\nthe same cittie (while diverse parties were taken with force and strong\nhandes to bring the said ball to one of these three houses, that is to\nsay, to the Mayor\u2019s house, or any one of the two Sheriffs\u2019 houses of the\ntime being), much harme was done, some in the great thronge fallinge\ninto a trance, some having their bodies brused and crushed; some their\narms, heades, or legges broken, and some otherwise maimed, or in perill\nof life: to avoid the said inconveniences, and also to torne and\nconverte the said homage to a better use, it was thought good by the\nMayor of the saide cittie and the rest of the Common-Council to exchange\nof the said foote-ball as followeth: that in place thereof, there be\noffered by the Shoemakers to the Drapers, six gleaves[10] of silver, the\nwhich gleaves they appoynted to be rewards unto such men as would come,\nand the same day and place, passe and overcome on foot all others: and\nthe said gleaves were presently delivered according to the runninge of\nevery one; and this exchange was made in the time when Henry Gee was\nMayor of Chester,[11] A.D. 1539, and in the thirty-firste yeare of Kinge\nHenry the Eighth.\n\n  [10] An obsolete word for a hand-dart.\n\n  [11] The following is a copy of the order for the above-mentioned\n  change, extracted from \u201cthe Orders and Acts of Assembly, of the Mayor,\n  Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of Chester,\u201d in the Town\n  Clerk\u2019s Office:\n\n  \u201c_Jan 10_ 3 _Hen._ viii. HENRY GEE, MAYOR.\u201d--After reciting the\n  ancient use of archery and shooting in the long bow, for the honour\n  and defence of the realm, and that the same is much decayed, and other\n  unlawful games much in use: \u201cOrdered by the Mayor, Aldermen, and\n  Common Council, with the consent of the whole occupation of drapers,\n  sadlers, and shoemakers, that the said occupation of shoemakers (which\n  always have, time out of mind, given and delivered yearly, on Shrove\n  Tuesday in the afternoon, unto the drapers, before the Mayor at the\n  Cross on the Roodee, one ball of leather, called a foot-ball, of the\n  value of 3_s._ 4_d._, or above, to play at from thence to the\n  common-hall of the said city, and further at the pleasure of the\n  evil-disposed persons; whereof hath arisen great inconveniences) shall\n  give and deliver yearly to the said drapers, before the Mayor at the\n  said time and place: six silver gleaves, each of the value of 27_d._\n  or above, to be disposed of at the pleasure of the said Mayor and\n  drapers, to him that shall win a foot-race before them, that or any\n  other day; and that the sadlers (who have time out of mind given, and\n  delivered yearly, at the same time and place, every master of them,\n  unto the drapers, before the Mayor, one painted ball of wood, with\n  flowers and arms, upon the point of a spear, being goodly arrayed upon\n  horseback accordingly) shall henceforth give and deliver to the said\n  drapers, before the Mayor, at the same time and place upon horseback,\n  a bell of silver, to the value of 3_s._ 4_d._, to be disposed of at\n  the discretion of the Mayor and drapers, to him that shall get the\n  horse races on that day; and that every man that hath been married in\n  the said city, since Shrove Tuesday, then last past, shall then and\n  there also deliver to the said drapers before the Mayor, an arrow of\n  silver, to the value of 5_s._ or above, instead of such ball of silk\n  and velvet, which such married men ought then to have given and\n  delivered by the ancient custom of the said city (used time out of\n  mind), which silver arrow shall be disposed of by the Mayor and\n  drapers, for the preferment of the said feat and exercise of shooting\n  in the long-bow, for avoiding the said inconveniences, any use or\n  prescription to the contrary notwithstanding; and also, the said\n  drapers and their successors, shall keep yearly their recreation and\n  drinking, as they used to do, time out of mind, and that the\n  shoemakers and sadlers, and persons hereafter to be married, shall\n  observe this order upon pain of 10_l._ for every offence, _toties\n  quoties_, to be forfeited to the drapers according to ancient custom.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlsoe, whereas the Companye and occupation of the Sadlers within the\nCittie of Chester did yearely by custome, time out of memorie of man,\nthe same day, hour, and place, before the Mayor, offer upon a truncheon,\nstaffe or speare, a certaine homage to the Drapers of the cittie of\nChester, called the Sadler\u2019s ball, profitable for few uses or purposes,\nas it was, beinge a ball of silk of the bigness of a bowle, was torned\ninto a silver bell; weighing about two ozs., as is supposed, of silver:\nthe which saide silver bell was ordayned to be the rewarde for that\nhorse, which with speedy runninge, then should rune before all others,\nand there presently should be given the daye and place. This alteration\nwas made the same time, and by the same mayor, like as the Shoemakers\u2019\nfoote-ball was before exchanged into six silver gleaves.\n\n\u201cAlso, whereas of an anchant custom whereof man\u2019s memorie nowe livinge\ncannot remember the original and beginninge, the same daye, hower and\nplace, before the mayor for the time beinge, every person which is\nmarried within the liberties of the saide cittie, dwelling wheresoever\nwithout, and all those that dwelle within the saide cittie, for one\nyeare before, and marye elswhere, did offer likewise a homage to the\nsaid Companye of Drapers before the Mayor, a ball of silke, of the like\nbignesse of a bowle; the same mayor torned the same balls into silver\narrowes, the which arrowes they tooke order should be given to those\nwhich did shoote the longest shoote, with divers kind of arrowes: this\nexchange was made as before is mentioned of the Shoemakers\u2019 foote-ball\nand the Sadlers\u2019 ball. In which exchange there appeared greate wisdom,\nanchent and sage senators, whoe had great studye and regarde to torne\nthe foresaid thinges unto soe profitable uses and exercises; so that\nthere is three of the most commendable exercises and practices of\nwar-like feates, as running of men on foot, runninge of horses, and\nshootinge of the broad arrowe, the flighte and the butt-shafte, in the\nlong-bowe, are yearely there used; which is done in a very few (if in\nany) citties of England, soe far as I understand.\u201d\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nIt was customary at one time to tie fowls to stakes, and set them as\nmarks for boys to kill with bats.--Hitchins, _History of Cornwall_,\n1824, vol. i. p. 723.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nFormerly the scholars of the free school of Bromfield, about the\nbeginning of Lent, or, in the more expressive phraseology of the\ncountry, at Fasting\u2019s Even, used to _bar out the master_, i.e., to\ndepose and exclude him from his school, and keep him out for three days.\nDuring the period of this expulsion, the doors of the citadel, the\nschool, were strongly barricaded within; and the boys, who defended it\nlike a besieged city, were armed in general with _bore-tree_ or elder\npop-guns. The master meantime made various efforts, both by force and\nstratagem, to regain his lost authority. If he succeeded, heavy tasks\nwere imposed, and the business of the school was resumed and submitted\nto, but it more commonly happened that he was repulsed and defeated.\nAfter three days\u2019 siege, terms of capitulation were proposed by the\nmaster, and accepted by the boys. These terms were summed up in an old\nformula of Latin Leonine verses, stipulating what hours and times should\nfor the year ensuing be allotted to study, and what to relaxation and\nplay. Securities were provided by each side for the due performance of\nthese stipulations, and the paper was then solemnly signed by both\nmaster and pupils.\n\nOne of these articles, always stipulated for and granted, was the\nprivilege of immediately celebrating certain games of long standing:\nviz. a foot-ball match and a cock-fight. Captains, as they were called,\nwere then chosen to manage and preside over these games: one from that\npart of the parish, which lay to the westward of the school; the other\nfrom the east. Cocks and foot-ball players were sought for with great\ndiligence. The party whose cocks won the most battles was victorious in\nthe cock-pit; and the prize, a small silver bell, suspended to the\nbutton of the victor\u2019s hat, and worn for three successive Sundays. After\nthe cock-fight was ended, the foot-ball was thrown down in the\nchurchyard; and the point then to be contested was, which party could\ncarry it to the house of his respective captain, to Dundraw, perhaps, or\nWest Newton, a distance of two or three miles, every inch of which\nground was keenly disputed. All the honour accruing to the conqueror at\nfoot-ball was that of possessing the ball.[12]--Hutchinson\u2019s _Hist. of\nCumberland_, vol. ii. p. 322.\n\n  [12] Addison is described by his biographers as having been the leader\n  of a barring out at the Grammar School of Lichfield.\n\nBrand, _Pop. Antiq._ (1849, vol. i. p. 441), says, that the custom of\n_barring-out_ was practised in other places towards Christmas time, e.\ng., at the school of Houghton-le-Spring, in the county of Durham.\n\nAmong the statutes of the grammar-school founded at Kilkenny, in\nIreland, March 18, 1684, in Vallancey\u2019s _Collectanea de Rebus\nHibernicis_, vol. ii. p. 512, is the following:\n\n\u201cIn the number of stubborn and refractory lads, who shall refuse to\nsubmit to the orders and correction of the said school, who are to be\nforthwith dismissed, and not re-admitted without due submission to\nexemplary punishment, and on the second offence to be discharged and\nexpelled for ever,\u201d are reckoned, \u201csuch as shall offer to shut out the\nmaster or usher, but the master shall give them leave to break up eight\ndays before Christmas, and three days before Easter and Whitsuntide.\u201d\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nFormerly the inhabitants of Derby had a foot-ball match between the\nparishes of All Saints and St. Peter\u2019s; the conflicting parties being\nstrengthened by volunteers from the other parishes, and from the\nsurrounding country. The bells of the different churches rang their\nmerry peals on the morning, and gave rise to the following jingle on the\nfive parishes of All Saints\u2019, St. Peter\u2019s, St. Werburgh\u2019s, St.\nAlkmund\u2019s, and St. Michael\u2019s:\n\n    \u201cPancakes and fritters,\n    Say All Saints\u2019 and St. Peter\u2019s;\n    When will the _ball_ come,\n    Say the bells of St. Alkmum;\n    At _two_ they will throw,\n    Says Saint Werabo\u2019;\n    O! very well,\n    Says little Michel.\u201d\n\nThe goal of All Saints\u2019 was the water-wheel of the nun\u2019s mill, and that\nof St. Peter\u2019s, on the opposite side of the town, at the gallow\u2019s balk,\non the Normanton Road; the ball, which was of a very large size, was\nmade of leather, and stuffed quite hard with shavings, and about noon\nwas thrown into the market-place, from the Town Hall, into the midst of\nan assembly of many thousand people, so closely wedged together, as\nscarcely to admit of locomotion. The moment the ball was thrown, the\n\u201cwar cries\u201d of the rival parishes began, and thousands of arms were\nuplifted in the hope of catching it during its descent. The opposing\nparties endeavoured by every possible means, and by the exertion of\ntheir utmost strength, to carry the ball in the direction of their\nrespective goals, and by this means the town was traversed and\nretraversed many times in the course of the day; indeed, to such an\nextent has the contest been carried, that some years ago the fortunate\nholder of the ball, having made his way into the river Derwent, was\nfollowed by the whole body, who took to the water in the most gallant\nstyle, and kept up the chase to near the village of Duffield, a distance\nof five miles, the whole course being against the rapid stream, and one\nor two weirs having to be passed; on another occasion, the possessor of\nthe ball is said to have quietly dropped himself into the culvert or\nsewer which passes under the town, and to have been followed by several\nothers of both parties, and, after fighting his way the whole distance\nunder the town, to have come out victorious at the other side where, a\nconsiderable party having collected, the contest was renewed in the\nriver.\n\nOn the conclusion of the day\u2019s sport the man who had the honour of\n\u201cgoaling\u201d the ball was the champion of the year; the bells of the\nvictorious parish announced the conquest, and the victor was chaired\nthrough the town. So universal has been the feeling with regard to this\ngame, that it is said a gentleman from Derby having met with a person in\nthe backwoods of America, whom from his style and conversation he\nsuspected to be from the Midland Counties of England, cried out when he\nsaw him, \u201c_All Saints\u2019 for ever_;\u201d to this the stranger instantly\nretorted, \u201c_Peter\u2019s for ever_;\u201d and this satisfied them that they were\nfellow-townsmen. A foot-ball match is also played at Ashborne nearly in\nthe same manner as at Derby.--_Jour. Arch. Assoc._, 1852, vol. vii. p.\n203.\n\nA custom prevailed, too, in some parts of Derbyshire which gave licence\nto the young men and boys to kiss any young women or girls whom they\nchose. This, together with the general holiday observed in the afternoon\nof that day, and the customary sports then indulged in, is of course a\nremnant of the medi\u00e6val carnival.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nIn the south-eastern part of Devon the children at this season of the\nyear visit people\u2019s houses, singing:\n\n    \u201cTippetty, tippetty to,\n    Give me a pancake and I\u2019ll be go.\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xi. p. 244.\n\nAt Tavistock, the following lines are sung by the children at the houses\nof the principal inhabitants:\n\n    \u201cLancrock (?) a pancake,\n    A fritter for my labour;\n    I see by the string\n    The good dame\u2019s in.\n    Tippy tappy, toe,\n    Nippy, nappy, no;\n    If you\u2019ll give something.\n    I\u2019ll be ago (i.e., gone).\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. v. p. 380.\n\n\nDORSETSHIRE AND WILTSHIRE.\n\nIn these, if not in other counties, a practice called _Lent Crocking_ is\nobserved. The boys go about in small parties visiting the various\nhouses, headed by a leader, who goes up and knocks at the door, leaving\nhis followers behind him, armed with a good stock of potsherds--the\ncollected relics of the washing-pans, jugs, dishes, and plates, that\nhave become the victims of concussion in the hands of unlucky or\ncareless housewives for the past year. When the door is opened, the\nhero--who is, perhaps, a farmer\u2019s boy, with a pair of black eyes\nsparkling under the tattered brim of his brown milking-hat--hangs down\nhis head, and, with one corner of his mouth turned up into an\nirrepressible smile pronounces the following lines:\n\n    \u201cA-shrovin, a-shrovin,\n    I be come a-shrovin;\n    A piece of bread, a piece of cheese,\n    A bit of your fat bacon;\n    Or a dish of dough nuts,\n    All of your own makin!\n\n    \u201cA-shrovin, a-shrovin,\n    I be come a-shrovin,\n    Nice meat in a pie,\n    My mouth is very dry!\n    I wish a wuz zoo well-a-wet,\n    I\u2019de zing the louder for a nut!\n              Chorus.--A shrovin, a-shrovin,\n                       We be come a shrovin!\u201d\n\nSometimes he gets a bit of bread and cheese, and at some houses he is\ntold to be gone; in which latter case he calls up his followers to send\ntheir missiles in a rattling broadside against the door.--_Book of\nDays_, vol. i. p. 239.\n\nThe late Dr. Husenbeth in _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. ix. p. 135, gives\nanother version of the above rhyme:\n\n    \u201cI\u2019m come a shroveing,\n    For a piece of pancake,\n    Or a piece of bacon,\n    Or a little truckle cheese,\n    Of your own making.\n    Give me some, or give me none,\n    Or else your door shall have a stone.\u201d\n\n\nHAMPSHIRE.\n\nAt Basingstoke, and in some other parts of this county, the boys and\ngirls go to the houses of the well-to-do classes in little companies,\nand, knocking at the door, repeat the following rhyme:\n\n    \u201cKnick a knock upon the block;\n    Flour and lard is very dear,\n    Please we come a shroving here.\n    Your pan\u2019s hot, and my pan\u2019s cold,\n    (Hunger makes us shrovers bold)\n    Please to give poor shrovers something here.\u201d\n\nThey then knock again, and repeat both knocks and verses until they\nreceive something. The line in brackets is not said in Basingstoke and\nseveral other places.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xii. p. 100.\n\n\nHERTFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Baldock, Shrove Tuesday is long anticipated by the children, who\ndesignate it Dough-Nut-Day; it being usual to make a good store of small\ncakes fried in hog\u2019s lard, placed over the fire in a brass skillet,\ncalled dough-nuts, with which the young people are plentifully\nregaled.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 83.\n\nAt Hoddesdon, in the same county, the old curfew-bell, which was\nanciently rung in that town for the extinction and relighting of \u201call\nfire and candle-light,\u201d still exists, and has from time immemorial been\nregularly rang on the morning of Shrove Tuesday at four o\u2019clock, after\nwhich hour the inhabitants are at liberty to make and eat pancakes until\nthe bell rings again at eight o\u2019clock at night. So closely is this\ncustom observed, that after that hour not a pancake remains in the\ntown.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 242.\n\n\nHUNTINGDONSHIRE.\n\nFormerly there prevailed in this county a custom called _cock-running_,\nwhich, though not quite so cruel as _cock-throwing_, was not much\ninferior to it. A cock was procured, and its wings were cut: the\n_runners_ paid so much a head, and with their hands tied behind them ran\nafter it, and the person who caught it in his mouth, and carried it to a\ncertain place or goal, had the right of claiming the bird as his own. In\nthis race there was much excitement, and not a little squabbling, and\nthe one who was lucky enough to secure the bird frequently had his face\nand eyes very much pecked.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1823, p. 40.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nAt All Saints\u2019, Maidstone, the ancient custom of ringing a bell at\nmid-day on Shrove Tuesday is observed, and is known as the\n\u201cFritter-Bell.\u201d--_Gent. Mag._ 1868, _4th S._ vol. v. p. 761.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nPart of the income of the head-master and usher of the grammar-school at\nLancaster arises from a gratuity called a cock-penny, paid at Shrovetide\nby the scholars, who are sons of freemen; of this money the head-master\nhas seven-twelfths, the usher five-twelfths. It is also paid at the\nschools at Hawkshead and Clithero, in Lancashire; and formerly was paid,\nalso at Burnley, and at Whiteham and Millom, in Cumberland, near\nBootle.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 72.\n\nThe tossing of pancakes (and in some places fritters) on this day was a\nsource of harmless mirth, and is still practised in the rural parts of\nLancashire and Cheshire, with its ancient accompaniments:\n\n    \u201cIt is the day whereon both rich and poor,\n    Are chiefly feasted on the self-same dish;\n    When every paunch, till it can hold no more,\n    Is fritter fill\u2019d, as well as heart can wish;\n    And every man and maide doe take their turne,\n    And tosse their pancakes up for feare they burne\n    And all the kitchen doth with laughter sound,\n    To see the pancakes fall upon the ground.\u201d\n\n  Pasquil\u2019s _Palinodia_. Harland and Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folk Lore_,\n  1867, p. 218.\n\n\nLEICESTERSHIRE.\n\nIn the Newark, says Throsby (_History of Leicester_ 1791, p. 356), on\nShrove Tuesday is held the annual fair, chiefly for the amusement of the\nyoung. Formerly, there was practised in its full extent the barbarous\ncustom of throwing at cocks, but now the amusement is confined to the\npurchase of oranges, ginger-bread, &c., and to a custom known by the\nname of \u201c_Whipping-Toms_;\u201d a practice no doubt instituted by the\ndwellers in the Newark to drive away the rabble, after a certain hour,\nfrom the fair. Two, three, or more men, armed with cart-whips, and with\na handkerchief tied over one eye, are let loose upon the people to flog\nthem, who are generally guarded with boots on their legs and sticks in\ntheir hands. These whip-men, called \u201c_Whipping-Toms_,\u201d are preceded by a\nbell-man, whose shake of his hand-bell gives a token or authority for\nthe whipping the legs of those who dare to remain in the Newark. Many\narts and devices are practised by the Whipping-Toms to take the people\nby surprise; but quarrels sometimes ensue.\n\nAt Claybrook, in the same county, a bell rings at noon, which is meant\nas a signal for people to commence frying their pancakes.--Macaulay,\n_History of Claybrook_, 1791.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nOn this occasion it was formerly customary for the Manks to have\n_Sollaghyn_ or _Crowdy_ for dinner, instead of for breakfast, as at\nother times; and for supper, flesh meat, with a large pudding and\npancakes; hence the Manks proverb:\n\n    \u201cEe shibber oie innid vees olty volg lane,\n    My jig laa caisht yon traaste son shen.\u201d\n\n    \u201cOn Shrove Tuesday night, though thy supper be fat,\n    Before Easter Day thou may\u2019st fast for that.\u201d\n\n  Train, _History of the Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 117.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nAt Westminster School, London, the following is observed to this day. At\n11 o\u2019clock A.M. a verger of the Abbey, in his gown, bearing a silver\nb\u00e2ton, emerges from the college kitchen, followed by the cook of the\nschool, in his white apron, jacket, and cap, and carrying a pancake. On\narriving at the school-room door, he announces himself, \u2018The Cook;\u2019 and\nhaving entered the school-room, he advances to the bar which separates\nthe upper school from the lower one, twirls the pancake in the pan, and\nthen tosses it over the bar into the upper school, among a crowd of\nboys, who scramble for the pancake; and he who gets it unbroken, and\ncarries it to the deanery, demands the honorarium of a guinea (sometimes\ntwo guineas) from the Abbey funds, though the custom is not mentioned in\nthe Abbey Statutes: the cook also receives two guineas for his\nperformance.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 237.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nIt is customary at Norwich to eat a small bun called\ncocque\u2019els--cook-eels--coquilles (the name being spelt indifferently),\nwhich is continued throughout the season of Lent. Forby, in his\n_Vocabulary of East Anglia_, calls this production \u201ca sort of\ncross-bun,\u201d but no cross is placed upon it, though its composition is\nnot dissimilar. He derives the word from _coquille_ in allusion to their\nbeing fashioned like an escallop, in which sense he is borne out by\nCotgrave, who has \u201c_pain coquill\u00e9_, a fashion of an hard-crusted loafe,\nsomewhat like our stillyard bunne.\u201d A correspondent of _Notes and\nQueries_ says that he has always taken the word to be \u201ccoquerells,\u201d from\nthe vending of such buns at the barbarous sport of \u201cthrowing at the\ncock\u201d (which is still called a cockerell in E. Anglia) on Shrove\nTuesday.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. i. pp. 293 and 412.\n\nFormerly there used to be held at Norwich on Shrove Tuesday a most\ncurious festivity, to which Blomefield in his _History of Norfolk_\n(1806, vol. iii. p. 155) incidentally alludes. In 1442, he says, there\nwas a great insurrection at Norwich, for which the citizens were\nindicted, who among other things pleaded in their excuse:\n\n\u201cThat John Gladman, of Norwich, who ever was, and at thys our is, a man\nof sad disposition, and trewe and feythfull to God and to the Kyng, of\ndisporte, as hath been acustomed in ony cite or burgh thorowe alle this\nreame, on Tuesday in the last ende of Crestemesse, viz. _Fastyngonge\nTuesday_, made a disport with his neighbours, havyng his hors trappyd\nwith tynnsoyle, and other nyse disgisy things, corouned as Kyng of\nCrestemesse, in tokyn that seson should ende with the twelve monethes of\nthe yere: aforn hym [went] yche moneth, disguysed after the seson\nrequiryd, and _Lenton_ clad in whyte and red heryngs skinns, and his\nhors trappyd with oystyr-shells after him, in token that sadnesse should\nfolowe, and an holy tyme; and so rode in diverse stretis of the cite,\nwith other people with hym disguyssd, and makyng myrth, disportes, and\nplays.\u201d\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nIn many parts of this county the church bell is rung about noon, as the\nsignal for preparing pancakes. At Daventry the bell which is rung on\nthis occasion is muffled on one side with leather, or _buffed_, as it is\ntermed, and obtains the name of _Pan-burn-bell_. Jingling rhymes in\nconnection with this day are repeated by the peasantry, varying in\ndifferent districts. The following are the most current:\n\n    \u201cPancakes and fritters,\n    Says the bells of St. Peter\u2019s.\n    Where must we fry \u2019em?\n    Says the bells of Cold Higham.\n    In yonder land thurrow [furrow],\n    Says the bells of Wellingborough.\n    You owe me a shilling,\n    Says the bells of Great Billing.\n    When will you pay me?\n    Says the bells at Middleton Cheney.\n    When I am able,\n    Says the bells at Dunstable.\n    That will never be,\n    Says the bells at Coventry.\n    Oh, yes it will,\n    Says Northampton Great Bell.\n    White bread and sop,\n    Says the bells at Kingsthrop.\n    Trundle a lantern,\n    Says the bells at Northampton.\u201d\n\nThat the bells of the churches of Northampton used also to be rung on\nthis day may be inferred from the following similar doggerel:\n\n    \u201cRoast beef and marsh-mallows,\n    Says the bells of All Hallow\u2019s,\n    Pancakes and fritters.\n    Says the bells of St. Peter\u2019s.\n    Roast beef and boil\u2019d,\n    Says the bells of St. Giles\u2019.\n    Poker and tongs,\n    Says the bells of St. John\u2019s.[13]\n    Shovel, tongs, and poker,\n    Says the bells of St. Pulchre\u2019s.[14]\u201d\n\n  Baker, _Northamptonshire Words and Phrases_, vol. ii. p. 92.\n\n  [13] St. John\u2019s Hospital.\n\n  [14] The church of St. Sepulchre is often called \u201cPulchre\u2019s\u201d in\n  Northampton.\n\nAt Earls Barton the custom of making \u201cleek pasties\u201d is observed. A party\nof shoemakers, after procuring a chaff-cutter and a quantity of leeks,\nproceed to the green, where they publicly chop the vegetable to the\namusement of the spectators.--See _Gent. Mag._, 1867, _4th S._ vol. iv.\np. 219.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nFormerly at Alnwick the waits belonging to the town used to come playing\nto the Castle every year on Shrove Tuesday at two o\u2019clock P.M., when a\nfoot-ball was thrown over the Castle walls to the populace.--Brand,\n_Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol i. p. 92.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nAt Aspley Old Hall, in days gone by, butter and lard, fire and\nfrying-pans were provided for all the poor families of Wollaston,\nTrowell, and Cossall, who chose to come and eat their pancakes at this\nmansion. The only conditions attached to the feast were, that no\nquarrelling should take place, and that each wife and mother should fry\nfor her own family, and that when the cake needed turning in the pan,\nthe act should be performed by tossing it in the air and catching it\nagain in the pan with the uncooked side downwards. And many were the\nroars of laughter which took place among the merry groups in the\nkitchen, at the mishaps which occurred in the performance of this feast,\nin which his Honour and Madam joined.\n\nIn addition to the pancakes, each man was allowed a quart of good ale,\nwomen a pint, and children a gill.--Sutton, _Nottingham Date Book_,\n1852, p. 75.\n\nThere is a curious tradition existing in Mansfield, Woodhouse, Bulwell,\nand several other villages near Sherwood Forest, as to the origin of\npancakes on Shrove Tuesday. The inhabitants of any of the villages will\ninform the questioner that when the Danes got to Linby all the Saxon men\nof the neighbouring villages ran off into the forest, and the Danes\ntook the Saxon women to keep house for them. This happened just before\nLent, and the Saxon women, encouraged by their fugitive lords, resolved\nto massacre their Danish masters on Ash Wednesday. Every woman who\nagreed to do this was to bake pancakes for this meal on Shrove Tuesday\nas a kind of pledge to fulfil her vow. This was done, and that the\nmassacre of the Danes did take place on Ash Wednesday is a well-known\nhistorical fact.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. vii. p. 450.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn this county children go about singing the following rhyme, begging at\nthe same time for half-pence:\n\n    \u201cKnick, knock, the pan\u2019s hot,\n    And we be come a shroving:\n    A bit of bread, a bit of cheese,\n    A bit of barley dompling,\n    That\u2019s better than nothing.\n    Open the door and let us in,\n    For we be come a pancaking.\u201d\n\nAt Islip in the same county this version is used:\n\n    \u201cPit a pat; the pan is hot,\n    We are come a shroving;\n    A little bit of bread and cheese\n    Is better than nothing.\n    The pan is hot, the pan is cold;\n    Is the fat in the pan nine days old?\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 88.\n\n\nISLANDS OF SCILLY.\n\nThe boys celebrate the evening of this day by throwing stones against\nthe doors of the dwellers\u2019 houses: a privilege which they claim from\ntime immemorial. The terms demanded by them are pancakes or money to\ncapitulate. Some of the older sort, exceeding the bounds of this\nwhimsical practice, in the dusk of the evening, set a bolted door or\nwindow-shutter at liberty, by battering in a breach with large pieces of\nrock stones, which sometimes causes work for the surgeon, as well as for\nthe smith, glazier, and carpenter. The way of making reprisal, in such\ncases, is by a rope drawn across the road of the mischievous, by means\nof which their flight is suddenly interrupted, and themselves\nignominiously hurled to the ground with the loss of their\nartillery.--Heath, _Account of Islands of Scilly_, 1750, p. 127.\n\n\nSHROPSHIRE.\n\nIn _The History and Antiquities of Ludlow_, 1822 (pp. 188-189), occurs\nthe following account of a custom formerly observed on this day: \u201cThe\ncorporation provide a rope, three inches in thickness, and in length\nthirty-six yards, which is given out at one of the windows of the\nMarket-House as the clock strikes four, when a large body of the\ninhabitants divided into two parties--one contending for Castle Street\nand Broad Street wards, and the other for Old Street and Corve Street\nwards--commence an arduous struggle, and as soon as either party gains\nthe victory by pulling the rope beyond the prescribed limits, the\npulling ceases, which is, however, renewed by a second, and sometimes by\na third contest; the rope being purchased by subscription from the\nvictorious party, and given out again. Without doubt this singular\ncustom is symbolical of some remarkable event, and a remnant of that\nancient language of visible signs, which, says a celebrated writer,\n\u201cimperfectly supplies the want of letters, to perpetuate the remembrance\nof public or private transactions.\u201d The sign, in this instance, has\nsurvived the remembrance of the occurrence it was designed to represent,\nand remains a profound mystery. It has been insinuated that the real\noccasion of this custom is known to the corporation, but that for some\nreason or other, they are tenacious of the secret. An obscure tradition\nattributes this custom to circumstances arising out of the siege of\nLudlow by Henry VI., when two parties arose within the town, one\nsupporting the pretensions of the Duke of York, and the other wishing to\ngive admittance to the king; one of the bailiffs is said to have headed\nthe latter party. History relates that, in this contest, many lives were\nlost, and that the bailiff, heading his party in an attempt to open\nDinham Gate, fell a victim there.\u201d\n\n\nSOMERSETSHIRE.\n\nAn odd practice seems to prevail in some parts of Somersetshire, and\nalso in Devonshire and Dorsetshire on Shrove Tuesday, which is locally\nnick-named _Sharp Tuesday_. The youngsters go about after dusk, and\nthrow stones against people\u2019s doors, by what is considered by them an\nindefeasible right. They at the same time sing in chorus:\n\n    \u201cI be come a shrovin\n    Vor a little pankiak;\n    A bit o\u2019 bread o\u2019 your baikin,\n    Or a little truckle cheese o\u2019 your maikin,\n    If you\u2019ll gi\u2019 me a little, I\u2019ll ax no more,\n    If you don\u2019t gi\u2019 me nothin, I\u2019ll _rottle_ your door.\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ (Ed. Hazlitt), 1870, vol. i. p. 48.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn this county Shrove Tuesday goes by the name of Goodish Tuesday.--_N.\n& Q. 2nd S._ vol. v. p. 209.\n\n\nSUFFOLK.\n\nAt Bury St. Edmund\u2019s on Shrove Tuesday, Easter Monday, and the\nWhitsuntide festivals, twelve old women side off for a game at\ntrap-and-ball, which is kept up with the greatest spirit and vigour\nuntil sunset. Afterwards they retire to their homes, where\n\n    \u201cVoice, fiddle, or flute,\n    No longer is mute,\u201d\n\nand close the day with apportioned mirth and merriment.--_Every Day\nBook_, vol. i. p. 430.\n\n\nSURREY.\n\nThe following is taken from the _Times_ of March 7th, 1862:\n\n\u201cShrove Tuesday was observed, as in days of yore, at Dorking,[15] first\nby a perambulation of the streets by the foot-ball retinue, composed of\ngrotesquely-dressed persons, to the sounds of music, and in the\nafternoon by the kicking of the ball up and down the principal\nthoroughfares of the town. The usual number of men and boys joined in\nthe sport, and played, especially towards the end of the game, with a\nroughness extremely dangerous to the limbs of the competitors. As 6\no\u2019clock drew near the struggle for victory became more vehement; the\npalm, however, was obtained, for the fifth year, by the players from the\nwest end of the town. The old custom of tolling the \u2018pancake bell\u2019\nduring the morning was, on this occasion, as during the last two or\nthree years, dispensed with.\u201d--_West Surrey Times._\n\n  [15] This custom prevails at Epsom. _N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. i. p. 439.\n  It seems to have been observed also at Twickenham, Bushy, Teddington,\n  Kingston. See _Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 245.\n\n\nISLE OF WIGHT.\n\nAt Brighstone parties of young boys, girls, and very small children\nparade the village, singing the following words:\n\n    \u201cShroving, shroving, I am come to shroving.\n      White bread and apple pie,\n      My mouth is very dry;\n      I wish I were well a-wet,\n      As I could sing for a nut.\n\n    Shroving, shroving, I am come to shroving.\n      A piece of bread, a piece of cheese,\n      A piece of your fat bacon,\n      Dough nuts and pancakes,\n      All of your own making.\n    Shroving, shroving, I am come to shroving.\u201d[16]\n\n  _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xi. p. 239.\n\n  [16] For a more detailed account of the Isle of Wight Shrovers, see\n  Halliwell\u2019s _Popular Rhymes_, 1849, p. 246.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. v. p. 391, says that all the\napprentices in the town of Hedon whose indentures terminate before the\nreturn of the day assemble in the belfry of the church at eleven\no\u2019clock, and in turn toll the tenor bell for an hour, at the sound of\nwhich all the housewives in the parish commence frying pancakes. The\nsexton, who is present receives a small fee from each lad.\n\nAt Scarborough on the morning of Shrove Tuesday hawkers parade the\nstreets with barrows loaded with party-coloured balls, which are\npurchased by all ranks of the inhabitants. With these, and armed with\nsticks, men, women, and children repair to the sands below the old town,\nand indiscriminately commence a contest, one party trying to drive the\nball into the sea, and another equally zealous in their attempts to\nrescue it.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nFormerly it was customary to take such hens as had not laid eggs before\nShrove Tuesday, and to thrash them to death, as being no longer of any\nuse. The same custom also prevailed in some parts of Cornwall.--Brand,\n_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 81; _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 238.\n\nAt Harding, in Flintshire, the lord of the manor, attended by his\nbailiff, formerly provided a foot-ball, and after throwing it down in a\nfield near the church (called thence _foot-ball field_) the young and\nold assembled together to play at foot-ball.--Kennett MS. British\nMuseum.\n\nAt Tenby Shrove Tuesday was formerly a general holiday, when the time\nwas divided between foot-ball-kicking and pancake-eating. The shutters\nremained upon the shop-windows, while the windows of the private houses\nwere barricaded with wood, or blinded with laths, bags, and\nsacking.--Mason, _Tales and Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, pp. 17, 18.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nFastren\u2019s E\u2019en is celebrated annually, after the Border fashion, in the\nmonth of February, the day being fixed by the following antiquated\ncouplet:\n\n    \u201cFirst comes Candlemas, syne the New Moon;\n    The next Tuesday after is Fastren\u2019s E\u2019en.\u201d\n\n\n_Crowdie_ is mentioned by Sir F. M. Eden (_State of the Poor_, 1797,\nvol. i. p. 498) as a never-failing dinner on Shrove Tuesday, with all\nranks of people in Scotland, as pancakes are in England; and that a ring\nis put into the basin or porringer of the unmarried folks, to the finder\nof which by fair means it was an omen of marriage before the rest of the\neaters.\n\n\nTHE HIGHLANDS.\n\nIn the Highlands the most substantial entertainment peculiar to the\nevening of Shrove Tuesday is the matrimonial _brose_ (pottage), a\nsavoury dish, generally made of the _bree_ (broth) of a good fat piece\nof beef or mutton, which being sometimes a good while _in retentum_,\nrenders the addition of salt to the meal unnecessary. Before the bree is\nput in the bicker or plate, a ring is mixed with the meal, which it will\nbe the aim of every partaker to get. The first bicker being discussed,\nthe ring is put into two other bickers successively; and should any of\nthe candidates for matrimony find the ring more than once, he may rest\nassured of his marrying before the next anniversary.\n\nThe brose, and plenty of other good cheer, being dispatched, the guests\nbetake themselves to another part of the night\u2019s entertainment. Soon as\nthe evening circle convenes, the _Bannich Junit_, or \u201csauty bannocks,\u201d\nare resorted to. The component ingredients of those dainties are eggs\nand meal, and a sufficient quantity of salt to sustain their ancient and\nappropriate appellation of \u201csauty.\u201d These ingredients, well mixed\ntogether, are baked or roasted on the gridiron, and are regarded by old\nand young as a most delicious treat; and, as may be expected, they have\na charm attached to them which enables the happy Highlander to discover\nthe object of all his spells--his connubial bedfellow. A sufficient\nnumber of those designed for the palate being prepared, the great or\nmatrimonial bannock is made, of which all the young people in the house\npartake. Into the ingredients of it there is some article intermixed,\nwhich, in the distribution, will fall to the lot of some happy person,\nwho may be sure, if not already married, to be so before the next\nanniversary.\n\nLast of all are made the _Bannich Bruader_, or dreaming bannocks, to the\ningredients composing which is added a little of that substance which\nchimney-sweeps call soot, and which contains some charm. In baking these\nlast bannocks the baker must be as mute as a stone--one word would\ndestroy the charm of the whole concern. One is given to each individual,\nwho slips off with it quietly to bed, and, reposing his head on his\nbannock, he will be gratified by the sight of his beloved in the course\nof his midnight slumbers.--Stewart, _Popular Superstitions of the\nHighlanders of Scotland_, 1851, p. 178.\n\n\nCOUNTY OF MID-LOTHIAN.\n\nOn Shrove Tuesday, in the parish of Inverness, there is a standing match\nat football between the married and unmarried women, in which the former\nare always victorious.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, Sinclair, 1795, vol.\nxvi. p. 19.\n\n\nPERTHSHIRE.\n\nFormerly, on this day, the bachelors and married men drew themselves up\nat the Cross of Scone, on opposite sides. A ball was then thrown up, and\nthey played from two o\u2019clock till sunset. The game was this: He who at\nany time got the ball into his hands, ran with it till overtaken by one\nof the opposite party, and then, if he could escape from those of the\nopposite side who seized him, he ran on; if not, he threw the ball away,\nunless it was wrested from him by the other party; but no person was\nallowed to kick it. The object of the married men was to _hang it_,\ni.e., to put it three times into a small hole in the moor, the _goal_ or\nlimit, on the one hand; that of the bachelors was to drown it, i.e., to\ndip it three times into a deep place in the river, the limit of the\nother. The party who could effect either of these objects won the game.\nBut, if neither party won, the ball was cut into equal parts at sunset.\nIn the course of the play, one might always see some scene of violence\nbetween the parties; but, as the proverb of that part of the country\nexpresses it, \u201cAll was fair at the Ball of Scone.\u201d This custom is\nsupposed to have had its origin in the days of chivalry.\n\nAn Italian, it is said, came into that part of the country, challenging\nall the parishes, under a certain penalty in case of declining his\nchallenge. All the parishes declined the challenge except Scone, which\nbeat the foreigner, and in commemoration of this gallant action the game\nwas instituted. Whilst the custom continued, every man in the parish,\nthe gentry not excepted, was obliged to turn out and support the side to\nwhich he belonged; and the person who neglected to do his part on that\noccasion was fined.--Sinclair, _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1796, vol.\nxviii. p. 88.\n\n\nROXBURGHSHIRE.\n\nOn this occasion the town of Melrose presents a most singular\nappearance, from the windows of the shops and dwellings in the main\nstreets being barricaded. This precaution is necessary to prevent\nbreakage, as football-playing on a most indiscriminate and unlimited\nscale is the order of the day. The ball is thrown up at the cross at one\no\u2019clock, when the young men of the town and neighbourhood, with a\nsprinkling of the married athletes, assemble in considerable numbers.\nThe foot-balls used are previously supplied by a general public\nsubscription, and from one o\u2019clock the sport is kept up with great\nspirit until darkness sets in and puts a stop to the game. Business\nthroughout the town is almost entirely suspended during the day.--Wade,\n_History of Melrose Abbey_, 1861, p. 144.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nAt Kilrush in the county of Clare, this is the greatest day in the year\nfor weddings, and consequently the Roman Catholic priests are generally\noccupied in the celebration of matrimony from sunrise till midnight. The\ngeneral fee on this occasion is two guineas and a half; and many\nthoughtless couples, under the age of sixteen, pay it with cheerfulness\nwhen they have not another penny in their possession. Those who do not\nmarry on this day must wait until Easter Monday on account of the\nintervening Lent.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_, 1814, vol. ii. p.\n458.\n\n\n\n\nFEB. 4.] ASH WEDNESDAY.\n\n\nAmong the Anglo-Saxons Ash Wednesday had its ceremonial of strewing\nashes upon not merely the public penitent, but all; and thereby spoke\nits awful teachings and warnings unto all--unto the young and old--the\nguiltless and the guilty. As soon as none-song was over, that is, about\nmid-afternoon, the ashes were hallowed and then put upon each one\u2019s\nforehead. From their own parish church the people then went in\nprocession to some other church, and on coming back heard mass. Then,\nand only then, did such as were bound and able to fast take any kind of\nfood.--D. Rock, _The Church of our Fathers_, 1849-53, vol. iii. part ii.\np. 63.\n\nFormerly, on this day, boys used to go about _clacking_ at doors, to get\neggs or bits of bacon wherewith to make up a feast among themselves;\nand, when refused, would stop the keyhole up with dirt, and depart with\na rhymed denunciation.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 240. We learn also\nfrom Fosbroke\u2019s _British Monachism_ (1843) that in days gone by boys\nused on the evening of Ash Wednesday to run about with firebrands and\ntorches.\n\nIn former times during the season of Lent, an officer denominated \u201cThe\nKing\u2019s Cock-Crower\u201d crowed the hour every night within the precincts of\nthe palace, instead of proclaiming it in the ordinary manner. On the\nfirst Ash Wednesday after the accession of the House of Hanover, as the\nPrince of Wales, afterwards George II., was sitting down to supper, this\nofficer suddenly entered the apartment, before the chaplain said grace,\nand crowed \u201cpast ten o\u2019clock.\u201d The astonished Prince, not understanding\nEnglish, and mistaking the tremulation of the crow for mockery,\nconcluded that this ceremony was intended as an insult, and instantly\nrose to resent it; when, with some difficulty, he was made to understand\nthe nature of the custom, and that it was intended as a compliment, and\naccording to court etiquette. From that period the custom was\ndiscontinued.\n\nThe intention of crowing the hour of the night was no doubt intended to\nremind waking sinners of the august effect the third crowing of the cock\nhad on the guilty Apostle St. Peter; and the limitation of the custom to\nthe season of Lent was judiciously adopted; as, had the practice\ncontinued throughout the year, the impenitent would become as habituated\nand as indifferent to the crow of the mimic cock as they are to that of\nthe real one, or to the cry of the watchmen. The adaptation to the\nprecincts of the Court seems also to have had a view, as if the\ninstitutor (probably the Royal Confessor) had considered that the\ngreater and more obdurate sinners resided within the purlieus of the\npalace.--_Gent. Mag._ 1785, vol. lv. p. 341.\n\nThe beginning of Lent was at one time marked by a custom now fallen into\ndisuse. A figure, made up of straw and cast-off clothes, was drawn or\ncarried through the streets amid much noise and merriment; after which\nit was either burnt, shot at, or thrown down a chimney. This image was\ncalled \u201cJack o\u2019Lent,\u201d and was, according to some, intended to represent\nJudas Iscariot. Elderton, in a ballad, called _Lenton Stuff_, in a MS.\nin the Ashmolean Museum, thus concludes his account of Lent:\n\n    \u201cThen Jake a\u2019 Lent comes justlynge in,\n      With the hedpecce of a herynge,\n    And saythe, repent yowe of yower syn,\n      For shame, syrs, leve yower swerynge:\n    And to Palme Sonday doethe he ryde,\n      With sprots and herryngs by hys syde,\n    And makes an end of Lenton tyde!\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xii. p. 297.\n\nIn Ben Jonson\u2019s _Tale of a Tub_, occurs the following:\n\n              --\u201cOn an Ash Wednesday,\n    When thou didst stand six weeks the Jack o\u2019 Lent,\n    For boys to hurl three throws a penny at thee.\u201d\n\n  Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 101.\n\nIt was once customary for persons to wear black cloth during Lent.\nRoberts in his _Cambrian Pop. Antiq._ (1815, 112), says this usage was\nentirely laid aside in his time; but of late years it has been somewhat\nrevived.\n\nIt is observed by Mr. Fosbroke that ladies wore friars\u2019 girdles during\nthis season, and quoting from _Camden\u2019s Remains_ he tells us how Sir\nThomas More, finding his lady scolding her servants during Lent,\nendeavoured to restrain her. \u201cTush, tush, my lord,\u201d said she, \u201clook,\nhere is one step to heavenward,\u201d showing him a friar\u2019s girdle. \u201cI fear\nme,\u201d said he, \u201cthat one step will not bring you one step higher.\u201d\n\nIn a curious tract written about 1174 by FitzStephen, a monk of\nCanterbury, and entitled _Descriptio Nobilissim\u00e6 Civitatis Londoni\u00e6_,\nthere is an interesting account of the metropolis and its customs in\nHenry II.\u2019s time. Speaking of the season of Lent the writer says, \u201cEvery\nFriday afternoon a company of young men ride out on horses fit for war\nand racing, and trained to the course. Then the citizens\u2019 sons flock\nthrough the gates in troops, armed with lances and shields, and practise\nfeats of arms; but the lances of the more youthful are not headed with\niron. When the king lieth near, many courtiers, and young striplings\nfrom the families of the great, who have not yet attained the warlike\ngirdle, resort to these exercises. The hope of victory inflames every\none. Even the neighing and fierce horses shake their joints, chew their\nbridles, and cannot endure to stand still. At length they begin their\nrace; afterwards the young men divide their troops and contend for\nmastery.\u201d\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nAt Felstead the churchwardens distribute, as the gift of Lord Rich,\nseven barrels of white herrings and three barrels and a half of red on\nAsh Wednesday, and the six following Sundays, to ninety-two poor\nhouseholders of the parish, selected by the churchwardens, in shares of\neight white herrings and four red a piece. A list is kept of the persons\nreceiving this donation, and they continue to receive it during their\nlives, unless they misconduct themselves or enter the workhouse.--_Old\nEnglish Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 9.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nP. Le Neve Foster, Esq., who in 1835 held the rectorial tithes of the\nparish of Great Witchingham, under a lease from the warden and fellows\nof New College, Oxford, was bound by a covenant contained therein, to\nprovide and distribute to and amongst the poor inhabitants and\nparishioners, two seams of peas, containing in all sixteen bushels. The\npractice has been to give to every person who happens to be in the\nparish on Ash Wednesday, whether rich or poor, one quart of peas\neach.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 34.\n\n\nSCAMBLING DAYS.\n\nThe days so called were Mondays and Saturdays in Lent, when no regular\nmeals were provided, and the members of our great families scambled. In\nthe old household-book of the fifth Earl of Northumberland there is a\nparticular section appointing the order of service for these days, and\nso regulating the licentious contentions of them. Shakespeare, in his\nplay of Henry V. (act v. scene 2), makes King Henry say: \u201cIf ever thou\nbe\u2019st mine, Kate, I get thee with _scambling_, and thou must therefore\nneeds prove a good soldier-breeder.\u201d\n\nThe word _scambling_ is conjectured to be derived from the Greek\n\u03c3\u03ba\u03b1\u03bc\u03b2\u03bf\u03c2, oblique, indirect, &c.\n\n    \u201cThe scambling and unquiet time.\u201d\n\n  Shak. _Henry V._ act i. sc. 1.\n\n--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. ii. p. 350. _Antiq. Repert._ 1809, vol. iv.\npp. 87, 91, 305.\n\n\n\n\nFEB. 5.] GLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\n\nIn Smith\u2019s MS. _Lives of the Lords of Berkeley_, in the possession of\nthe Earl of Berkeley (p. 49), we read that on the anniversary of the\nfounder of St. Augustine\u2019s, Bristol, i.e., Sir Robert Fitzharding, on\nthe 5th of February, \u201cat that monastery there shall be one hundred poore\nmen refreshed in a dole made unto them in this forme: Every man of them\nhath a chanon\u2019s loaf of bread, called a myche (a kind of bread), and\nthree hearings therewith. There shall be doaled also amongst them two\nbushells of peys.\u201d--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol., i. p. 116.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nIn Leeds and the neighbourhood they eat a sort of pancake on the\nThursday following Shrove Tuesday, which in that part they call Fruttors\n(Fritters) Thursday. The Leeds fritter, it is said in the _Dialect of\nLeeds_, 1862, p. 307, is about one-fourth the size of a pancake,\nthicker, and has an abundance of currants in it.\n\n\n\n\nFEB. 8.] CHALK SUNDAY.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nIn the west of Ireland nine-tenths of the marriages that take place\namong the peasantry are celebrated the week before Lent, and\nparticularly on Shrove Tuesday, on which day the Roman Catholic priests\nhave hard work to get through all their duties. On the first Sunday in\nLent it is usual for the girls slyly to chalk the coats of those young\nmen who have allowed the preceding festival to pass without having made\ntheir choice of a partner; and \u201cilligible\u201d young men strut about with\naffected unconsciousness of the numerous stripes which decorate their\nbacks, while boys just arrived at manhood hold their heads higher, and\nshow tokens of great satisfaction, if any good-natured lass affixes the\ncoveted mark.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. iii. p. 207.\n\n\n\n\nFEB. 10.] ST. SCHOLASTICA\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nThis festival was formerly observed at Oxford. The following extract is\ntaken from _The Lives of Leland, Hearne, and Wood_ (1772. vol. ii. p.\n312): Friday, the burghers or citizens of Oxford appeared in their full\nnumber on St. Scholastica\u2019s Day at St. Mary\u2019s. Alderman Wright, their\noracle, told them that if they did not appear there might be some hole\npicked in their charter, as there was now endeavouring to be done in\nthat of the city of London; he told them moreover that, though it was a\npopish matter, yet policy ought to take place in this juncture of\ntime.[17]\n\n  [17] See ibid. p. 295.\n\nThe origin of this custom was a furious contest between the citizens of\nOxford and the students. Some of the latter being at a tavern, on the\n10th of February, 1354, broke the landlord\u2019s head with a vessel in which\nhe had served them with bad wine. The man immediately collected together\na number of his neighbours and fellow-citizens, who, having for a long\ntime waited for such an opportunity, fell upon the students, and in\nspite of the mandates of the Chancellor, and even the King himself, who\nwas then at Woodstock, continued their outrages for several days, not\nonly killing or wounding the scholars, but, in contempt of the\nsacerdotal order, destroying all the religious crosses of the town. For\nthis offence the King deprived the city of many valuable privileges, and\nbestowed them on the University, and the Bishop of Lincoln forbade the\nadministration of the sacraments to the citizens. In the following year\nthey petitioned for a mitigation of this sentence, but without success;\nbut in 1357 a total abrogation of it was granted upon condition that the\ncity should annually celebrate on St. Scholastica\u2019s day, the 10th of\nFebruary, a number of masses for the souls of the scholars killed in the\nconflict; the mayor and bailiffs with sixty of the chief burgesses being\nbound also to swear at St. Mary\u2019s Church observance of the customary\nrights of the University, under the penalty of 100 marks in case of\nomission of this ceremony. It was further ordered, that the said\ncitizens should afterwards offer up singly at the high altar one penny,\nof which sum forty pence were to be distributed to poor scholars, and\nthe remainder given to the curate of St. Mary\u2019s. This offering being\nomitted upon the pretence that masses were abolished, the University in\nQueen Elizabeth\u2019s reign sued them for the sum of 1,500 marks due for\nsuch neglect during fifteen years; when it was decreed that instead of\nmass there should be a sermon and a communion at St. Mary\u2019s (which at\nlength came only to public prayers), and that the said offering should\nbe made. The traditional story that the mayor was obliged to attend with\na halter round his neck, which was afterwards, to lessen the disgrace,\nchanged into a silken string, has no real foundation.--_Ibid._, p. 296.\n\n\n\n\nFEB. 13.] ST. VALENTINE\u2019S EVE.\n\n\nMisson, in his _Travels in England_ (translated by Ozell, p. 330),\ndescribes the amusing practices of his time connected with this day. He\ntells us that on the eve of the 14th February, St. Valentine\u2019s day, the\nyoung folks in England and Scotland, by a very ancient custom, celebrate\na little festival. An equal number of maids and bachelors get together,\nand each writes their true or some feigned name upon separate billets,\nwhich they roll up, and draw by way of lots, the maids taking the men\u2019s\nbillets, and the men the maids\u2019; so that each of the young men lights\nupon a girl that he calls his Valentine, and each of the girls upon a\nyoung man which she calls hers. By this means each has two Valentines;\nbut the man sticks faster to the Valentine that is fallen to him, than\nthe Valentine to whom he is fallen. Fortune having thus divided the\ncompany into so many couples, the Valentines give balls and treats to\ntheir mistresses, wear their billets several days upon their bosoms or\nsleeves, and this little sport often ends in love. There is another\nkind of Valentine, which is the first young man or woman that chance\nthrows in your way in the street, or elsewhere, on that day.\n\nIn some places, says Hone (_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 226), at this\ntime, and more particularly in London, the lad\u2019s Valentine is the first\nlass he sees in the morning, who is not an inmate of the house; the\nlass\u2019s Valentine is the first youth she sees.\n\nGay mentions this usage on St. Valentine\u2019s Day; he makes a rustic\nhousewife remind her good man--\n\n    \u201cI early rose just at the break of day,\n    Before the sun had chas\u2019d the stars away;\n    A-field I went, amid the morning dew\n    To milk my kine (for so should house-wives do);\n    Thee first I spied, and the first swain we see,\n    In spite of Fortune shall our true-love be.\u201d\n\nShakespeare bears witness to the custom of looking for your Valentine,\nor desiring to be one, through poor Ophelia\u2019s singing:\n\n    \u201cGood morrow! \u2019tis St. Valentine\u2019s day,\n      All in the morning betime,\n    And I a maid at your window,\n      To be your Valentine!\u201d\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nAt Ashborne the following custom is observed on Valentine\u2019s Eve. When a\nyoung woman wishes to divine who her future husband is to be, she goes\ninto the churchyard at midnight, and as the clock strikes twelve\ncommences running round the church, repeating without intermission:\n\n    \u201cI sow hempseed, hempseed I sow,\n    He that loves me best\n    Come and after me mow.\u201d\n\nHaving thus performed the circuit of the church twelve times without\nstopping, the figure of her lover is supposed to appear and follow\nher.--_Jour. Arch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 209.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nThe peasants and others believe that if they go to the porch of a\nchurch, waiting there till half-past twelve o\u2019clock on the Eve of St.\nValentine\u2019s day, with some hempseed in his or her hand, and at the time\nabove-named, then proceed homewards, scattering the seed on either side,\nrepeating these lines:\n\n    \u201cHempseed I sow, hempseed I mow,\n    She (or he) that will my true-love be,\n    Come rake this hempseed after me,\u201d\n\nhis or her true love will be seen behind raking up the seed just sown,\nin a winding-sheet.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. v. p. 55.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nAs soon as it is dark, packages may be seen being carried about in a\nmost mysterious way; and as soon as the coast seems clear, the parcel is\nlaid on the doorstep, the bell rung, and the bearer runs away. Inside\nthe house is all on the _qui vive_, and the moment the bell is heard,\nall the little folks (and the old ones too, sometimes) rush to the door,\nand seize the parcel and scrutinize the direction most anxiously, and\nsee whether it is for papa or mamma, or one of the youngsters. The\nparcels contain presents of all descriptions, from the most magnificent\nbooks or desks, to little unhappy squeaking dolls. These presents are\nalways sent anonymously, and nearly always contain a few verses, ending\nwith the distich:\n\n    \u201cIf you\u2019ll be mine, I\u2019ll be thine,\n    And so good morrow, Valentine.\u201d\n\nThe last three words are for the most part written on the wrapper also,\nwith the address, thus:\n\n  MISS MARY ISABELLA KING,\n\n  _St. Giles,\u2019_\n\n  _Norwich._\n\n  _Good Morrow, Valentine._\n\n  _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. x. p. 5; _4th S._ vol. xi. p. 173.\n\nAt Swaffham, also, Valentines are sent on this evening. Watching for a\nconvenient opportunity, the door is slyly opened, and the Valentine\nattached to an apple or an orange, is thrown in; a loud rap at the door\nimmediately follows, and the offender taking to his heels, is off\ninstantly. Those in the house, generally knowing for what purpose the\namusing rap was made, commence a search for the juvenile billet-doux: in\nthis manner numbers are disposed of by each youth. By way of teasing the\nperson who attends the door, a white oblong square the size of a letter\nis usually chalked on the step of the door, and should an attempt be\nmade to pick it up, great amusement is thus afforded to some of the\nurchins, who are generally watching.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 222.\n\n\n\n\nFEB. 14.] ST. VALENTINE\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThis is a festival which lovers have observed and poets have honoured\nfrom time immemorial. The observance is much more than sixteen hundred\nyears old, when the Christian Valentine was beaten by clubs and\nbeheaded, at the time of the great heathen festival of love and\npurification. A few years ago the observance was dying out; but it has\nlately revived, especially in London.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. xi. p. 129.\n\nIn that curious record of domestic life in England in the reign of\nCharles II., _Pepys\u2019 Diary_, we find some notable illustrations of the\ncustoms connected with this day.\n\nIt appears that married and single were then alike liable to be chosen\nas a Valentine; and that lady Valentines were honoured not by anonymous\nverses, but by substantial gifts. Four days after Pepys had chosen\nMartha Batten for his Valentine, he took her to the Exchange, and there,\n\u201cupon a pair of embroidered, and six pair of plain white gloves, I laid\nout 40_s._\u201d The question of expense troubled the diarist. When, in 1667,\nhe took his wife for (honorary) Valentine, he wrote down the fact that\nit would cost him 5_l._; but he consoled himself by another fact, that\nhe must have laid out as much \u201cif we had not been Valentines.\u201d The\noutlay at the hands of princes and courtiers was enormous. When the\nDuke of York was Miss Stewart\u2019s Valentine, he gave her a jewel of about\n800_l._ in value; and in 1667, Lord Mandeville, being that lady\u2019s\nValentine, presented her with a ring worth 300_l._ The gifts of Pepys to\nhis wife look small by the side of presents made by lovers to ladies.\nPepys came to an agreement with Mrs. Pepys to be her Valentine (which\ndid not preclude others from being so) every year, \u201cand this year,\u201d he\nremarks, in 1668, \u201cit is likely to cost 4_l._ or 5_l._ in a ring for\nher, which she desires.\u201d In 1669, he bought more useful things for his\ncousin Turner, who told him she had drawn him for her Valentine.\nStraightway he went to the New Exchange, and bought her a pair of\nfashionable \u201cgreen silk stockings, and garters, and shoe-strings, and\ntwo pairs of jessimy gloves, all coming to about 28_s._\u201d London shops do\nnot now exhibit green silk stockings, but they tempt buyers with gallant\nintentions; and \u201cValentine gifts\u201d are in windows or on counters at\nprices to suit a few and terrify many.\n\nOther old customs have not been revived, but we may learn some of these\nfrom old makers of Notes, and specially from Pepys, as to the old\nmethods of choosing, or avoiding to choose, Valentines. When he went\nearly on Valentine\u2019s Day to Sir W. Batten\u2019s, he says he would not go in\n\u201ctill I asked whether they that opened the doors was a man or a woman;\nand Mingo who was there, answered, a woman, which, with his tone, made\nme laugh; so up I went, and took Mrs. Martha for my Valentine (which I\ndo only for complacency); and Sir W. Batten, he go in the same manner to\nmy wife, and so we were very merry.\u201d On the following anniversary the\ndiarist tells us that Will Bowyer came to be his wife\u2019s Valentine, \u201cshe\nhaving (at which I made good sport to myself) held her hands all the\nmorning, that she might not see the painters that were at work gilding\nmy chimney-piece and pictures in my dining-room.\u201d It would seem,\nmoreover, that a man was not free from the pleasing pains of\nValentineship when the festival day was over. On Shrove Tuesday, March\n3rd, 1663, after dinner, says Pepys, \u201cMrs. The. showed me my name upon\nher breast as her Valentine, which,\u201d he added, \u201cwill cost me 30_s._\u201d\nAgain, in 1667, a fortnight after the actual day Pepys was with his wife\nat the Exchange, \u201cand there bought things for Mrs. Pierce\u2019s little\ndaughter, my Valentine (which,\u201d he says, \u201cI was not sorry for, it easing\nme of something more than I must have given to others), and so to her\nhouse, where we find Knipp, who also challenged me for her Valentine;\u201d\nof course, Pepys had to pay the usual homage in acknowledgment of such\nchoice. Then, as Pepys had a little girl for Valentine, so boys were\nwelcomed to early gallantry by the ladies. A thoroughly domestic scene\nis revealed to us on Valentine\u2019s Day, 1665:\n\n\u201cThis morning comes betimes Dickie Pen, to be my wife\u2019s Valentine, and\ncame to our bedside. By the same token, I had been brought to my bedside\nthinking to have made him kiss me; but he perceived me, and would not,\nso went to his Valentine--a notable, stout, witty boy.\u201d\n\nWhen a lady drew a Valentine, a gentleman so drawn would have been\ndeemed shabby if he did not accept the honour and responsibility. On the\n14th February, 1667, we have the following:\n\n\u201cThis morning called up by Mr. Hill, who, my wife thought, had come to\nbe her Valentine--she, it seems, having drawn him; but it proved not.\nHowever, calling him up to our bedside, my wife challenged him.\u201d\n\nWhere men could thus intrude, boys like Dickie Pen could boldly go. Thus\nin 1667:\n\n\u201cThis morning came up to my wife\u2019s bedside little Will Mercer, to be her\nValentine; and brought her name writ upon blue paper, in gold letters,\ndone by himself very pretty; and we were both well pleased with it.\u201d\n\nThe drawing of names and name-inscriptions were remnants of old customs\nbefore the Christian era. Alban Butler, under the head of \u201cSt.\nValentine, Priest and Martyr,\u201d says:\n\n\u201cTo abolish the heathens\u2019 lewd, superstitious custom of boys drawing the\nnames of girls in honour of their goddess, Februata Juno, on the 15th of\nthe month (the drawing being on the eve of the 14th), several zealous\npastors substituted the names of saints in billets given on this day.\u201d\nThis does not, however, seem to have taken place till the time of St.\nFrancis de Sales, who, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, as\nwe are told in his Life, \u201cseverely forbade the custom of Valentines, or\ngiving boys in writing the names of girls to be admired or attended on\nby them; and to abolish it, he changed it into giving billets with the\nnames of certain saints for them to honour and imitate in a particular\nmanner.\u201d\n\nTo the drawing of names--those of the saints gave way to living objects\nof adoration--was first added, in 1667, a custom out of which has sprung\nthe modern epistolary Valentine. In the February of that year Pepys\nwrites:\n\n\u201cI do first observe the fashion of drawing of mottoes as well as names;\nso that Pierce, who drew my wife\u2019s, did draw also a motto, \u2018most\ncourteous and most fair;\u2019 which, as it may be used, or an anagram made\nupon each name, might be very pretty.\u201d\n\nThe Valentines of chance were those who drew names; the Valentines by\nchoice were made by those who could not open their eyes on Valentine\u2019s\nmorn till the one he or she most desired to see was near. The one by\nchance sometimes proved to be the one by choice also, and such were true\nValentines. _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. xi. p. 129, 130.\n\nPennant, in his _Tour in Scotland_, tells us that in February young\npersons draw Valentines, and from thence collect their future fortune in\nthe nuptial state; and Goldsmith, in his _Vicar of Wakefield_,\ndescribing the manners of some parties, tells us they sent true-love\nknots on Valentine morning.\n\nSt. Valentine\u2019s Day is alluded to by Shakspeare and by Chaucer, and also\nby the poet Lydgate, the monk of Bury (who died in 1440). One of the\nearliest known writers of Valentines was Charles, Duke of Orleans, who\nwas taken at the Battle of Agincourt. See _Every Day Book_, vol. i. p.\n215.\n\nA singular custom prevailed many years ago in the west of England. Three\nsingle young men went out together before daylight on St. Valentine\u2019s\nDay, with a clap-net to catch an old owl and two sparrows in a\nneighbouring barn. If they were successful and could bring the birds\nwithout injury to the inn before the females of the house had risen,\nthey were rewarded by the hostess with three pots of purl in honour of\nSt. Valentine, and enjoyed the privilege of demanding at any house in\nthe neighbourhood a similar boon. This was done as an emblem that the\nowl, being the bird of wisdom, could influence the feathered race to\nenter the net of love as mates on that day, whereon both single lads and\nmaidens should be reminded that happiness could alone be secured by an\nearly union.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 227.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nIn the village of Duxford and other adjoining parishes the custom of\n\u201cvalentining\u201d is still in feeble existence. The children go in a body\nround to the parsonage and the farm-houses, singing:\n\n    \u201cCurl your looks as I do mine,\n    Two before and three behind,\n    So good morning, Valentine.\n              Hurra! Hurra! Hurra!\u201d\n\nThey start about 9 A.M. on their expedition, which must be finished by\nnoon; otherwise their singing is not acknowledged in any way. In some\nfew cases the donor gives each child a halfpenny, others throw from\ntheir doors the coppers they feel disposed to part with amongst the\nlittle band of choristers, which are eagerly scrambled after.--_The\nAntiquary_, 1873, vol. iii. p. 103.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nThe following customs, which have nearly died out, were very prevalent\nabout fifty or sixty years ago:\n\n\n_Valentine Dealing._--Each young woman in the house would procure\nseveral slips of paper, and write upon them the names of the young men\nshe knew, or those she had a preference for. The slips when ready were\nput into a boot or shoe (a man\u2019s), or else into a hat, and shaken up.\nEach lassie then put in her hand and drew a slip, which she read and\nretained until every one had drawn. The slips were then put back and the\ndrawing done over again, which ceremony was performed three times. If a\ngirl drew the same slip thrice, she was sure to be married in a short\ntime, and to a person of the same name as that which was written upon\nthe thrice drawn slip.\n\n\n_Looking through the Keyhole._--On the early morn of St. Valentine,\nyoung women would look through the keyhole of the house door. If they\nsaw only a single object or person they would remain unmarried all that\nyear. If they saw, however, two or more objects or persons, they would\nbe sure to have a sweetheart, and that in no distant time; but if\nfortune so favoured them that by chance they saw a cock and a hen, they\nmight be quite certain of being married before the year was out.\n\n\n_Sweeping the girls_ was another real old Derbyshire custom. If a girl\ndid not have a kiss, or if her sweetheart did not come to see her early\non this morning, it was because she was _dusty_, and therefore it was\nneedful that she should be well swept with a broom, and then afterwards\nequally well kissed by the young men of the house, and those living\nnear, who used to go round to their intimate friends\u2019 houses to perform\nthis custom.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. ix. p. 135.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn many parts the poor and middling classes of children assemble\ntogether in some part of the town or village where they live, and\nproceed in a body to the house of the chief personage of the place, who,\non their arrival, throws them wreaths and true lovers\u2019 knots from the\nwindow, with which they adorn themselves. Two or three of the girls then\nselect one of the youngest among them (generally a boy), whom they deck\nout more gaily than the rest, and placing him at their head, march\nforward, singing as they go along:\n\n    \u201cGood morrow to you, Valentine;\n    Curl your locks as I do mine,\n    Two before and three behind.\n    Good morrow to you, Valentine.\u201d\n\nThis they repeat under the windows of all the houses they pass, and the\ninhabitant is seldom known to refuse a mite towards the merry\nsolicitings of these juvenile serenaders.--Hone\u2019s _Year Book_, 1838, p.\n201.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nThe following extract is taken from the _Gentleman\u2019s Magazine_, 1779,\nvol. xlix. p. 137: \u201cBeing on a visit in a little obscure village in\nKent, I found an odd kind of sport going forward: the girls, from\neighteen to five or six years old, were assembled in a crowd, and\nburning an uncouth effigy, which they called an _holly-boy_, and which\nit seems they had stolen from the boys, and in another part of the\nvillage the boys were assembled together, and burning what they called\nan _ivy-girl_, which they had stolen from the girls; all this ceremony\nwas accompanied with loud huzzas, noise, and acclamation.\u201d\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nIndependent of the homage paid to St. Valentine on this day at Lynn, it\nis in other respects a red-letter day amongst all classes of its\ninhabitants, being the commencement of its great annual mart. This mart\nwas granted by a charter of Henry VIII. in the twenty-seventh year of\nhis reign, \u201cto begin on the day next after the feast of the purification\nof the blessed Virgin Mary, and to continue six days next following.\u201d\nSince the alteration of the style, in 1752, it has been proclaimed on\nValentine\u2019s Day. About noon, the Mayor and Corporation, preceded by a\nband of music, and attended by twelve decrepit old men, called from\ntheir dress \u201cRed Coats,\u201d walk in procession to proclaim the mart,\nconcluding by opening the antiquated and almost obsolete court of\n\u201cPiepowder.\u201d Like most establishments of this nature, it is no longer\nattended for the purpose it was first granted, business having yielded\nto pleasure and amusement. Formerly Lynn mart and Stourbridge\n(Stirbitch) fair, were the only places where small traders in this and\nthe adjoining counties supplied themselves with their respective goods.\nNo transactions of this nature now take place, and the only remains to\nbe perceived are the \u201cmart prices,\u201d still issued by the grocers. Here\nthe thrifty housewives, for twenty miles round, laid in their annual\nstore of soap, starch, &c., and the booth of Green, from Limehouse, was\nfor three generations the emporium of such articles; but these no longer\nattend. A great deal of money is however spent, as immense numbers of\npersons assemble from all parts. Neither is there any lack of\nincitements to unburthen the pockets: animals of every description, tame\nand wild, giants and dwarfs, tumblers, jugglers, peep-shows, &c., all\nunite their attractive powers, in sounds more discordant than those\nwhich annoyed the ears of Hogarth\u2019s \u201cenraged musician.\u201d\n\nIn the early part of the last century, an old building, which, before\nthe Reformation, had been a hall belonging to the guild of St. George,\nafter being applied to various uses, was fitted up as a theatre (and, by\na curious coincidence, where formerly had doubtless been exhibited, as\nwas customary at the guild feasts, religious mysteries and pageants of\nthe Catholic age, again were exhibited the mysteries and pageants of the\nProtestant age) during the mart and a few weeks afterwards, but\napparently with no great success.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 223.\n\nIn the parish of Ryburgh it is customary for the children to go round to\nthe houses in the village for contributions, saying:\n\n    \u201cGod bless the baker;\n    If you will be the giver,\n    I will be the taker.\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. v. p. 595.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nIn this county children go from house to house, on the morning of St.\nValentine\u2019s Day, soliciting small gratuities. The children of the\nvillages go in parties, sometimes in considerable numbers, repeating at\neach house the following salutations, which vary in different\ndistricts:[18]\n\n    \u201cGood morrow, Valentine!\n    First it\u2019s yours, and then it\u2019s mine,\n    So please give me a Valentine.\u201d\n\n    \u201cMorrow, morrow, Valentine!\n    First \u2019tis yours, and then \u2019tis mine,\n    So please to give me a Valentine.\n    Holly and ivy tickle my toe,\n    Give me red apples and let me go.\u201d\n\n    \u201cGood morrow, Valentine!\n    Parsley grows by savoury,\n    Savoury grows by thyme,\n    A new pair of gloves on Easter day.\n    Good morrow, Valentine!\u201d\n\n  [18] See _History and Antiquities of Weston Favell_ (1827, p. 6).\n  Brand in his _Pop. Antiq._ mentions this custom as existing in\n  Oxfordshire.--1849, vol. i. p. 60.\n\nIt was formerly customary for young people to _catch_ their parents and\neach other on their first meeting on St. Valentine\u2019s morning. _Catching_\nwas no more than the exclamation, \u201cGood morrow, _Valentine_!\u201d and they\nwho could repeat this before they were spoken to, were entitled to a\nsmall present from their parents or the elderly persons of the family;\nconsequently there was great eagerness to rise early, and much\ngood-natured strife and merriment on the occasion.[19]\n\n  [19] The custom was observed at Norfolk.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ vol. i.\n  p. 60.\n\nIn Peterborough and in some of the villages in the northern part of the\ncounty sweet plum buns were formerly given, and I believe are still\nmade, called Valentine buns; and these buns, I am told, are in some\nvillages given by godfathers and godmothers to their godchildren on the\nSunday preceding and the Sunday following St. Valentine\u2019s Day.--Baker,\n_Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and Phrases_, 1854, vol. ii. p. 373.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nDrawing lots or billets for Valentines is a custom observed in the\nneighbourhood of Mansfield, where a few young men and maidens meet\ntogether, and having put each their own name on a slip of paper, they\nare all placed together in a hat or basket, and drawn in regular\nrotation. Should a young man draw a girl\u2019s name, and she his, it is\nconsidered ominous, and not unfrequently ends in real love and a\nwedding.--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. viii. p. 231.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn this county the following rhymes were used:\n\n    \u201cGood morrow, Valentine!\n    I be thine, and thou be\u2019st mine,\n    So please give me a Valentine!\u201d\n\nAlso\n\n    \u201cGood morrow, Valentine!\n        God bless you ever!\n      If you\u2019ll be true to me,\n      I\u2019ll be the like to thee.\n        Old England for ever!\u201d\n\nAlso\n\n    \u201cGood morrow, Valentine,\n      First \u2019tis yours, then \u2019tis mine,\n      So please give me a Valentine.\u201d\n\n_The Antiquary_, 1873, vol. iii. p. 107; Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol.\ni. p. 60.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\n\u201cOn Valentine\u2019s Day,\u201d says Clarkson (_Hist. of Richmond_, 1821, p. 293),\n\u201cthe ceremony of drawing lots called Valentines is seldom omitted. The\nnames of a select number of one sex with an equal number of the other\nare put into a vessel, and every one draws a name, which is called their\nValentine; and which is looked upon as a good omen of their being\nafterwards united.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMARCH. 1.] ST. DAVID\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nVarious attempts have been made to account for the custom of wearing the\nleek. Owen, in his _Cambrian Biography_ (1803), considers it to have\noriginated from the custom of _cymhortha_, or the neighbourly aid\npractised among farmers. He says that it was once customary in some\ndistricts of South Wales for all the neighbours of a small farmer\nwithout means to appoint a day, when they all met together for the\npurpose of ploughing his land, or rendering him any service in their\npower. On such an occasion each individual carried with him his portion\nof leeks to be used in making the pottage for the company. Some also are\nof opinion that the practice took its rise in consequence of a victory\nobtained by Cadwallo over the Saxons on the 1st of March, 640, when the\nWelsh, to distinguish themselves, wore leeks in their hats. Shakespeare\nintroduces the custom into his play of Henry V., act iv. sc. 7. Fluellin\naddressing the monarch says:\n\n\u201cYour grandfather of famous memory, an\u2019t please your majesty, and your\ngreat uncle Edward the plack prince of Wales, as I have read in the\nchronicles, fought a most prave pattle here in France.\n\n\u201c_K. Hen._ They did, Fluellin.\n\n\u201c_Flu._ Your majesty says very true: if your majesty is remembered of\nit, the Welshmen did goot service in a garden where leeks did grow,\nwearing leeks in their Monmouth caps; which, your majesty knows, to this\nhour is an honourable padge of the service; and I do believe your\nmajesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy\u2019s day.\u201d\n\nThis allusion by Fluellin to the Welsh having worn the leek in a battle\nunder the Black Prince, is not, as some writers suppose, wholly decisive\nof its having originated in the fields of Cressy or Poictiers, but shows\nthat when Shakespeare wrote Welshmen wore leeks. In the same play the\nwell-remembered Fluellin\u2019s enforcement of Pistol to eat the leek he had\nridiculed, further establishes the wearing as a usage.--_Every Day\nBook_, vol. i. p. 318.\n\nA contributor to a periodical work, entitled _Gazette of Fashion_ (March\n9th, 1822), rejects the notion that wearing leeks on St. David\u2019s Day\noriginated at the battle between the Saxons and the Welsh in the sixth\ncentury; and considers it more probable that leeks were a Druidic symbol\nemployed in honour of the British _Ceudven_, or Ceres. In which\nhypothesis he thinks there is nothing strained in presuming that the\nDruids were a branch of the Ph\u0153nician priesthood. Both were addicted to\noak worship; and during the funereal rites of Adonis at Byblos, leeks\nand onions were exhibited in \u201cpots with other vegetables, and called the\ngardens of that deity.\u201d\n\nIn the fifteenth century, the celebration of St. David\u2019s Day was\nhonoured with the patronage of royalty; and numerous entries of\npayments, such as the following, are recorded in the \u201cPrivy Purse\nExpenses of Henry the Seventh,\u201d a monarch whose liberality is not\nproverbial:\n\n\u201cMarch 1 (1492). Walshemen on Saint David Day, \u00a32.\u201d \u201cMarch 6 (1494). To\nthe Walshemen towardes their feste, \u00a32.\u201d--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._, vol. i. p.\n168.\n\nFrom _Poor Robin\u2019s Almanack_ for 1757 it appears that, in former times\nin England, a Welshman was burnt in effigy on this anniversary:\n\n    \u201cBut it would make a stranger laugh\n    To see th\u2019 English hang poor Taff:\n    A pair of breeches, and a coat,\n    Hat, shoes, and stockings, and what not,\n    All stuffed with hay to represent\n    The Cambrian hero thereby meant:\n    With sword sometimes three inches broad,\n    And other armour made of wood,\n    They drag hur to some publick tree,\n    And hang hur up in effigy.\u201d\n\nTo this custom Pepys probably alludes in his Diary for 1667 (Bohn\u2019s\nEdition, 1858, vol. iii. p. 761):\n\n\u201cIn Mark Lane I do observe (it being St. David\u2019s Day) the picture of a\nman dressed like a Welshman, hanging by the neck upon one of the poles\nthat stand out at the top of the merchant\u2019s houses, in full proportion;\nand very handsomely done, which is one of the oddest sights I have seen\na good while.\u201d\n\nBrand, in his _Pop. Antiq._ (1849, vol. i. p. 105), thinks that from\nthis custom arose the practice, at one time in vogue amongst\npastrycooks, of hanging or skewering _taffies_ or Welshmen of\ngingerbread for sale on St. David\u2019s Day.\n\nThe goat has by time-honoured custom been attached to the regiment of\nthe Royal Welsh (23rd) Fusiliers, and the following extract, taken from\nthe _Graphic_ (No. 171, March, 8th, 1873), shows how St. David\u2019s Day is\nobserved by the officers and men of this regiment:\n\nThe drum-major, as well as every man in the regiment, wears a leek in\nhis busby; the goat is dressed with rosettes and ribbons of red and\nblue. The officers have a party, and the drum-major, accompanied by the\ngoat, marches round the table after dinner, carrying a plate of leeks,\nof which he offers one to each officer or guest who has never eaten one\nbefore, and who is bound to eat it up, standing on his chair, with one\nfoot on the table, while a drummer beats a roll behind his chair. All\nthe toasts given are coupled with the name of St. David, nor is the\nmemory of Toby Purcell forgotten. This worthy was gazetted major of the\nregiment when it was first raised, and was killed in the Battle of the\nBoyne.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nSt. David\u2019s Day is observed in London, says Hampson (_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._\nvol. i. p. 168), by the Charitable Society of Ancient Britons, who were\nestablished in 1714, in behalf of the Welsh Charity School in Gray\u2019s Inn\nRoad. On this occasion each man wears an artificial leek in his hat.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nOn St. David\u2019s Day at Jesus College, Oxford, an immense silver gilt\nbowl, containing ten gallons, which was presented to the College by Sir\nWatkin Williams Wynne in 1732, is filled with \u201cswig,\u201d and handed round\nto those who are invited to sit at the festive and hospitable\nboard.--Hone\u2019s _Year Book_, 1838, p. 265.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nAt Tenby one of the benefit clubs marched through the town bearing the\nleek in their hats. In the evening a ball took place, at which\nartificial leeks were worn by both sexes.--Mason, _Tales and Traditions\nof Tenby_, 1858, p. 19.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 1.] SIMNEL SUNDAY.\n\n\nSimnel Sunday is better known as Mid-Lent or Mothering Sunday, and was\nso called because large cakes called Simnels were made on this day.\n\nBailey in his _Dictionary_ (fol. 1764, by Scott,) says, _Simnel_ is\nprobably derived from the Latin _Simila_, fine flour, and means a sort\nof cake, or bun, made of fine flour, spice, &c.\n\nFrequent mention is made of the Simnel in the household allowances of\nHenry the First.\n\n\u201cCancellarius v solidos in die et i Siminellum dominicum, et ii salum,\net i sextarium de vino claro, et i sext. de vino expensabili, et unum\ngrossum cereum, et xl frusta Candell.\u201d--_Libr. Nigr. Scaccarii_, p. 341.\n\nThe \u201cSiminellum Dominicum,\u201d Hearne thinks, was a better kind of\nbread[20] and that \u201cSiminellum Salum,\u201d from ~sal~, cibus, victus, was\nthe ordinary bread; if it be not the Latin _Salis_ (Siminellum Salinum),\nin which case it denotes that more salt is contained in it than in the\nother. If the derivation from Simnel be not satisfactory, perhaps the\nAnglo-Saxon ~symbel~, a feast or banquet, whence ~simbel~, ~d\u00e6g~, a\nfestival day, may suffice.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 177.\n\n  [20] Alderman Wilkinson of Burnley, a well known able Lancashire\n  antiquary, some time since stated that it \u201coriginally meant the _very\n  finest_ bread. _Pain demain_ is another term for it, on account of its\n  having been used as Sunday bread.\u201d\n\n  In Wright\u2019s _Vocabularies_ it appears thus:--\u2018_Hic art\u00e6copus, a\n  symnylle_.\u2019 This form was in use during the fifteenth century.\n\n  In the _Dictionarius_ of John de Garlande, compiled at Paris in the\n  thirteenth century, it appears thus:--\u201c_Simeneus_ = placent\u00e6 =\n  simnels.\u201d Such cakes were signed with the figure of Christ, or of the\n  Virgin.\n\nAt Bury, in Lancashire, from time beyond memory, thousands of persons\ncome from all parts, and eat \u201csimnels\u201d on Simnel Sunday. Formerly,\nnearly every shop was open, quite in defiance of the law respecting the\nclosing during \u201cservice,\u201d but of late, through the improved state of\npublic opinion, the disorderly scenes to which the custom gave rise have\nbeen partially amended. Efforts have been repeatedly made to put a stop\nto the practice altogether, but in vain. The clergy, headed by the\nrector, and the ministers of all denominations (save the Romanists) have\ndrawn up protests and printed appeals against this desecration, but, as\njust stated, with scarcely any visible effect.\n\nIt is not a little singular that the practice of assembling in one town,\nupon one day--the middle Sunday in Lent, to eat simnel cake, is a\npractice confined to Bury. Much labour has been expended to trace the\norigin of this custom, but without success.--_Gent. Mag._ (New Series)\n1866, vol. i. p. 535; Baines, _History of Lancashire_, 1836, vol. ii. p.\n776.\n\nHerrick in his _Hesperides_ has the following:\n\n\u201cTO DIANEME.\n\n\u201cA CEREMONIE IN GLOCESTER.\n\n    \u201cI\u2019ll to thee a Simnell bring,\n    \u2019Gainst thou go\u2019st a _mothering_;\n    So that, when she blesseth thee,\n    Half that blessing thou\u2019lt give me.\u201d\n\n  1, p. 2787.\n\nAgain, the bread called \u201csimnel bread\u201d is mentioned by Jehoshaphat\nAspin, in his _Pictures of Manners, &c., of England_, p. 126, who quotes\nfrom a statute of 51st of Henry III.:--_A farthing symnel_ (a sort of\nsmall cake, twice baked, and also called a _cracknel_) should weigh two\nounces less than the _wastel_ (a kind of cake made with honey, or with\nmeal and oil).\n\nCurious are some of the tales which have arisen to explain the meaning\nof the name _simnel_. Some pretend that the father of Lambert Simnel,\nthe well-known pretender in the reign of Henry VII., was a baker, and\nthe first maker of simnels, and that, in consequence of the celebrity he\ngained by the acts of his son, his cakes have retained his name. There\nis a story current in Shropshire, which is more picturesque. Long ago\nthere lived an honest old couple, boasting the names of Simon and Nelly,\nbut their surnames are not known. It was their custom at Easter to\ngather their children about them, and thus meet together once a year\nunder the old homestead. The fasting season of Lent was just ending, but\nthey had still left some of the unleavened dough which had been from\ntime to time converted into bread during the forty days. Nelly was a\ncareful woman, and it grieved her to waste anything, so she suggested\nthat they should use the remains of the lenten dough, for the basis of a\ncake to regale the assembled family. Simon readily agreed to the\nproposal, and further reminded his partner that there were still some\nremains of their Christmas plum-pudding hoarded up in the cupboard, and\nthat this might form the interior, and be an agreeable surprise to the\nyoung people when they had made their way through the less tasty crust.\nSo far all things went on harmoniously; but when the cake was made, a\nsubject of violent discord arose, Sim insisting that it should be\nboiled, while Nell no less obstinately contended that it should be\nbaked. The dispute ran from words to blows, for Nell not choosing to let\nher province in the household be thus interfered with, jumped up, and\nthrew the stool she was sitting on at Sim, who, on his part, seized a\nbesom, and applied it with right good will to the head and shoulders of\nhis spouse. She now seized the broom, and the battle became so warm,\nthat it might have had a very serious result, had not Nell proposed as a\ncompromise that the cake should be boiled first and afterwards baked.\nThis Sim acceded to, for he had no wish for further acquaintance with\nthe heavy end of the broom. Accordingly, the big pot was set on the\nfire, and the stool broken up and thrown on to boil it, whilst the besom\nand broom furnished fuel for the oven. Some eggs, which had been broken\nin the scuffle, were used to coat the outside of the pudding when\nboiled, which gave it the shining gloss it possesses as a cake. This new\nand remarkable production in the art of confectionery became known by\nthe name of the cake of Simon and Nelly, but soon only the first half of\neach name was alone preserved and joined together, and it has ever since\nbeen known as the cake of Sim-Nel or Simnel.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p.\n337.\n\n\n_Mothering Sunday._--In many parts of England it was formerly customary\nfor servants, apprentices, and others to carry presents to their parents\non this day. This practice was called Going a-Mothering, and originated\nin the offerings made on this day at the mother-church.\n\nIn the _Gent. Mag._ (vol. liv. p. 98) a correspondent tells us that\nwhilst he was an apprentice the custom was to visit his mother on\nMid-Lent Sunday (thence called Mothering Sunday) for a regale of\nexcellent furmety.[21]\n\n  [21] Furmenty, Furmity, or Frumity; still a favourite dish in the\n  north, consisting of hulled wheat boiled in milk and seasoned. It was\n  especially a Christmas dish. In the _True Gentlewoman\u2019s Delight_,\n  1676, p. 17, the following receipt is given for making furmity:\n\n  Take a quart of sweet cream, two or three sprigs of mace, and a nutmeg\n  cut in half, put it into your cream, so let it boil; then take your\n  French barley or rice, being first washed clean in fair water three\n  times and picked clean, then boil it in sweet milk till it be tender,\n  then put it into your cream, and boil it well, and when it hath boiled\n  a good while, take the yoke of six or seven eggs, beat them very well\n  to thicken on a soft fire, boil it, and stir it, for it will quickly\n  burn; when you think it is boiled enough sweeten it to your taste, and\n  so serve it in with rosewater and musk-sugar, in the same manner you\n  make it with wheat.--Nares\u2019 _Glossary_ (Halliwell and Wright), 1859,\n  vol. i. p. 340.\n\nAnother correspondent of the same journal for May (vol. liv. p. 343)\nsays, \u201cI happened to reside last year near Chepstow, in Monmouthshire;\nand there, for the first time, heard of _Mothering Sunday_. My inquiries\ninto the origin and meaning of it were fruitless; but the practice\nthereabouts was for servants and apprentices on Mid-Lent Sunday to\n_visit their parents_, and _make them a present of money_, _a trinket_,\nor _some nice eatable_; and they are anxious not to fail in this\ncustom.\u201d\n\nA mothering-cake is alluded to in Collins\u2019s _Miscellanies_, 1762, p.\n114:\n\n    \u201cWhy, rot thee, Dick! see Dundry\u2019s Peak\n    Lucks like a shuggard motherin\u2019-cake.\u201d\n\nA sort of spiced ale called Braggot, Bragget, or Braggat, was used in\nmany parts of Lancashire on these visits of relations, whence the day\nwas called _Braggot Sunday_.\n\nIn Nares\u2019 _Glossary_ (Halliwell and Wright, 1859, vol. i. p. 102) the\nfollowing receipt for making _bragget_ is given from the _Haven of\nHealth_, chap. 239, p. 268:\n\nTake three or four galons of good ale, or more as you please, two dayes\nor three after it is densed, and put it into a pot by itselfe; then draw\nforth a pottle thereof, and put to it a quart of good English honey, and\nset them over the fire in a vessell, and let them boyle faire and\nsoftly, and alwayes as any froth ariseth skumme it away, and so clarifie\nit, and when it is well clarified, take it off the fire and let it\ncoole, and put thereto of pepper a pennyworth, cloves, mace, ginger,\nnutmegs, cinamon, of each two pennyworth, beaten to powder, stir them\nwell together, and set them over the fire to boyle againe awhile, then\nbring milke warme, put it to the reste, and stirre alltogether, and let\nit stand two or three daies, and put barme upon it, and drink it at your\npleasure.\n\nMinshen in his _Ductor in Linguas_ (1617, p. 50) tells us that Braggot\nis composed of two Welsh words, _Br\u00e4g_, malt, and _Gots_, honeycombs.\n\nIn Ben Jonson\u2019s masque of the _Metamorphosed Gipsies_ is the following\nreference to this word:\n\n    \u201cAnd we have serv\u2019d there, armed all in ale,\n    With the brown bowl, and charg\u2019d in _braggat_ stale.\u201d\n\nOn this day also boys went about in ancient times into the villages with\na figure of death made of straw, from whence they were generally driven\nby the country people, who disliked it as an ominous appearance, while\nsome gave them money to get the mawkin carried off. Its precise meaning\nunder that form is doubtful, though it seems likely to have purported\nthe death of winter, and to have been only a part of another ceremony\nconducted by a larger number of boys, from whom the death carriers were\na detachment, and who consisted of a large assemblage carrying two\nfigures to represent Spring and Winter. These two figures they bore\nabout, and fought; in the fight, Summer or Spring got the victory over\nWinter, and thus was allegorized the departure or burial of the death of\nthe year, and its commencement or revival as Spring.--_Every Day Book_,\nvol. i. p. 358.\n\nIn the north of England, and also in the Midland Counties, the following\nnames are given to the Sundays of Lent, the first of which however is\nanonymous:\n\n    \u201cTid, Mid, Misera,\n    Carling, Palm, Paste Egg-day.\u201d\n\nAnother version of this couplet is given in the _Gent. Mag._, 1788, vol.\nlviii. p. 288.\n\n    \u201cTid, and Mid, and Misera,\n    Carling, Palm, and Good-Pas-Day.\u201d\n\nThe first three names are no doubt corruptions of some part of the\nancient Latin service or psalms used on each.--Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._\n1849, vol. i. p. 116; see the _Festa Anglo-Romana_, 1678.\n\nIn the _Gent. Mag._ (1785, p. 779) an advertisement for the regulation\nof Newark fair is quoted, which mentions that \u201c_Careing Fair_ will be\nheld on Friday before Careing Sunday;\u201d and Nichols remarks on this\npassage that he had heard the following old Nottinghamshire couplet:\n\n    \u201cCare Sunday, Care away,\n    Palm Sunday and Easter Day.\u201d\n\n  --_Ibid._ p. 113.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nFig-pies, or, as they are called in this country, \u201cfag-pies,\u201d are, or\nwere, eaten on a Sunday in Lent, thence known as Fag-pie Sunday.--_N. &\nQ. 2nd S._ vol. i. p. 322.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nFig-pie Wake is kept in the parish of Draycot-in-the-Moors and in the\nneighbouring villages on Mid-Lent Sunday. The fig-pies are made of dry\nfigs, sugar, treacle, spice, etc.; they are rather too luscious for\nthose who are not \u201cto the manner born.\u201d But yet on this Sunday, the\nfriends of the parishioners come to visit them, and to eat their\nfig-pies.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol, i. p. 227.\n\n\n\n\nFIRST MONDAY IN MARCH.\n\n\nBERKSHIRE AND HAMPSHIRE.\n\nThe first Monday in March being the time when shoemakers in the country\ncease from working by candle-light, it used to be customary for them to\nmeet together in the evening for the purpose of _wetting the block_. On\nthese occasions the master either provided a supper for his men, or made\nthem a present of money or drink; the rest of the expense was defrayed\nby subscriptions among themselves, and sometimes by donations from\ncustomers. After the supper was ended, the block candlestick was placed\nin the midst, the shop candle was lighted, and all the glasses being\nfilled, the oldest hand in the shop poured the contents of his glass\nover the candle to extinguish it; the rest then drank the contents of\ntheirs standing, and gave three cheers. The meeting was usually kept to\na late hour.[22]--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 470.\n\n  [22] In some places this custom took place on Easter Monday.\n\n\n\n\nFRIDAY IN LIDE.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nThe first Friday in March is so called from _lide_, Anglo-Saxon for\nMarch. This day is marked by a serio-comic custom of sending a young lad\non the highest mound or hillock of the work, and allowing him to sleep\nthere as long as he can; the length of his _siesta_ being the measure of\nthe afternoon nap for the tinners throughout the ensuing twelve months.\nThe weather which usually characterizes Friday in Lide is, it need\nscarcely be said, not very conducive to prolonged sleep. In Saxon times\nlabourers were generally allowed their mid-day sleep; and it has been\nobserved that it is even now permitted to husbandmen in some parts of\nEast Cornwall during a stated portion of the year. Browne appears to\nallude to this practice in Devonshire, when he says in the third song of\nhis first book, in reference to the song-birds in the woodland:\n\n    \u201cWhose pleasing noates the tyred swaine have made\n    To steale a nap at noontide in the shade.\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1870, vol. i. p. 64.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 3.] SCOTLAND.\n\n\nSinclair, in his _Statistical Account of Scotland_ (1795, vol. xvi. p.\n460), says, \u201cAt Sandwick the people do no work on the third day of\nMarch, in commemoration of the day on which the church of Sandwick was\nconsecrated; and, as the church was dedicated to St. Peter, they also\nabstain from working for themselves on St. Peter\u2019s day (29th June), but\nthey will work for another person who employs them.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 5.] ST. PIRAN\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nThe tinners observe this day, says Hitchins in his _History of Cornwall_\n(1844, vol. i. p. 725), as a holiday, which they call St. Piran\u2019s Day.\nThis, by a custom established from time immemorial, sanctions a\nsuspension from all labour, because St. Piran is supposed to have\ncommunicated some important information relative to the tin manufacture.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 8.] CARE SUNDAY.\n\n\nThis day, the ancient _Passion Sunday_, is the fifth Sunday after Shrove\nTuesday. The word _Care_, which is also applied to Christmas Cakes, has\nbeen a stumbling-block to etymologists. The following remarks respecting\nits derivation are taken from Hampson\u2019s _Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ (1841, vol.\ni. p. 178):--T. Mareschall observes that the day on which Christ\nsuffered, is called in German both _Gute Freytag_ and _Karr Freytag_,\nand that _Karr_ signified a satisfaction for a fine or penalty. Adelung\nspeaking of _Charfreytag_ (_Care_ or _Carr_ Friday) and _Charwoche_\n(_Care_ or _Carr-week_), observes that the first syllable is supposed to\nbe the old _Cara_, preparation (_Zubereitung_), and that this week,\nconformably to the usage of the Jews, was called _Preparation Week_\n(_Zubereitungswoche_) because the sixth day was _Preparation day_\n(_Zubereitungstag_), when the Jews prepared themselves for Easter. Hence\nthe Greeks called Carfriday, _Dies Parasceves_, of which the Gothic\n_Gartag_, or _Garfreytag_ is a translation.\n\nTatian (Cap. 58) names the Friday before Easter \u201cGarotag fora Ostrum,\u201d\nand renders the phrase, \u201cMy heart is prepared,\u201d \u201cKaro ist mein herza.\u201d\nSchiller\u2019s opinion, however, that _Char_, _Kar_, signifies mourning,\ncomplaint, sorrow, has equal probability; for it appears from ancient\nmanuscripts that _Car_ formerly bore the signification of _Care_ or\ngrief, and in Sweden, where the fifth Sunday in Lent is denominated\n_Kaersunnutag_, the verb _K\u00e6ra_ is actually to lament, to complain.\n\nDr. Jameson, adopting the opinion of Mareschall, observes, \u201cThis name\nmay have been imposed in reference to the satisfaction made by our\nSaviour. Some, however, understand it, as referring to the accusations\nbrought against him on this day, from the Sueo-Gothic _K\u00e6ra_, to\ncomplain.\u201d--_Etymol. Dict._, Art. _Care Sunday_.\n\nOn this day, in the northern counties, and in Scotland, a custom obtains\nof eating _Carlings_, which are grey peas, steeped all night in water,\nand fried the next day with butter:\n\n    \u201cThere\u2019ll be all the lads and lassies\n      Set down in the midst of the ha\u2019,\n    With sybows, and ryfarts, and _carlings_\n      That are bath sodden and raw.\u201d\n\n  Ritson\u2019s _Scottish Songs_, vol. i. p. 211.\n\nAs to the origin of this custom, Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p.\n114) offers the following explanation:--\u201cIn the Roman Calendar, I find\nit observed on this day, that a dole is made of _soft beans_. I can\nhardly entertain a doubt but that our custom is derived from hence. It\nwas usual among the Romanists to give away beans in the doles at\nfunerals; it was also a rite in the funeral ceremonies of heathen Rome.\nWhy we have substituted peas I know not, unless it was because they are\na pulse somewhat fitter to be eaten at this season of the year.\u201d Having\nobserved from Erasmus that Plutarch held pulse (_legumina_) to be of the\nhighest efficacy in invocation of the _Manes_, he adds: \u201cRidiculous and\nabsurd as these superstitions may appear, it is quite certain that\n_Carlings_ deduce their origin from thence.\u201d This explanation, however,\nis by no means regarded as satisfactory.\n\nHone (_Every Day Book_, 1826, vol. i. p. 379) says, How is it that _Care\nSunday_ is also called _Carl_ and _Carling_ Sunday; and that the peas,\nor beans of the day are called _Carlings_? _Carle_, which means a\n_Churle_, or rude boorish fellow, was anciently the term for a working\ncountryman or labourer; and it is only altered in the spelling, without\nthe slightest deviation in sense, from the old Saxon word ~Ceorl~, the\nname for a husbandman. The older denomination of the day, then, may not\nhave been _Care_, but _Carl Sunday_, from the benefactions to the\n_Carles_ or _Carlen_. A correspondent of _Notes & Queries_ (_1st S._\nvol. iii. 449) tells us that on the north-east coast of England, where\nthe custom of frying dry peas on this day is attended with much augury,\nsome ascribe its origin to the loss of a ship freighted with peas on the\ncoast of Northumberland. Carling is the foundation beam of a ship, or\nthe beam on the keel.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nIn several villages in the vicinity of Wisbeach, in the Isle of Ely, the\nfifth Sunday in Lent has been, time immemorial, commemorated by the name\nof _Whirlin Sunday_, when cakes are made by almost every family, and are\ncalled, from the day, _Whirlin Cakes_.--_Gent. Mag._ 1789, vol. lix. p.\n491.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nThe rustics go to the public-house of the village, and spend each their\n_Carling-groat_, i.e., that sum in drink, for the Carlings are provided\nfor them gratis; and a popular notion prevails that those who do not do\nthis will be unsuccessful in their pursuits for the following\nyear.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 114.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 10.] OXFORDSHIRE.\n\n\nWilliam Handy, by will dated the 10th of March, 1622, bequeathed to the\nparish of St. Giles\u2019, Oxford, \u00a340, upon condition that, upon the 10th of\nMarch for ever, in the morning, about 5 o\u2019clock, they should ring one\npeal with all the bells, and about 8 or 9 o\u2019clock should go to service,\nand read all the service, with the Litany and the Communion, as it is\ncommanded to be read in the cathedral church, and after that to have a\nsermon, and in it to give God thanks for His great blessings in\ndelivering and bringing the giver from Papistry and idolatry to the\nlight and truth of the blessed Gospel; and he desired that the preacher\nmight have 10_s._ for his sermon, and the minister 5_s._ for leading\nservice, and the poor to have given them in bread or money 10_s._\n\nThis sum, with other money, was laid out in 1633, in purchasing a\ntenement, garden, and one acre of pasture ground, situated in Corn\nStreet, Witney, to the uses of the donor\u2019s will; of the rent, 15_s._ a\nyear was accordingly commanded to be paid to the minister for reading\nprayers and preaching a sermon on the 10th of March, 5_s._ to the clerk,\n5_s._ to the ringer, and 15_s._ to be distributed at the church, with\nother money in small sums to the poor.[23]--_Old English Customs and\nCharities_, 1842, p. 249.\n\n  [23] There was a similar gift of the same donor to the parish of St.\n  Mary Magdalen, Oxford; but since 1800 nothing has been paid in respect\n  of this charity.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 11.] NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\n\nFormerly, there lived at Newark one Hercules Clay, a tradesman of\nconsiderable eminence, and an alderman of the borough of Newark. During\nthe siege, in the night of the 11th of March 1643, he dreamed three\ntimes that his house was on fire; on the third warning he arose much\nalarmed, awoke the whole of his family, and caused them to quit the\npremises, though at that time all appeared to be in perfect safety. Soon\nafterwards, however, a bomb from a battery of the Parliamentarian army\non Beacon Hill, an eminence near the town, fell upon the roof of the\nhouse, and penetrated all the floors, and happily did little other\nexecution. The bomb was intended to destroy the house of the governor of\nthe town, which was in Stadman Street, exactly opposite Clay\u2019s house. In\ncommemoration of this extraordinary deliverance, Mr. Clay, by his will,\ngave \u00a3200 to the Corporation in trust to pay the interest of \u00a3100 to the\nVicar of Newark, for a sermon to be preached every 11th of March. The\ninterest of the other \u00a3100 he directed to be given in bread to the poor.\nPenny loaves were, accordingly, given to every one who applied, and the\nday on which they were distributed, was called \u201cPenny Loaf Day.\u201d--Hone\u2019s\n_Year Book_, 1838, p. 301.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 12.] ST. GREGORY\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe feast of St. Gregory the Great, 12th of March, was formerly observed\nas a holiday, and one of festivity in all the rural schools in the\nbaronies of Forth and Baigy (the Strongbonian Colony), in the county of\nWexford. The manner was this: the children, for some days previous,\nbrought contributions, according to the means and liberality of their\nparents, consisting of money, bread, butter, cream, &c., and delivered\nthem to the teacher. On the morning of the joyous day, the children\nrepaired to the school-house in holiday dress, where the teacher had\neverything prepared for the festivity, the simple temple of learning\ndecorated with the richest flowers within his means of obtaining, and\nthe presence of two or more kind-hearted females to do the honours and\nduties of the tea-table to the happy juveniles. A \u201cking\u201d and a \u201cqueen\u201d\nwere nominated, who, of course, took the seat of honour, and the proud\nand busy teacher was everywhere all attention to his little pupils. The\nday passed off in hilarity and innocent enjoyment, and the competitive\nsystem of free offerings left, generally, something pleasing to tell for\nsome days in the pockets and humble cupboard of the teacher. This custom\nprevailed until after the commencement of the present century.--_N. & Q.\n2nd S._ vol. vii. p. 392.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 14.] PALM SATURDAY.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nOn the Saturday before Palm Sunday the boys belonging to the\ngrammar-school at Lanark, according to ancient usage, used to parade the\nstreets with a palm, or its substitute, a large tree of the willow kind,\n(_Salix caprea_), in blossom, ornamented with daffodils, mezereon, and\nbox-tree. This day was called Palm Saturday, and supposed to be a popish\nrelic of very ancient standing.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, Sinclair,\n1795, vol. xv. p. 45.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 15.] PALM SUNDAY.\n\n\nPalm Sunday receives its English and the greater part of its foreign\nnames from the custom of bearing palm branches, in commemoration of\nthose which were strewn in the path of Christ on his entry into\nJerusalem. \u201cIt is a custom among churchmen,\u201d says the author of a\nNormano-Saxon homily in the reign of Henry II., or Richard I., \u201cto go in\nprocession on this day. The custom has its origin in the holy procession\nwhich our Saviour made to the place where he chose to suffer death.\u201d\n\nThe ceremony of bearing palms on Palm Sunday was retained in England\nafter some others were dropped, and was one of those which Henry VIII.\nin 1536 declared were not to be discontinued. In a proclamation in the\nlibrary of the Society of Antiquaries, dated the 26th February, 1539,\n\u201cConcernyng rites and ceremonies to be used in due fourme in the Churche\nof Englande,\u201d occurs the following clause: \u201cOn Palme Sonday it shall be\ndeclared that bearing of palmes renueth the memorie of the receivinge of\nChriste in lyke maner into Jerusalem before his deathe.\u201d Again, in\nFuller\u2019s _Church History_ (1655, p. 222), we read that \u201cbearing of palms\non Palm Sunday is in memory of the receiving of Christ into Jerusalem a\nlittle before his death, and that we may have the same desire to receive\nhim into our hearts.\u201d\n\nIn Howe\u2019s edition of _Stow\u2019s Chronicle_ (1615, fol. p. 595), it is\nstated, under the year 1548, that \u201cthis yeere the ceremony of bearing of\npalmes on Palme Sunday was left off, and not used as before.\u201d--_Med. \u00c6vi\nKalend._ vol. i. p. 181; Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 124.\n\nIt is still customary with our boys, both in the south and north of\nEngland, to go out and gather slips with the willow-flowers or buds at\nthis time. These seem to have been selected as substitutes for the real\npalm, because they are generally the only things which can be easily\nobtained at this season. This practice is still observed in the\nneighbourhood of London. The young people go _a-palming_; and the sallow\nis sold in London streets for the whole week preceding Palm Sunday. In\nthe north it is called going a-palmsoning or palmsning.--Brand, _Pop.\nAntiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 127.\n\nStow in his _Survey of London_ (1603, p. 98) says that \u201cin the weeke\nbefore Easter had ye great shewes made for the fetching in of a _twisted\ntree or with_, as they termed it, out of the woodes into the kinge\u2019s\nhouse, and the like into every man\u2019s house of honor or worship.\u201d\nProbably this was a substitute for the palm.\n\nAn instance of the great antiquity of this practice in England is\nafforded by the Domesday Survey, under Shropshire, vol. i. p. 252, where\na tenant is stated to have rendered in payment a bundle of box twigs on\nPalm Sunday, \u201cTerra dimid. car unus reddit inde _fascem buxi in die\nPalmarum_.\u201d\n\nBy an Act of Common Council, 1 and 2 Phil. and Mary, for retrenching\nexpenses, it was ordered, \u201cthat from henceforth _there shall be no wyth\nfetcht home at the Maior\u2019s or Sheriff\u2019s Houses_. Neither shall they keep\nany lord of misrule in any of their houses.\u201d--Strype\u2019s _Stow_, 1720,\nbook i. p 246.\n\nIt was formerly the custom in some of the northern parts of England for\nthe young men and maids who received the sacrament to walk after dinner\ninto the corn-fields, and to bless the corn and fruits of the\nearth.--Kennett, MS. Brit. Mus.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nIn former days persons resorted to \u201cOur Lady of Nantswell\u201d with a palm\ncross in one hand and an offering in the other. The offering fell to the\npriest\u2019s share: the cross was thrown into the well, and if it swam was\nregarded as an omen that the person who threw it would outlive the year;\nif however it sank, a short ensuing death was foreboded.--Carew, _Survey\nof Cornwall_, 1811.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nOn Palm Sunday morning, the boys go into the fields and gather branches\nof the willow; these are carried about during the day, and in some\nchurches it is customary to use them for decoration.--_Jour. of Arch.\nAssoc._, 1852, vol. vii. p. 204.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nThe return of Palm Sunday has, from time immemorial, been observed at\nHentland Church in a peculiar manner. The minister and congregation\nreceive from the churchwardens a cake or bun, and, in former times, a\ncup of beer also. This is consumed within the church, and is supposed to\nimply a desire on the part of those who partake of it to forgive and\nforget all animosities, and thus prepare themselves for the festival of\nEaster.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. vii. p. 275.\n\n\nHERTFORDSHIRE.\n\nHone, in his _Year Book_ (1838, p. 1593), states that at Kempton it has\nlong been a custom for the inhabitants to eat figs on this day, there\ntermed _Fig Sunday_, where it is also usual for them to keep wassel, and\nmake merry with their friends.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nA curious and quaint custom existed for very many years at Caistor\nChurch, in Lincolnshire, on Palm Sunday, connected with a tenure of\nproperty; and in the particulars of sale, circulated in 1845, is the\nfollowing account of it:\n\n\u201cThis estate is held subject to the performance, on Palm Sunday in every\nyear, of the ceremony of cracking a whip in Caistor Church, in the said\ncounty of Lincoln, which has been regularly and duly performed on Palm\nSunday, from time immemorial, in the following manner:\n\n\u201cThe whip is taken every Palm Sunday by a man from Broughton to the\nparish of Caistor, who, while the minister is reading the first lesson,\ncracks it three distinct times in the church porch, then folds it neatly\nup, and retires to a seat. At the commencement of the second lesson, he\napproaches the minister, and kneeling opposite to him with the whip in\nhis hand, and the purse at the end of it, held perpendicularly over his\nhead, waves it thrice, and continues in a steadfast position throughout\nthe whole of the chapter. The ceremony is then concluded. The whip has a\nleathern purse tied at the end of it, which ought to contain thirty\npieces of silver, said to represent, according to Scripture, \u201cthe price\nof blood.\u201d Four pieces of weechelm[24] tree, of different lengths, are\naffixed to the stock, denoting the different Gospels of the holy\nEvangelists; the three distinct cracks are typical of St. Peter\u2019s denial\nof his Lord and Master three times; and the waving it over the\nminister\u2019s head as an intended homage to the Blessed Trinity.\u201d\n\n  [24] Properly Wych elm (_Ulmus montana_).\n\nIn an article on this subject in the _Arch\u00e6ological Journal_ (1849, vol.\nvi. p. 239), the writer says: \u201cI have not been able to trace this custom\nto its source. It would appear to have prevailed in very primitive\ntimes, and yet the circumstance of the custom requiring the more\nessential part of the ceremony to be performed during the reading of the\n_second lesson_ is scarcely reconcilable with this idea; but I am\ninduced to think that the custom prevailed long before our present\nritual existed, and that it has in this respect been accommodated to the\nchanges which time has effected in the services of the Church.\nUnfortunately, the title-deeds do not contain the slightest reference to\nthe custom. I have no means of tracing the title beyond 1675. The parish\nof Broughton is a very large one, and anterior to 1675 belonged, with\nsmall exceptions, to the Anderson family; but whether Stephen Anderson,\nthe then owner of the manor, and the 2200 acres of land sold in 1845,\nwas owner of the other part of Broughton, which has long been in the\npossession of Lord Yarborough\u2019s ancestors, I cannot say. A partition of\nthe property appears to have been made between the co-heiresses, and the\nmanor and 2200 acres being settled in 1772 by Sir Stephen Anderson, of\nEyeworth, on his niece, Frances Elizabeth Stephens, and her issue; upon\nher death it became the property of her son, Ellys Anderson Stephens,\nwho died in 1844, leaving four daughters and co-heiresses, and who, in\n1845, sold the property to a client of mine, Mr. John Coupland, and who\nafterwards sold the manor and about 600 acres to Lord Yarborough, 982\nacres to myself, and other portions to different purchasers, reserving\nto himself about 200 acres. I cannot make out when this partition (above\nalluded to) took place. The deed or will by which it was effected would\nprobably refer to the custom and provide for the performance of it, but\nthere is no document with the title deeds tending to show whether the\ncustom was due only in respect of the manor, and 2200 acres, or in\nrespect of Lord Yarborough\u2019s portion of the parish as well. The fact of\na partition having taken place, rests rather upon tradition than\nevidence; but supposing it, as I do, to be a fact, it seems strange that\nthe title-deeds should be silent as to the obligation imposed upon the\nowner of the manor to perform the service by which the whole property\nwas held. The manor and estate sold in 1845, were of the tenure of\nancient demesne; a tenure which is very rare at this time of day, at\nleast in this part of the world. Probably a reference to Lord\nYarborough\u2019s title-deeds would clear up the mystery, or Sir Charles\nAnderson may have the means of doing so.\n\n\u201cI may also refer to Sir Culling Eardley as possibly in a position to\nthrow some light on the subject; for it was to him and his ancestors, as\nlords of the manor of Hundon, in Caistor, to whom this service was due,\nand for whose use the whip was deposited after the service in the pew of\nCaistor Church, belonging to the lord of the manor of Hundon. All the\nversions that I have seen of the custom favour the opinion that it had\nsome reference to the subject of the second lesson for Palm Sunday,\nwhich is the 26th chapter of St. Matthew, and if so, it would seem\nlikely to follow, that the principal part of the ceremony took place at\nthe reading of that chapter; but in that case it has clearly undergone\nsome change, because, until the last revision of the Book of Common\nPrayer, there was no proper second lesson for the morning of Palm\nSunday; but the 26th chapter of St. Matthew was part of the Gospel for\nthat day, and had been so from Anglo-Saxon times.\n\nPerhaps the better opinion is, that this custom, recently discontinued,\nhad been so varied from time to time as to have borne at last little\nresemblance to what originally took place. I do not suppose at its\ncommencement it was regarded as at all irreverent, or was intended to be\notherwise than most decorous, according to the idea of a semi-barbarous\nage; what it really was at first it is now impossible to conjecture or\ndiscover. The explanation suggested in the particulars of sale appears\ntoo much in accordance with modern notions to be altogether correct.\nSome allege a tradition that it was a self-inflicted penance by a former\nowner of the Broughton estate for killing a boy with such a whip.\u201d\n\nIn May, 1836, the following petition was presented to the House of Lords\nby the lord of the manor against the annual observance of this custom;\nbut without effect:\n\n\u201c_To the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled._\n\n\u201cThe petition of the undersigned Sir Culling Eardley Smith, of Bedwell\nPark, in the county of Hertford, sheweth, that your petitioner is lord\nof the manor of Hundon, near Caistor, in the county of Lincoln.\n\n\u201cThat the lord of the manor of Broughton, near Brigg, in the same\ncounty, yearly, on Palm Sunday, employs a person to perform the\nfollowing ceremony in the parish church at Caistor, etc.; that the\nperformance of this superstitious ceremony is utterly inconsistent with\na place of Christian worship.\n\n\u201cThat it is generally supposed that it is a penance for murder, and\nthat, in the event of the performance being neglected, the lord of the\nmanor of Broughton would be liable to the penalty to the lord of the\nmanor of Hundon.\n\n\u201cThat your petitioner being extremely anxious for the discontinuance of\nthis indecent and absurd practice, applied to the lord of the manor of\nBroughton for the purpose, who declined entering into any negotiation\nuntil the deed should be produced under which the ceremony was\ninstituted, which deed (if it has ever existed) your petitioner is\nunable to produce.\n\n\u201cThat your petitioner subsequently applied to the Bishop of Lincoln to\nuse his influence to prevent the repetition of the ceremony, and offered\nto guarantee the churchwardens against any loss in consequence of their\nrefusal to permit it.\n\n\u201cThat your petitioner believes there are no trustees of a dissenting\nchapel who would permit the minister or officers of their chapel to\nsanction such a desecration.\n\n\u201cThat the ceremony took place, as usual, on Palm Sunday, in this year.\n\n\u201cYour petitioner therefore prays that your Lordships will be pleased to\nascertain from the bishop of the diocese why the ceremony took place;\nthat, if the existing law enables any ecclesiastical persons to prevent\nit, the law may be hereafter enforced; and that, if the present law is\ninsufficient, a law may be passed enabling the bishop to interfere for\nthe purpose of saving the national Church from scandal.\n\n\u201cAnd your petitioner will ever pray.\u201d\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nIt is the universal custom, with both rich and poor, to eat figs on this\nday. On the Saturday previous, the market at Northampton is abundantly\nsupplied with figs, and there are more purchased at this time than\nthroughout the rest of the year; even the charity children, in some\nplaces, are regaled with them.\n\nNo conjecture is offered as to the origin or purpose of this singular\ncustom. May it not have some reference to Christ\u2019s desiring to eat figs\nthe day after his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem?--Baker, _Glossary\nof Northamptonshire Words and Phrases_, 1854, i. p. 232.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn some parts of this country figs are eaten on Palm Sunday, which is in\nconsequence called Fig Sunday.[25]--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. i. p. 227.\n\n  [25] See Mid-Lent Sunday.\n\n\nSURREY.\n\nFrom time immemorial a fair, or wake, has been held in the churchyard of\nCrowhurst on Palm Sunday. Formerly, excesses were frequently committed\non the occasion through the sale of liquors; but of late years the fair\nhas been conducted with great decorum.--Brayley, _Topographical History\nof Surrey_, 1841, iv. p. 132.\n\n\nWILTSHIRE.\n\nOn St. Martin\u2019s Hill, near Marlborough, at which there is an ancient\ncamp more than thirty acres in extent, Palm Sunday is kept; and persons\nin great numbers used to assemble there, each carrying a hazel-nut bough\nwith the catkins hanging from it.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ v. p. 447.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nIn Yorkshire and the northern counties Palm Sunday is a day of great\ndiversion, young and old amusing themselves with sprigs of willow, or in\nmanufacturing palm-crosses, which are stuck up or suspended in houses.\nIn the afternoon and evening a number of impudent girls and young men\nsally forth and assault all unprotected females whom they meet out of\ndoors, seizing their shoes, and compelling them to redeem them with\nmoney. These disgraceful scenes are continued until Monday morning, when\nthe girls extort money from the men by the same means; these\ndepredations were formerly prolonged till Tuesday noon.--_Time\u2019s\nTelescope_, 1822, p. 68.\n\nAt Filey figs are also eaten on this day.--Cole, _History of Filey_,\n1826, p. 135.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nIn South Wales Palm Sunday goes by the name of Flowering Sunday, from\nthe custom of persons assembling in the churchyards, and spreading fresh\nflowers upon the graves of friends and relatives.--TIMES, 13th April,\n1868, p. 7.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 16.] LANCASHIRE.\n\n\nA rural celebration used to be held at Poulton-in-the-Fylds on the\nMonday before Good Friday, by young men, under the name of \u201cJolly Lads,\u201d\nwho visited such houses as were likely to afford good entertainments,\nand excited mirth by their grotesque habits and discordant noises. This\nwas evidently borrowed from the practice of the _pace_ or _pask eggers_,\nof other parts of the county, merely preceding instead of following\nEaster.--Baines, _Hist. of Lancashire_, 1836, vol. iv. p. 436.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nAubrey, in MS. Lansd., 231, gives the following: It is the custom for\nthe boys and girls in country schools in several parts of Oxfordshire,\nat their breaking up in the week before Easter, to go in a gang from\nhouse to house, with little clacks of wood, and when they come to any\ndoor, there they fall a-beating their clacks, and singing this song:\n\n    \u201cHerrings, herrings, white and red,\n    Ten a penny, Lent\u2019s dead;\n    Rise, dame, and give an egg,\n    Or else a piece of bacon.\n    One for Peter, two for Paul,\n    Three for Jack a Lent\u2019s all.\n            Away, Lent, away!\u201d\n\nThey expect from every house some eggs, or a piece of bacon, which they\ncarry baskets to receive, and feast upon at the week\u2019s end. At first\ncoming to the door, they all strike up very loud, \u201cHerrings, herrings,\u201d\n&c., often repeated. As soon as they receive any largess, they begin the\nchorus--\n\n    \u201cHere sits a good wife,\n    Pray God save her life;\n    Set her upon a hod,\n    And drive her to God.\u201d\n\nBut if they lose their expectation and must goe away empty, then, with a\nfull cry,--\n\n    \u201cHere sits a bad wife,\n    The devil take her life;\n    Set her upon a swivell,\n    And send her to the devil.\u201d\n\nAnd, in further indignation, they commonly cut the latch of the door, or\nstop the key-hole with dirt, or leave some more nasty token of\ndispleasure.--Thom\u2019s _Anecdotes and Traditions_, 1839, p. 113.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 17.] ST. PATRICK\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nIn the metropolis, says Stow in his _Sports, Pastimes, and Customs of\nLondon_ (1847, p. 241), this anniversary is generally observed at court\nas a high festival, and the nobility crowd and pay their compliments in\nhonour of the tutelary saint of Ireland. It is usually selected, also,\nfor soliciting aid to a great national object--the promotion of\neducation.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIn the _Illustrated London News_ of 22nd March, 1862, p. 285, is the\nfollowing paragraph:\n\n\u201cLord Langford, as the highest Irish nobleman in Eton School, presented,\non St. Patrick\u2019s Day, the beautifully-embroidered badges, in silver, of\nSt. Patrick, to the head master, the Rev. E. Balston, and the lower\nmaster, the Rev. W. Carter, which were worn by the reverend gentlemen\nduring the day. About twenty-four of the Irish noblemen and gentlemen in\nthe school were invited to a grand breakfast with the head master, as is\ncustomary on these occasions.\u201d\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe shamrock is worn in all parts of Ireland on this day. Old women,\nwith plenteous supplies of trefoil, may be heard in every direction,\ncrying \u201cBuy my shamrock, green shamrocks;\u201d and children have \u201cPatrick\u2019s\ncrosses\u201d pinned to their sleeves. This custom is supposed to have taken\nits origin from the fact that when St. Patrick was preaching the\ndoctrine of the Trinity he made use of this plant, bearing three leaves\nupon one stem, as a symbol of the great mystery.[26]\n\n  [26] Mr. Jones in his _Historical Account of the Welsh Bards_ (1794,\n  p. 13) says: When St. Patrick landed near Wicklow the inhabitants were\n  ready to stone him for attempting an innovation in the religion of\n  their ancestors. He requested to be heard, and explained unto them,\n  that God is an omnipotent, sacred Spirit, who created heaven and\n  earth, and that the Trinity is contained in the Unity; but they were\n  reluctant to give credit to his words. St. Patrick, therefore, plucked\n  a trefoil from the ground, and expostulated with the Hibernians: \u201cIs\n  it not as possible for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as for these\n  three leaves to grow upon a single stalk?\u201d Then the Irish were\n  immediately convinced of their error, and were solemnly baptized by\n  St. Patrick.\n\nIn _Contributions towards a Cybele Hibernica_ (D. Moore and A. G. More,\n1866, p. 73) is the following note: \u201c_Trifolium repens_, Dutch clover,\nShamrock.--This is the plant still worn as shamrock on St. Patrick\u2019s\nDay, though _Medicago lupulina_ is also sold in Dublin as the shamrock.\nEdward Lhwyd, the celebrated antiquary, writing in December 1699 to\nTancred Robinson, says, after a recent visit to Ireland: \u2018Their shamrug\nis our common clover\u2019 (_Phil. Trans._, No. 335). Threkeld, the earliest\nwriter on the wild plants of Ireland, gives _Seamar-oge_ (young trefoil)\nas the Gaelic name for _Trifolium pratense album_, and says expressly\nthat this is the plant worn by the people in their hats on St. Patrick\u2019s\nDay. Wade also gives _Seamrog_ as equivalent to _Trifolium repens_,\nwhile the Gaelic name given for _Oxalis_ by Threkeld is _Sealgan_.\u201d\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_4th S._ vol. iii. p. 235) says the\n_Trifolium filiforme_ is generally worn in Cork. It grows in thick\nclusters on the tops of walls and ditches, and is to be found in\nabundance in old limestone quarries in the south of Ireland. The\n_Trifolium minus_ is also worn.\n\nThe following whimsical song descriptive of St. Patrick is given on\nHone\u2019s authority as one often sung by the Irish:\n\n    St. Patrick was a gentleman, and he came from decent people,\n    In Dublin town he built a church, and on it put a steeple;\n    His father was a Wollaghan, his mother an O\u2019Grady,\n    His aunt she was a Kinaghan, and his wife a widow Brady.\n\n                Tooralloo, tooralloo, what a glorious man our saint was!\n                Tooralloo, tooralloo, O whack fal de lal, de lal, etc.\n\n    Och! Antrim hills are mighty high, and so\u2019s the hill of Howth too;\n    But we all do know a mountain that is higher than them both too;\n    \u2019Twas on the top of that high mount St. Patrick preach\u2019d a sermon.\n    He drove the frogs into the bogs, and banished all the vermin.\n\n                                    Tooralloo, tooralloo, etc.\n\n    No wonder that we Irish lads, then, are so blythe and frisky;\n    St. Patrick was the very man that taught us to drink whisky;\n    Och! to be sure he had the knack, and understood distilling,\n    For his mother kept a sheebeen shop near the town of Enniskillen.\n\n                                    Tooralloo, tooralloo, etc.--\n\n  _Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 387.\n\nIt is customary early in February for wealthy farmers and landowners in\nIreland to brew ale to be kept till the 17th of March, St. Patrick\u2019s\nDay; and there is a delicious cake made this day, to be eaten with\npickled salmon.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. ix. p. 367.\n\nSome years ago this day was welcomed, in the smaller towns or hamlets,\nby every possible manifestation of gladness and delight. The inn, if\nthere was one, was thrown open to all comers, who received a certain\nallowance of oaten bread and fish. This was a benevolence from the host,\nand to it was added a \u201cPatrick\u2019s pot,\u201d or quantum of beer; but of late\nyears whisky is the beverage most esteemed. The majority of those who\nsought entertainment at the village inn were young men who had no\nfamilies, whilst those who had children, and especially whose families\nwere large, made themselves as snug as possible by the turf fire in\ntheir own cabins. Where the village or hamlet could not boast of an inn,\nthe largest cabin was sought out, and poles were extended horizontally\nfrom one end of the apartment to the other; on these poles, doors\npurposely unhinged, and brought from the surrounding cabins, were\nplaced, so that a table of considerable dimensions was formed, round\nwhich all seated themselves, each one providing his own oaten bread and\nfish. At the conclusion of the repast they sat for the remainder of the\nevening over a \u201cPatrick\u2019s pot,\u201d and finally separated quietly.--_Every\nDay Book_, vol. ii. p. 386.\n\nThe following description of St. Patrick\u2019s Day in Ireland is taken from\nthe _Time\u2019s Telescope_ (1827, p. 66): Every one is expected, says the\nwriter, to wear a sprig of shamrock in honour of the saint and his\ncountry, and a few pence will supply a family with plenty of this\ncommodity. In the morning upon the breakfast table of the \u201cmaster\u201d and\n\u201cthe mistress\u201d is placed a plateful of this herb for a memento that it\nis Patrick\u2019s Day, and they must \u201cdrown the shamrock,\u201d a figurative\nexpression for what the servants themselves do at night in glasses of\npunch, if the heads of the family are so kind as to send down the plate\nof shamrock crowned with a bottle of whisky, under which is also\nexpected to be found a trifle towards a treat. While the lower circles\nare, on this blessed of all Irish days, thus enjoying themselves in the\nevening, the higher are crowding into that room of the castle entitled\nSt. Patrick\u2019s Hall, which is only opened two nights in the year--this,\nand the birth-night (the 23rd of April); it is a grand ball, to which\nnone can be admitted who have not been presented and attended the\nViceroy\u2019s drawing-rooms; and of course every one must appear in court\ndress, or full uniforms, except that, in charity to the ladies, trains\nare for that night dispensed with on account of the dancing. A few\npresentations sometimes take place, after which the ball commences,\nalways with a country dance to the air of \u201cPatrick\u2019s Day,\u201d and after\nthis quadrilles, etc., take their turn.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 18.] SHEELAH\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe day after St. Patrick\u2019s Day is \u201cSheelah\u2019s Day,\u201d or the festival in\nhonour of Sheelah. Its observers are not so anxious to determine who\n\u201cSheelah\u201d was as they are earnest in her celebration. Some say she was\n\u201cPatrick\u2019s wife,\u201d others that she was \u201cPatrick\u2019s mother,\u201d while all\nagree that her immortal memory is to be maintained by potations of\nwhisky. The shamrock worn on St. Patrick\u2019s Day should be worn also on\nSheelah\u2019s Day, and on the latter night be drowned in the last glass. Yet\nit frequently happens that the shamrock is flooded in the last glass of\nSt. Patrick\u2019s Day, and another last glass or two, or more, on the same\nnight deluges the over-soddened trefoil. This is not \u201cquite correct,\u201d\nbut it is endeavoured to be remedied the next morning by the display of\na fresh shamrock, which is steeped at night in honour of \u201cSheelah\u201d with\nequal devotedness.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 387.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 19.] MAUNDY, OR CHARE THURSDAY.\n\n\nThe day before Good Friday is termed Maundy Thursday, because, says the\n_British Apollo_ (1709, ii. 7), on this day our Saviour washed his\ndisciples\u2019 feet, to teach them the great duty of being humble; and\ntherefore he gave them a command to do as he had done, to imitate their\nMaster in all proper instances of condescension and humility. The\norigin, consequently, of this custom is of very great antiquity, and,\nunlike many other ceremonies connected with the Church before the\nReformation, remains in existence in a modified form up to the present\nday. The original number of poor persons whose feet were washed by the\nking or queen was thirteen, but this number was afterwards extended so\nas to correspond with the age of the reigning sovereign.\n\nMatthew Paris mentions Maundy money, and the Benedictional of Archbishop\nRobert at Rouen, a manuscript of the 10th century, cap. xxix., contains\na \u201cBenedictio ad mandatum ipso die\u201d (_Arch\u00e6ologia_, vol. xxiv. p. 119),\nand Wlnothus, Abbot of St. Alban\u2019s, ordained a daily performance of the\nmandate. In other houses it was customary to wash the feet of as many\npoor people as there were monks in the convent, on Holy Thursday, and on\nSaturday before Palm Sunday: the day of the latter ablution received the\nname of _mandatum pauperum_, to distinguish it from the _Mandati Dies_.\nDuring the ceremony the whole choir chanted the words of Christ,\n\u201cMandatum novum do vobis\u201d (\u201cA new commandment I give unto you\u201d). Du\nCange quotes from the life of St. Brigida by Chilienus:\n\n    \u201cProxima c\u0153na fuit Domini, qua sancta solebat\n    Mandatum Christi calido complere lavacro.\u201d\n\n  (Du Cange, _Gloss._, tom. iv., col. 399.)\n\nArchdeacon Nares, however, apparently following Spelman and Skinner\nwhose opinion is adopted by Junius, in opposition to Minsheu, says that\nthis day is so named from the _maunds_, in which the gifts were\ncontained, and he maintains that _maund_ is a corruption of the Saxon\n_mand_, a basket.\n\nThe glossographer on Matthew Paris explains the word _mandatum_, to be\nalms, from the Saxon _Mandye_, charity. Somner has no such word in his\nDictionary; and it seems more probable that Maunday Thursday has\noriginally been Mandate Thursday; _Mandati Dies_ being the name where\nthe Saxon _mands_ were totally unknown.\n\n\u00c6lfric, Archbishop of Canterbury, having employed the Latin name of this\nday, C\u0153na Domini, gives these directions to the Saxon priests: \u201cOn\nThursday you shall wash the altars before you celebrate mass, otherwise\nyou must not. After vespers you must uncover the altars and let them\nremain bare until Saturday, washing them in the interior. You shall then\nfast until nones. _Imple mandata Domini in c\u0153na ipsius._ \u2018Do on Thursday\nas our Lord commands you;\u2019 wash the feet of the poor, feed and clothe\nthem; and, with humility, wash your feet among yourselves as Christ\nhimself did, and commanded us so to do.\u201d On the whole there seems to be\nno reason to doubt that the name _maundy_ is derived from the mandate\nobeyed on this day.\n\nThe bread given to the poor on Maundy Thursday was named mandate bread,\n_mandati panes_, in the monasteries; as the coin given was called\nmandate money.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ i. 183-185.\n\nOne of the earliest instances on record of a monarch observing this\ncustom, and which is the more curious as it shows that the practice of\nregulating the amount of the dole given on Maundy Thursday by the age of\nthe king was then in existence, is preserved in the \u201c_Rotulus Mis\u00e6_, or\nrole of the wardrobe expenses of the 14th year of King John,\u201d in which\nthere appears an item of \u201cfourteen shillings and one penny, for alms to\nthirteen poor persons, every one of whom received thirteen pence at\nRochester, on Thursday, in C\u0153na Domini\u201d (Holy Thursday), John having\nthen reigned thirteen complete years.\n\nIn the wardrobe expenses of Edward I. we find money given on Easter eve\nto thirteen poor people whose feet the Queen had washed; which latter\ncustom is said to have been performed by the sovereign so late as the\nreign of James II.--Thoms, _Book of the Court_, 1844, p. 311.\n\nHenry VII. gave, when thirty-eight years old, thirty-eight coins and\nthirty-eight small purses to as many poor people:\n\n\u201c_March 25._ To thirty-eight poor men in almes, \u00a36 0_s._ 4_d._ For\nthirty-eight small purses, 1_s._ 8_d._\n\nThere are several entries for the Maundy in the \u201cPrivy Purse expenses\u201d\nof this sovereign, as in 1496:\n\n\u201cApril 10. For bote hire for the Maundy and the kinges robe, payed by\nJohn Flee, 4_s._\u201d\n\nThe order of the Maundy, as practised by Queen Elizabeth in 1579 is here\ngiven--(from No. 6183, Add. MSS. in the British Museum):\n\n  \u201c_Order of the Maunday made, at Greenwich,\n  19th March 1579, 14 Elizabeth._\u201d\n\n\u201cFirst.--The hall was prepared with a long table on each side, and\nformes set by them; on the edges of which tables, and under those formes\nwere lay\u2019d carpets and cushions for her Majestie to kneel when she\nshould wash them. There was also another table set across the upper end\nof the hall somewhat above the foot pace, for the chappelan to stand at.\nA little beneath the midst whereof, and beneath the said foot-pace, a\nstoole and cushion of estate was pitched for her Majestie to kneel at\nduring the service time. This done the holy water, basons, alms, and\nother things being brought into the hall, and the chappelan and poor\nfolks having taken the said places, the laundresse, armed with a faire\ntowell, and taking a silver-bason filled with warm water and sweet\nflowers, washed their feet all after one another and wiped the same with\nhis towell, and soe making a crosse a little above the toes kissed them.\nAfter hym, within a little while, followed the sub-almoner, doing\nlikewise, and after him the almoner himself also. Then, lastly, her\nMajestie came into the hall, and after some singing and prayers made,\nand the gospel of Christ\u2019s washing of his disciples\u2019 feet read, 39\nladyes and gentlewomen (for soe many were the poor folks, according to\nthe number of the yeares complete of her Majesties age), addressed\nthemselves with aprons and towels to waite upon her Majestie; and she,\nkneeling down upon the cushions and carpets under the feete of the poore\nwomen, first washed one foote of every one of them in soe many several\nbasons of warm water and sweete flowers, brought to her severally by the\nsaid ladies and gentlewomen; then wiped, crossed, and kissed them, as\nthe almoner and others had done before. When her Majestie had thus gone\nthrough the whole number of 39 (of which 20 sat on the one side of the\nhall, and 19 on the other), she resorted to the first again, and gave to\neach one certain yardes of broad clothe to make a gowne, so passing to\nthem all. Thirdly; she began at the first, and gave to each of them a\npair of gloves. Fourthly; to each of them a wooden platter, wherein was\nhalf a side of salmon, as much ling, six red herrings and lofes of cheat\nbread. Fifthly; she began with the first again, and gave to each of them\na white wooden dish with claret wine. Sixthly; she received of each\nwaiting-lady and gentlewoman their towel and apron, and gave to each\npoor woman one of the same, and after this the ladies and gentlewomen\nwaited no longer, nor served as they had done throughout the courses\nbefore. But then the treasurer of the chamber, Mr. Hennage, came to her\nMajestie with thirty-nine small white purses, wherein were also\nthirty-nine pence (as they saye) after the number of yeares to her\nMajestie\u2019s saide age, and of him she received and distributed them\nseverally. Which done she received of him soe many leather purses alsoe,\neach containing 20_sh._ for the redemption of her Majestie\u2019s gown, which\n(as men saye) by ancient order she sought to give some of them at her\npleasure but she to avoid the trouble of suite, which accustomablie was\nmade for that preferment, had changed that reward into money, to be\nequally divided amongst them all, namely, 20_sh._ a piece, and she also\ndelivered particularly to the whole company. And so taking her ease upon\nthe cushion of estate and hearing the quire a little while, her Majestie\nwithdrew herself and the companye departed, for it was by that time the\nsun was setting.\u201d\n\nCharles II. observed this custom, as we find in a letter preserved in\nthe _Rawdon Letters_, p. 175:\n\n\u201cOn Thursday last his Majesty washed poor men\u2019s feet in the Banquetting\nHouse, an act of humility used by his predecessors on Maundy Thursday to\nas many poor men as he had lived years. To each poor man he gave two\nyards of cloth for a coat, three ells of linen for a shirt, shoes,\nstockings, two purses, the one with thirty-three pence, the other with\ntwenty pence, one jole of ling, one jole of salmon, a quantity of red\nand white herrings, one barrel with beer, and another with wine, with\nwhich they drank his Majesty\u2019s health. The queen did pay the same\nobservance to several women about one of the clock at St. James.\u201d\n\nAfter these illustrations of the ceremonies formerly observed in the\ndistribution of the royal alms on Maundy Thursday, it becomes\ninteresting to witness those which obtain at the present time.\n\nThe following is taken from the _Times_ newspaper (April 6th, 1871):\n\n\u201cThose ancient and royal charities designated the Queen\u2019s Maundy were\ndistributed yesterday in Whitehall Chapel during Divine service with the\ncustomary formalities, to fifty-two aged men and fifty-two aged women,\nthe number of each one corresponding with the age of her most gracious\nMajesty.\n\nAt three o\u2019clock a procession, consisting of a detachment of the yeomen\nof the guard under the command of a sergeant-major (one of the yeomen\ncarrying the royal alms on a gold salver), the Rev. Dr. Jelf, D.D.,\nSub-Almoner, Mr. Joseph Hanby, Secretary and Yeoman of the Royal\nAlmonry, and his Assistant, Mr. John Hanby, accompanied by senior\nchildren from the National Schools in the parish of St. John the\nEvangelist and St. Margaret, Westminster, who had been selected to\nparticipate in this privilege for their good conduct, proceeded from the\nAlmonry office, in Scotland Yard, to the Chapel Royal, Whitehall.\n\nThe arrival of the procession having been signified to the Hon. and Very\nRev. the Dean of Windsor, Lord High Almoner, and to the Sub-Dean of the\nChapels Royal, they, preceded by Mr. Chapman, Sergeant of the Vestry,\nmet it at the entrance, and took their places immediately after the\nyeoman of the guard bearing the salver with the royal alms.\n\nThe whole procession then advanced in the following order:\n\n  Boys of the Chapel Royal,\n\n  Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal,\n\n  Priests of the Chapel Royal,\n\n  Sergeant-Major of the Yeoman of the Guard,\n\n  The Yeoman with the Salver of Alms,\n\n  The Sergeant of the Vestry,\n\n  The Lord High Almoner,\n\n  The Sub-Almoner and Sub-Dean,\n\n  The Children of the National Schools,\n\n  The Yeoman of the Almonry and his Assistant,\n\n  And the Yeomen of the Guard.\n\nThe procession having passed up the centre aisle to the steps of the\naltar, the Lord Almoner, the Sub-Almoner, and the Sub-Dean, and those\nforming the procession having taken their assigned places on either side\nof the chapel, the royal alms being deposited in front of the royal\ncloset, the afternoon service (a special service for the occasion) was\nread by the Rev. Dr. Vivian, senior priest in waiting, commencing with\nthe Exhortation, Confession, Absolution, &c. Then followed the\n\n  41ST PSALM (THE GRAND CHANT).\n\n  FIRST LESSON, ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. xxv. 14-31.\n\n  _First Anthem_ (Psalm xxxiv.)--\u201cO taste and see how gracious the Lord\n  is.\u201d\n\n  Goss.\n\n  \u00a31. 15_s._ distributed to each woman. To each man, shoes and\n  stockings.\n\n  _Second Anthem._--\u201cO Saviour of the world.\u201d\n\n  Goss.\n\n  Woollen and linen clothes distributed to each man.\n\n  _Third Anthem.-_--\u201cI waited for the Lord.\u201d\n\n  Mendelssohn.\n\n  Money purses distributed to each man and woman.\n\n  SECOND LESSON, ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. xxv. v. 31, to the end.\n\n  _Fourth Anthem_ (Psalm xxi.)--\u201cThe king shall rejoice in thy\n  strength.\u201d\n\n  Greene.\n\nThen were read two prayers composed for the occasion, after which\nfollowed the prayer for the Queen, and so on to the end.\u201d\n\nThe minor bounty and royal gate alms, &c., were, in accordance with\nancient usage, distributed at the Almonry Office, in Scotland Yard, on\nFriday and Saturday in the past week, and on Monday and Tuesday during\nthe current week, to aged, disabled, and meritorious persons who had\nbeen previously recommended by the clergy of the various parishes in and\nround London.\n\nThere were over four thousand persons relieved.\n\nThe selections were made by the Lord High Almoner, assisted by the Rev.\nDr. Jelf, D.D. The payments were conducted by Mr. Joseph Hanby,\nsecretary and yeoman of Her Majesty\u2019s Almonry in ordinary, who has\nofficiated on these occasions since Easter, 1812, inclusive.--See also\nthe _True Briton_, 1801.\n\nIn Nares\u2019 _Glossary_ (1859, vol. i. p. 151) occurs the following\narticle:\n\n\u201c_Chare Thursday._--The Thursday in Passion week, corrupted, according\nto the following ancient explanation, from _Shear Thursday_, being the\nday for shearing, or shaving, preparatory to Easter. Called also Maundy\nThursday:\n\n\u201c\u2018Upon _Chare Thursday_ Christ brake bread unto his disciples, and bade\nthem eat it, saying it was his flesh and blood.\u2019--Shepherd\u2019s _Kalendar_.\n\n\u201c\u2018If a man asks why _Shere Thursday_ is called so, ye may say that in\nholy Chirche it is called _Cena Domini_, our Lordes Super day. It is\nalso in Englyshe called _Sher Thursday_, for in old faders dayes the\npeople wolde that day shere theyr hedes, and clippe theyr berdes, and\npoll theyr hedes, and so make them honest agenst Ester day. For on Good\nFryday they doo theyr bodyes none ease, but suffre penaunce in mynde of\nhim that that day suffred his passyon for all mankynde. On Ester even it\nis time to here theyr service, and after service to make holy daye.\n\n\u201c\u2018Then, as Johan Bellet sayth, on _Sher Thursday_ a man sholde so poll\nhis here, and clype his berde, and a preest sholde shave his crowne, so\nthat there sholde nothynge be between God and hym.\u2019\u201d--Festival, quoted\nby Dr. Wordsworth, in _Eccles. Biog._ vol. i. p. 297.\n\nIn Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ (revised by Sir Henry Ellis), London, 1841, in\nthe chapter headed \u201cShere Thursday, also Maundy Thursday,\u201d the same\nderivation is given; and in one of the notes, a passage is quoted from\nthe _Gent. Mag._ (July 1779, p. 349), in which the writer says:\n\n\u201cMaundy Thursday, called by Collier _Shier Thursday_, Cotgrave calls by\na word of the same sound and import, _Sheere Thursday_. Perhaps--for I\ncan only go upon conjecture--as _shear_ means _purus_, _mundus_, it may\nallude to the washing of the disciples\u2019 feet (John xiii. 5., _et seq._),\nand be tantamount to clean. See 10th verse, and Lye\u2019s _Saxon Dictionary\nv. Scip_. If this does not please, the Saxon _scipan_ signifies\n_dividere_, and the name may come from the distribution of alms upon\nthat day, for which see _Arch\u00e6ol. Soc. Antiq._, vol. i. p. 7, _seq._;\nSpelman, _Gloss._ _v._ Mandatum; and Du Fresne, vol. iv. p. 400. Please\nto observe, too, that on that day _they also washed the altars_, so that\nthe term in question may allude to that business.--See Collier\u2019s\n_Eccles. History_, vol. ii. p. 157.\u201d\n\n_Chare Thursday_, however, says Dr. Hahn (_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. viii. p.\n389), is the correct expression, and has nothing whatever to do with\n_shearing_ or _sheer_, or _scipan_. _Shere_ is only a corruption of\nchare = char, care, or carr.\n\nIn Germany Passion Week is called _Charwoche_, and Good Friday\n_Charfreitag_. But in former times _Char_ was prefixed to every day of\nPassion Week, and we find _Charmontag_ (Chare Monday), _Chardienstag_\n(Chare Tuesday), &c. The origin of Chare Thursday is therefore evident.\n_Char_ is an old German word signifying _luctus_, _solicitudo_; Goth.\n_kar_, _kara_; Old Saxon _cara_; O.-H.-G. _chara_; Anglo-Saxon _cearu_,\n_caru_, allied to Latin _cura_, &c.[27]\n\n  [27] See Care Sunday, p. 121.\n\nThe original signification _chare_ having become obsolete, a word of\nsimilar sound was substituted in its place, and hence _Shere Thursday_.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nRobert Halliday, by his will, dated 6th May, 1491, gave estates in the\nparish of St. Leonard, Eastcheap, London, the rents to be applied to\nvarious purposes, and, amongst others, five shillings to the\nchurchwardens yearly, either to make an entertainment among such persons\nof the said parish of St. Clement, who should be at variance with each\nother, in the week preceding Easter, to induce such persons to beget\nbrotherly love amongst them; or if none should be found in the said\nparish, then to make an entertainment with the said five shillings, at\nthe tavern, amongst the honest parishioners of the said parish on the\nday of our Lord\u2019s Supper, commonly called Shere Thursday, that they\nmight pray more fervently for the souls of certain persons named in his\nwill.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 146.\n\nBy indenture, bearing date 11th April, 1691, John Hall, granted a\nmessuage, in the parish of St. Martin Ongar, to Francis Kenton and\nanother, in trust to pay out of the rents thereof, amongst other sums,\nten shillings a year, to the churchwardens of the parish of St. Clement,\nEastcheap, London, on the Thursday next before Easter, to provide two\nturkeys for the parishioners, to be eaten at their annual feast, called\nthe reconciling or love feast, usually made on that day. The house is in\nthe possession of the Weavers\u2019 Company, who make the payment for the\nturkeys annually.--_Ibid._ p. 60.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nThe Thursday before Easter is called Bloody Thursday by some of the\ninhabitants of this and the neighbouring county of Yorkshire.--_N. & Q.\n1st S._ vol. x. p. 87; _4th S._ vol. v. p. 595.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 20.] GOOD FRIDAY.\n\n\nThe term Good Friday is erroneously said to be peculiar to the English\nChurch; but it is certainly an adoption of the old German _Gute\nFreytag_, which may have been a corruption of _Gottes Freytag_, God\u2019s\nFriday, so called on the same principle that Easter Day in England was\nat one period denominated God\u2019s Day.\n\nIn a manuscript homily, entitled _Exortacio in die Pasche_, written\nabout the reign of Edward IV., we are told that the Paschal Day \u201cin some\nplace is callede Esterne Day, and in sum place Goddes Day.\u201d--Harl. MSS.\nCod. id. fol. 94.\n\nAnother MS. quoted by Strutt (_Horda Angel-Cynna_, vol. iii. p. 175)\nsays it is called Good Friday, because on this day good men were\nreconciled to God. The length of the services in ancient times on this\nday, occasioned it to be called Long Friday, the ~Lang Frigd\u00e6g~ of the\nAnglo-Saxons, which they probably received from the Danes, by whom at\nthe present time the day is denominated _Lang Freday_.--_Med. \u00c6vi\nKalend._ 1841, vol. i. p. 186.\n\nThe old ceremony of Creeping to the Cross on Good Friday is given from\nan ancient book of the ceremonial of the Kings of England, in the _Notes\nto the Northumberland Household Book_. The usher was to lay a carpet for\nthe king to \u201ccreepe to the Crosse upon.\u201d The Queen and her ladies were\nalso to creepe to the Crosse.\n\nIn an original Proclamation, black letter, dated 26th February, 30th\nHenry VIII., in the first volume of a _Collection of Proclamations_ in\nthe archives of the Society of Antiquaries of London (p. 138), we read:\n\n\u201cOn Good Friday it shall be declared howe creepyng of the Crosse\nsignifyeth an humblynge of ourselfe to Christe before the Crosse, and\nthe kyssynge of it a memorie of our redemption made upon the Crosse.\u201d\n\nAnciently it was a custom with the kings of England on Good Friday to\nhallow, with great ceremony, certain rings, the wearing of which was\nbelieved to prevent the falling sickness. The custom originated from a\nring, long preserved with great veneration in Westminster Abbey, which\nwas reported to have been brought to King Edward by some persons coming\nfrom Jerusalem, and which he himself had long before given privately to\na poor person, who had asked alms of him for the love he bare to St.\nJohn the Evangelist. The rings consecrated by the sovereign were called\n\u201cCramp-rings,\u201d and there was a special service for their consecration.\n\nAndrew Boorde, in his _Breviary of Health_, 1557, speaking of the cramp,\nsays, \u201cThe Kynge\u2019s Majestie hath a great helpe in this matter in\nhalowyng crampe-ringes, and so geven without money or petition.\u201d\n\nGood Friday has now almost ceased to be considered a fast by a great\nnumber of people. By many indeed its solemn significance is by no means\nneglected; but while these attend the churches others make high holiday.\nOn this day excursion trains begin running, foot-races are advertised,\ndonkeys and gipsy drivers make their first appearance for the season on\nheaths and commons, and Cornish and Devonshire wrestlers struggle for\nmuscular triumphs in the presence of excited multitudes.--_N. & Q. 5th\nS._ vol. i. p. 261.\n\nIn many parts a small loaf of bread is baked on the morning of Good\nFriday, and then put by till the same anniversary in the ensuing year.\nThis bread is not intended to be eaten, but to be used as a medicine,\nand the mode of administering it is by grating a small portion of it\ninto water and forming a sort of panada. It is believed to be good for\nmany disorders, but particularly for diarrh\u0153a, for which it is\nconsidered a sovereign remedy. Some years ago, a cottager lamented that\nher poor neighbour must certainly die of this complaint, because she had\nalready given her two doses of Good Friday bread without any\nbenefit.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 155; see _N. & Q. 3rd\nS._ vol. iii. pp. 262, 263; see also p. 157.\n\nIn London, and all over England (not, however, in Scotland), the morning\nof Good Friday is ushered in with a universal cry of _Hot cross buns!_ A\nparcel of them appears on every breakfast-table. It is rather a small\nbun, more than usually spiced, and having its brown sugary surface\nmarked with a cross. The ear of every person who has ever dwelt in\nEngland is familar with the cry of the street bun-vendors:\n\n    \u201cOne a penny, buns,\n    Two a penny, buns,\n    One a penny, two a penny,\n    Hot Cross buns!\u201d\n\n  _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 418.\n\nThe following lines are taken from _Poor Robin\u2019s Almanac_ for 1733:\n\n    \u201cGood Friday comes this month, the old woman runs\n    With one or two a penny _hot cross buns_,\n    Whose virtue is, if you believe what\u2019s said,\n    They\u2019ll not grow mouldy like the common bread.\u201d\n\nIt seems more than probable that the cross upon the Good Friday bun is\nintended to remind the devout of a Saviour\u2019s sufferings. The following\nextract in illustration of the ancient name and use of the bun is from\nBryant\u2019s _Analysis of Ancient Mythology_, 1807, vol. i. pp. 371-373:\n\u201cThe offerings which people in ancient times used to present to the gods\nwere generally purchased at the entrance of the Temple, especially every\nspecies of consecrated bread, which was denominated accordingly. One\nspecies of sacred bread which used to be offered to the gods was of\ngreat antiquity, and called _Boun_. Hesychius speaks of the _Boun_, and\ndescribes it as a \u2018kind of cake with a representation of two horns.\u2019\u201d\nJulius Pollux mentions it after the same manner, \u201ca sort of cake with\nhorns.\u201d It must be observed, however, as Dr. Jamieson remarks, that the\nterm occurs in Hesychius in the form of \u03b2\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, and that for the support\nof the etymon Bryant finds it necessary to state that \u201cthe Greeks, who\nchanged the nu final into a sigma, expressed it in the nominative \u03b2\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2,\nbut in the accusative more truly \u03b2\u03bf\u03c5\u03bd.\u201d Winckelman relates this\nremarkable fact, that at Herculaneum were found two entire loaves of the\nsame size, a palm and a half, or five inches in diameter; they were\nmarked by a _cross_, within which were four other lines, and so the\nbread of the Greeks was marked from the earliest period.--_Med. \u00c6vi\nKalend._ vol. i. p. 187.\n\nThe Romans divided their sacred cakes with lines intersecting each other\nin the centre at right angles, and called the quarters _Quadra_.\n\n    \u201cEt violare manu malisque audacibus orbem\n    Fatalis crusti, patulis nec parcere quadris.\u201d\n\n  Virg. _\u00c6n._ lib. vii. 114, 115.\n\n    \u201cNec te liba juvant, nec sect\u00e6 quadra placent\u00e6.\u201d\n\n  Mart. lib. iii. _Epig._ 77.\n\nIn the North of England a herb-pudding, in which the leaves of the\n_passion-dock_ (_Polygonum Bistorta_) are a principal ingredient, is an\nindispensable dish on this day. The custom is of ancient date, and it is\nnot improbable that this plant, and the pudding chiefly composed of it,\nwere intended to excite a grateful reminiscence of the Passion, with a\nsuitable acknowledgment of the inestimable blessings of the\nRedemption.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 150.\n\n\nBEDFORDSHIRE.\n\nA yearly contribution is made of one quarter of wheat, one quarter of\nbarley, and one quarter of beans, by the proprietor of the great tithes\nof the parish of Eaton Bray, to be distributed among the poor of the\nparish on Good Friday. The great tithes of Eaton Bray are vested in the\nMaster and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, by whose lessee the\nquantity of grain above specified is regularly supplied; the whole of\nwhich is distributed on Good Friday by the churchwardens and overseers,\namong poor persons selected by them, in proportion to their several\nwants and necessities.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 33.\n\n\nBERKSHIRE.\n\nJohn Blagrave, by will dated 30th June, 1611, devised to Joseph Blagrave\nand his heirs a mansion-house in Swallowfield, and all his lands and\nmessuages in Swallowfield, Eversley, and Reading, on condition that they\nshould yearly, for ever, upon Good Friday, between the hours of six and\nnine in the morning, pay 10_l._, in a new purse of leather, to the mayor\nand burgesses, to the intent that they should provide that the same\nshould yearly be bestowed in the forenoon of the same day in the\nfollowing manner, viz., twenty nobles to one poor maiden servant who\nshould have served, dwelt, and continued in any one service within any\nof the three parishes of Reading, in good name and fame, five years at\nthe least, for her preferment in marriage; and to avoid partiality in\nthe choice, he ordered that there should be every Good Friday three such\nmaidens in election, to cast and try by lot whose the fortune should be,\nand that of those three one should be taken out of each parish, if it\ncould be, and that every fifth year one of the three should be chosen\nfrom Southcote, if any there should have lived so long; and that there\nshould be special choice of such maids as had served longest in any one\nplace, and whose friends were of least ability to help them. That ten\nshillings should be given on the same day to the preacher of St.\nLaurence for a sermon; and that afterwards there should be twenty\nshillings given to threescore of the poorest householders of the same\nparish who should accompany the maiden to whom the lot had fallen home\nto her dwelling-place, and there leave her with her purse of twenty\nnobles. That the ringer should have three shillings and fourpence to\nring a peal till the same maiden reached home.--_Old English Customs and\nCharities_, p. 147.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE--DORSETSHIRE.\n\nIn some parishes in these counties the clerk carries round to every\nhouse a few white cakes as an Easter offering; these cakes, which are\nabout the eighth of an inch thick, and of two sizes--the larger being\nseven or eight inches, the smaller about five in diameter--have a\nmingled bitter and sweet taste. In return for these cakes, which are\nalways distributed after Divine service on Good Friday, the clerk\nreceives a gratuity according to the circumstances or generosity of the\nhouseholder.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 426.\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nIn the centre of Waltham Church, and suspended from the ceiling, there\nformerly was a large and handsome brass chandelier, which had thirty-six\ncandles, and used to be lighted up only on the evening of Good Friday,\nwhen the church was thronged with persons from the surrounding parishes\nfor miles, who were chiefly attracted by the singing of the parish\nchoir, at that time deservedly in repute. The chandelier was removed in\neffecting the restoration of the church.--Maynard, _History of Waltham\nAbbey_, 1865, p. 40.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nThe practice of eating fig-sue is prevalent in North Lancashire on Good\nFriday. It is a mixture consisting of ale, sliced figs, bread, and\nnutmeg for seasoning, boiled together, and eaten hot like soup.--_N. &\nQ. 3rd S._ vol. p. 221.\n\nIf an unlucky fellow is caught with his lady-love on this day in\nLancashire, he is followed home by a band of musicians playing on\npokers, tongs, pan-lids, etc., unless he can get rid of his tormentors\nby giving them money to drink with.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. ii. p. 516.\n\nIn some places in this county, Good Friday is termed \u201cCracklin Friday,\u201d\nas on that day it is customary for children to go with a small basket to\ndifferent houses, to beg small wheaten cakes, which are something like\nthe Jews\u2019 Passover bread, but made shorter or richer, by having butter\nor lard mixed with the flour. \u201cTake with thee loaves and cracknels\u201d (1\nKings, xiv. 3).--Harland and Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folk-Lore_, 1867, p.\n227.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nIn Glentham Church there is a tomb with a figure known as _Molly Grime_.\nFormerly this figure was regularly washed every Good Friday by seven old\nmaids of Glentham, with water brought from Newell Well, each receiving a\nshilling for her trouble, in consequence of an old bequest connected\nwith some property in that district. About 1832 the custom was\ndiscontinued.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 100.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nGood Friday is in some instances superstitiously regarded in the Isle of\nMan. No iron of any kind must be put into the fire on that day, and even\nthe tongs are laid aside, lest any person should unfortunately forget\nthis custom and stir the fire with them; by way of a substitute a stick\nof the rowan tree is used. To avoid also the necessity of hanging the\ngriddle over the fire, lest the iron of it should come in contact with a\nspark of flame, a large hammock or _soddog_ is made, with three corners,\nand baked on the hearth.--Train, _History of the Isle of Man_, 1845,\nvol. 2, p. 117.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nIt was for a considerable period customary on Good Friday for a sermon\nto be preached in the afternoon at St. Paul\u2019s Cross,[28] London, the\nsubject generally being Christ\u2019s Passion. The Lord Mayor and Aldermen\nusually attended.\n\n  [28] Respecting the age of St. Paul\u2019s Cross, Stow declares himself\n  ignorant. Dugdale, however, records, on the authority of Ingulphus,\n  that its prototype, a cross of stone, was erected on the same spot,\n  A.D. 870, to induce the passers-by to offer prayers for certain monks\n  slain by the Danes. St. Paul\u2019s Cross consisted of some steps, on which\n  was formed a wooden pulpit, covered with lead, whence sermons were\n  preached to the people every Sunday morning. It was not, however,\n  specially reserved for this purpose; since from this place, at times,\n  the anathema of the Pope was thundered forth, or the ordinances of the\n  reigning king were published, heresies were recanted, and sins atoned\n  for by penance.\n\n  So early as 1256, we find John Mancell calling a meeting at _Powly\u2019s\n  Crosse_, and showing the people that it was the king\u2019s desire that\n  they should be \u201crulyd with justyce, and that the libertyes of the\n  cytie shulde be maynteyned in every poynt.\u201d In 1299 the Dean of St.\n  Paul\u2019s proclaimed from the Cross that all persons who searched for\n  treasure in the church of St. Martin-le-Grand, or consented to the\n  searching, were accursed; and it was here that Jane Shore, with a\n  taper in one hand, and arrayed in her \u2018kyrtell onelye,\u2019 was exposed to\n  open penance. After 1633, sermons were no longer preached at the\n  Cross, but within the cathedral; and in 1643 it was altogether taken\n  down.--Godwin and Britton, _Churches of London_, 1839; Pennant,\n  _Account of London_, 1793; Brayley, _Londiniana_, 1829.\n\nAt the church of All Hallows, Lombard Street, a sermon is preached every\nGood Friday in accordance with the directions of the will of Peter\nSymonds, dated 1587. Gifts, also, are distributed, consisting of a new\npenny and a packet of raisins, to a certain number of the younger\nscholars of Christ\u2019s Hospital.--_City Press_, April 12th, 1873.[29]\n\n  [29] Under the same will the children of Langbourn Ward Schools who\n  help in the choir, and the children of the Sunday School, receive each\n  a bun, and various sums of new money, ranging from 1_d._ to 1_s._,\n  besides the poor of the parish, on whom it bestowed 1_s._ each and a\n  loaf. The money used to be given away over the tomb of the donor,\n  until the railway in Liverpool Street effaced the spot.--_City Press_,\n  April 12, 1873.\n\nJust outside the church of St. Bartholomew-the-Great, Smithfield, the\nrector places twenty-one sixpences on a gravestone, which the same\nnumber of poor widows pick up. The custom is nearly as old as the\nchurch, and originated in the will of a lady, who left a sum of money to\npay for the sermon, and to yield these sixpences to be distributed over\nher grave. As however, her will is lost, and her tomb gone, the\ntraditionary spot of her interment is chosen for the distribution, a\nstrange part of the tradition being that any one being too stiff in the\njoints to pick up the money is not to receive it.--_Ibid._\n\nOn Good Friday the Portuguese and South American vessels in the London\nDocks observe their annual custom of flogging Judas Iscariot. The\nfollowing extract is taken from the _Times_ (April 5th, 1874):--\u201cAt\ndaybreak a block of wood, roughly carved to imitate the Betrayer, and\nclothed in an ordinary sailor\u2019s suit, with a red worsted cap on its\nhead, was hoisted by a rope round its neck into the fore-rigging; the\ncrews of the various vessels then went to chapel, and on their return,\nabout 11 a.m., the figure was lowered from the rigging, and cast into\nthe dock, and ducked three times. It was then hoisted on board, and\nafter being kicked round the deck was lashed to the capstan. The crew,\nwho had worked themselves into a state of frantic excitement, then with\nknotted ropes lashed the effigy till every vestige of clothing had been\ncut to tatters. During this process the ship\u2019s bell kept up an incessant\nclang, and the captains of the ships served out grog to the men. Those\nnot engaged in the flogging kept up a sort of rude chant intermixed with\ndenunciations of the Betrayer. The ceremony ended with the burning of\nthe effigy amid the jeers of the crowd.\u201d\n\nThere is an indorsement on one of the indentures of gift to the parish\nof Hampstead stating that \u00a340 had been given by a maid, deceased, to the\nintent that the churchwardens for the time being should provide and give\nto every one--rich and poor, great and small, young and old\npersons--inhabiting the parish, upon every Good Friday yearly for ever,\none halfpenny loaf of wheaten bread.--_Old English Customs and\nCharities_, p. 16.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nFormerly, at Brazen-nose College, Oxford, the scholars had almonds,\nraisins, and figs for dinner on Good Friday, as appears by a receipt of\nthirty shillings, paid by the butler of the College, for \u201celeven pounds\nof almonds, thirty-five pounds of raisins, and thirteen pounds of figs,\nserv\u2019d into Brazen-nose College, March 28th, 1662.\u201d--Pointer\u2019s\n_Oxoniensis Academia_, 1749, p. 71.\n\n\nSURREY.\n\nA custom, the origin of which is lost in the obscurity of time, prevails\nin the neighbourhood of Guildford of making a pilgrimage to St. Martha\u2019s\n(or Martyr\u2019s) Hill on Good Friday. Thither from all the country side\nyouths and maidens, old folks and children, betake themselves, and\ngathered together on one of the most beautiful spots in Surrey, in full\nsight of an old Norman Church which crowns the green summit of the\nhill, beguile the time with music and dancing. Whatever the origin of\nthis pilgrimage to St. Martha\u2019s, it is apparently one that commends\nitself to the taste of the present generation, and is not likely to die\nout with the lapse of years, but to increase in popular estimation as\nlong as the green hill lasts to attract the worshippers of natural\nbeauty, or to furnish the mere votaries of pleasure with the excuse and\nthe opportunity for a pleasant holiday.--_Times_, April 18th, 1870.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nAt Brighton, on this day, the children in the back streets bring up\nropes from the beach. One stands on the pavement on one side, and one on\nthe other, while one skips in the middle of the street. Sometimes a pair\n(a boy and a girl) skip together, and sometimes a great fat\nbathing-woman will take her place, and skip as merrily as the grandsire\ndanced in Goldsmith\u2019s _Traveller_. They call the day \u201cLong Rope Day.\u201d\nThis was done as lately as 1863.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. iii. p. 444.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nThe parish church at Leigh is decked on this day with \u201cfunereal yew.\u201d\nThe same custom exists also at Belbroughton in the same county.--_N. &\nQ. 2nd S._ vol. i. p. 267.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nIn East Yorkshire it was customary to keep a hot-cross-bun from one Good\nFriday to the next, as it was reputed not to turn mouldy, and to protect\nthe house from fire. Presents of eggs and buns are made on this\nday.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. v. p. 595.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nAt Tenby, as late as the end of the last century, the old people were in\nthe habit of walking barefooted to the church--a custom continued from\ntimes prior to the Reformation. Returning home from church they regaled\nthemselves with hot-cross-buns, and having tied a certain number in a\nbag, they hung them up in the kitchen, where they remained till the next\nGood Friday for medicinal purposes, the belief being that persons\nlabouring under any disease had only to eat of a bun to be cured.\n\nAbout this time many young persons would meet together to \u201cmake Christ\u2019s\nbed.\u201d This was done by gathering a quantity of long reed-leaves from the\nriver, and weaving them into the shape of a man; they then laid the\nfigure on a wooden cross in a retired part of a field or garden, where\nthey left it. This custom is perhaps derived from an old popular popish\ncustom of burying an image of Christ on Good Friday, which is described\nin Barnabe Googe\u2019s translation of _Nao-Georgus_:\n\n    \u201cAnother image do they get, like one but newly deade,\n    With legges stretcht out at length, and hands upon his body spreade:\n    And him with pomp and sacred song they beare unto his grave.\u201d\n\n--Mason, _Tales and Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, p. 19.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nIn the midland districts of Ireland, viz., the province of Connaught, on\nGood Friday, it is a common practice with the lower orders of Irish\nCatholics to prevent their children having any sustenance, even to those\nat the breast, from twelve o\u2019clock on the previous night to the same\nhour on Friday, and the fathers and mothers will only take a small piece\nof dry bread and a draught of water during the day. It is a common sight\nto see along the roads between the different market towns, numbers of\nwomen with their hair dishevelled, barefooted, and in their worst\ngarments: all this is in imitation of Christ\u2019s Passion.--_Every Day\nBook_, vol. ii. p. 411.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 21.] EASTER EVE.\n\n\nOn Easter Eve it was customary in our own country to light in the\nchurches what was called the Paschal Taper. In Coates\u2019s _History of\nReading_ (1802, p. 131) is the following extract from the Churchwarden\u2019s\naccounts: \u201cPaid for makynge of the Paschall and the Funte Taper, 5_s._\n8_d._\u201d A note on this observes, \u201cThe Pascal taper was usually very\nlarge. In 1557 the Pascal taper for the Abbey Church of Westminster was\n300 pounds weight.\u201d--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 158.\n\nOn the eves of Easter and Whitsunday _Font-hallowing_ was one of the\nvery many ceremonies in early times. The writer of a MS. volume of\nHomilies in the Harleian Library, No. 2371, says, \u201cin the begynning of\nholy chirch, all the children weren kept to be chrystened on thys even,\nat the font-hallowyng; but now, for enchesone that in so long abydynge\nthey might dye without chrystendome, therefore holi chirch ordeyneth to\nchrysten in all tymes of the yeare, save eyght dayes before these evenys\nthe chylde shalle abyde till the font-hallowing, if it may safely for\nperill of death, and ells not.\u201d\n\n\nCUMBERLAND, ETC.\n\nIn Cumberland and Westmoreland, and other parts of the north of England,\nboys beg, on Easter Eve, eggs to play with, and beggars ask for them to\neat. These eggs are hardened by boiling, and tinged with the juice of\nherbs, broom-flowers, &c. The eggs being thus prepared, the boys go out\nand play with them in the fields; rolling them up and down like bowls\nupon the ground, or throwing them up like balls into the air.--Brand,\n_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 172.\n\n\nDORSETSHIRE.\n\nDuring the last century it was customary in this county, on Easter Eve,\nfor the boys to form a procession bearing rough torches, and a small\nblack flag, chanting the following lines:\n\n    \u201cWe fasted in the light,\n    For this is the night.\u201d\n\nThis custom was no doubt a relic of the Popish ceremony formerly in\nvogue at this season.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 160.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nBrayley in his _Londiniana_ (1829, vol. ii. p. 207) mentions a custom of\nthe sheriffs, attended by the Lord Mayor, going through the streets on\nEaster Eve, to collect charity for the prisoners in the city prisons.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nIn East Yorkshire young folks go to the nearest market-town to buy some\nsmall article of dress or personal ornament, to wear for the first time\non Easter Sunday, as otherwise they believe that birds--notably rooks or\n\u201ccrakes\u201d--will spoil their clothes.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. v. p. 595.\n\nIn allusion to the custom of wearing new clothes on Easter Day Poor\nRobin says:\n\n    \u201cAt Easter let your clothes be new,\n    Or else be sure you will it rue.\u201d\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe day before Easter Day is in some parts called \u201cHoly Saturday.\u201d On\nthe evening of this day, in the middle parts of Ireland, great\npreparations are made for the finishing of Lent. Many a fat hen and\ndainty piece of bacon is put into the pot, by the cotter\u2019s wife, about\neight or nine o\u2019clock, and woe be to the person who should taste it\nbefore the cock crows. At twelve is heard the clapping of hands, and the\njoyous laugh, mixed with an Irish phrase which signifies \u201cout with the\nLent.\u201d All is merriment for a few hours, when they retire, and rise\nabout four o\u2019clock to see the sun dance in honour of the Resurrection.\nThis ignorant custom is not confined to the humble labourer and his\nfamily, but is scrupulously observed by many highly respectable and\nwealthy families.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 161.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 22.] EASTER DAY.\n\n\nEaster, the anniversary of our Lord\u2019s Resurrection from the dead, is one\nof the three great festivals of the Christian year--the other two being\nChristmas and Whitsuntide. From the earliest period of Christianity down\nto the present day, it has always been celebrated by believers with the\ngreatest joy, and accounted the queen of festivals. In primitive times\nit was usual for Christians to salute each other on the morning of this\nday by exclaiming, \u2018Christ is risen;\u2019 to which the person saluted\nreplied, \u2018Christ is risen indeed,\u2019 or else, \u2018And hath appeared unto\nSimon\u2019--a custom still retained in the Greek Church.\n\nThe term _Easter_ is derived, as some suppose, from _Eostre_,[30] the\nname of a Saxon deity, whose feast was celebrated every year in the\nspring, about the same time as the Christian festival--the name being\nretained when the character of the feast was changed, or, as others\nsuppose, from _Oster_, which signifies rising. If the latter supposition\nbe correct, Easter is in name, as well as reality, the feast of the\nResurrection.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 423; _see Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._\nvol. ii. p. 100.\n\n  [30] _Eostre_ is perhaps a corruption of Astarte, the name under which\n  the Assyrians, Babylonians, Ph\u0153nicians, and the most ancient nations\n  of the east worshipped the moon, in like manner as they adored the\n  sun, under the name of Baal.\n\nIn former times it was customary to make presents of gloves at Easter.\nIn Bishop Hall\u2019s _Virgidemarium_, 1598, iv. 5, allusion is made to this\ncustom.\n\n    \u201cFor Easter gloves, or for a Shrovetide hen,\n    Which bought to give, he takes to sell again.\u201d\n\nIt was an old custom for the barbers to come and shave the parishioners\nin the churchyard on Sundays and high festivals (at Easter, etc.,)\nbefore matins, which liberty was retained by a particular inhibition of\nRichard Flemmyng, Bishop of Lincoln, A.D. 1422.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_,\n1826, p. 73.\n\nAllusion is made by Mr. Fosbroke (_British Monachism_, 1843, p. 56) to\na custom in the thirteenth century of seizing all ecclesiastics who\nwalked abroad between Easter and Pentecost, because the Apostles were\nseized by the Jews after Christ\u2019s Passion, and making them purchase\ntheir liberty by money.\n\nThe custom of eating a \u201c_gammon at Easter_,\u201d says Aubrey (which is still\nkept up in many parts of England), was founded on this, viz., to show\ntheir abhorrence of Judaism at that solemn commemoration of our Lord\u2019s\nResurrection. Of late years the practice of decorating churches with\nflowers on this festival has been much revived.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nA very singular custom prevailed at Lostwithiel on Easter Sunday. The\nfreeholders of the town and manor having assembled together, either in\nperson or by their deputies, one among them, each in his turn, gaily\nattired and gallantly mounted, with a sceptre in his hand, a crown on\nhis head, and a sword borne before him, and respectfully attended by all\nthe rest on horseback, rode through the principal street in solemn state\nto the church. At the churchyard stile the curate, or other minister,\napproached to meet him in reverential pomp, and then conducted him to\nchurch to hear divine service. On leaving the church he repaired, with\nthe same pomp and retinue, to a house previously prepared for his\nreception. Here a feast, suited to the dignity he had assumed, awaited\nhim and his suite, and being placed at the head of the table, he was\nserved, kneeling, with all the rites and ceremonies that a real prince\nmight expect. The ceremony ended with a dinner; the prince being\nvoluntarily disrobed, and descending from his momentary exaltation to\nmix with common mortals. On the origin of this custom but one opinion\ncan be reasonably entertained, though it may be difficult to trace the\nprecise period of its commencement. It seems to have originated in the\nactual appearance of the prince, who resided at Restormel Castle in\nformer ages; but on the removal of royalty this mimic grandeur stepped\nforth as its shadowy representative, and continued for many generations\nas a memorial to posterity of the princely magnificence with which\nLostwithiel had formerly been honoured.--Hitchins, _History of\nCornwall_, 1824, vol. i. p. 717.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nAt one time it was customary to send reciprocal presents of eggs at\nEaster to the children of families respectively betwixt whom any\nintimacy existed. For some weeks preceding Good Friday the price of eggs\nadvanced considerably, from the great demand occasioned by this custom.\n\nThe principal modes adopted to prepare the eggs for presentation were\nthe following:--The eggs being immersed in hot water for a few moments,\nthe end of a common tallow-candle was made use of to inscribe the names\nof individuals, dates of particular events, &c. The warmth of the eggs\nrendered this a very easy process. Thus inscribed, the egg was placed in\na pan of hot water, saturated with cochineal, or other dye-woods; the\npart over which the tallow had been passed was impervious to the\noperation of the dye; and, consequently, when the egg was removed from\nthe pan, there appeared no discoloration of the egg where the\ninscription had been traced, but the egg presented a white inscription\non a coloured ground. The colour of course depended upon the taste of\nthe person who prepared the egg; but usually much variety of colour was\nmade use of.\n\nAnother method of ornamenting \u201cpace eggs\u201d was, however, much neater,\nalthough more laborious than that with the tallow candle. The egg being\ndyed, it was decorated, by means of a penknife, with which the dye was\nscraped off, leaving the design white on a coloured ground. An egg was\nfrequently divided into compartments, which were filled up according to\nthe taste and skill of the designer. Generally, one compartment\ncontained the name and also the age of the party for whom the egg was\nintended. In another there was perhaps a landscape, and sometimes a\ncupid was found lurking in a third; so that these \u201cpace eggs\u201d became\nvery useful auxiliaries to the missives of St. Valentine.--_Every Day\nBook_, vol. i. p. 426.\n\nThe words pays, _pas_, _pace_, _pase_, _pasce_, _pask_, _pasch_,\n_passhe_, formerly used in this county, and still used in the north,\nare clearly derived from the Hebrew through the Greek \u03c0\u03b1\u03c3\u03c7\u03b1. The Danish\n_Paaske-egg_, and the Swedish _Paskegg_, both likewise signify coloured\neggs. Brand considers this custom a relic of ancient Catholicism, the\negg being emblematic of the Resurrection; but it is not improbable that\nit is in its origin like many other ancient popular customs, totally\nunconnected with any form of Christianity, and that it had its\ncommencement in the time of heathenism.\n\nThe egg was a symbol of the world, and ancient temples in consequence\nsometimes received an oval form. This typification is found in almost\nevery oriental cosmogony. The sacred symbol is still used in the rites\nof the Beltein, which are, unquestionably of heathen origin, and eggs\nare presented about the period of Easter in many countries. \u201cEaster,\u201d\nsays a recent tourist, \u201cis another season for the interchange of\ncivilities when, instead of the coloured egg in other parts of Germany,\nand which is there merely a toy for children, the Vienna Easter egg is\ncomposed of silver, mother-of-pearl, bronze, or some other expensive\nmaterial, and filled with jewels, trinkets, or ducats.--(_Sketches of\nGermany and the Germans in 1834, 1835, and 1836_, vol. ii. p. 162; _Med.\n\u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 202.) This latter custom has lately become very\npopular in London.\n\nJohn Troutbeck, by will, October 27th, 1787, gave to the poor of Dacre,\nthe place of his nativity, 200_l._ the interest thereof to be\ndistributed every Easter Sunday on the family tombstone in Dacre\nchurchyard, provided the day should be fine, by the hands and at the\ndiscretion of a Troutbeck of Blencowe, if there should be any living,\nthose next in descent having prior right of distribution; and if none\nshould be living that would distribute the same, then by a Troutbeck, as\nlong as one could be found that would take the trouble of it; otherwise\nby the ministers and churchwardens of the parish for the time being;\nthat not less than five shillings should be given to any individual, and\nthat none should be considered entitled to it that received alms, or any\nsupport from the parish.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 115.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nOn Easter Sunday the old custom of sugar-cupping at the dripping-torr,\nnear Tideswell, is observed; when the young people assemble at the torr,\neach provided with a cup and a small quantity of sugar or honey, and\nhaving caught the required quantity of water, and mixed the sugar with\nit, drink it, repeating a doggerel verse.[31]--_Jour. of the Arch.\nAssoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 204.\n\n  [31] It is also a general belief in this county that unless a person\n  puts on some new article of dress he will be injured by the birds, and\n  have no good fortune that year--_Ibid._ p. 205; see also p. 160.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nHasted, in his _History of Kent_ (1798, vol. vii. p. 138), states that,\nin the parish of Biddenden there is an endowment of old but unknown date\nfor making a distribution of cakes among the poor every Easter Day in\nthe afternoon. The source of the benefaction consists in twenty acres of\nland, in five parcels, commonly called the Bread and Cheese Lands.\nPractically, in Mr. Hasted\u2019s time, six hundred cakes were thus disposed\nof, being given to persons who attended service, while two hundred and\nseventy loaves of three and a half pounds weight each, with a pound and\na half of cheese, were given in addition to such as were parishioners.\n\nThe cakes distributed on this occasion were impressed with the figures\nof two females side by side, and close together.[32] Amongst the country\npeople it was believed that these figures represented two maidens named\nPreston, who had left the endowments; and they further alleged that the\nladies were twins, who were born in bodily union, that is, joined side\nto side, as represented on the cakes; who lived nearly thirty years in\nthis connection, when at length one of them died, necessarily causing\nthe death of the other in a few hours. It is thought by the Biddenden\npeople that the figures on the cakes are meant as a memorial of this\nnatural prodigy, as well as of the charitable disposition of the two\nladies. Mr. Hasted, however, ascertained that the cakes had only been\nprinted in this manner within the preceding fifty years, and concluded\nmore rationally that the figures were meant to represent two widows, \u201cas\nthe general objects of a charitable benefaction.\u201d\n\n  [32] An engraving of one of these cakes will be found in the _Every\n  Day Book_, 1827, vol. ii. p. 443.\n\nIf Mr. Hasted\u2019s account of the Biddenden cakes be the true one, the\nstory of the conjoined twins--though not inferring a thing impossible or\nunexampled--must be set down as one of those cases, of which we find so\nmany in the legends of the common people, where a tale is invented to\naccount for certain appearances, after the real meaning of the\nappearance was lost.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 427; see Britton and\nBrayley, _Beauties of England and Wales_, 1803, vol. viii. p. 208; _Old\nEnglish Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 60.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nAccording to Lysons\u2019 _Environs of London_ (1795, vol. iii. p. 603) there\nwas an ancient custom at Twickenham of dividing two great cakes in the\nChurch upon Easter Day, among the young people; but it being looked upon\nas a superstitious relic, it was ordered by Parliament, 1645, that the\nparishioners should forbear this custom, and, instead thereof, buy\nloaves of bread for the poor of the parish with the money that should\nhave bought the cakes. It appears that the sum of \u00a31 _per annum_ is\nstill charged upon the vicarage for the purpose of buying penny loaves\nfor poor children on the Thursday before Easter. Within the memory of\nman they were thrown from the church-steeple to be scrambled for; a\ncustom which prevailed also at Paddington.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nIn this county it is customary to eat baked custards at Easter, and\ncheesecakes at Whitsuntide.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. i. p. 248.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt University College, Oxford, on this day, the representation of a\ntree, dressed with evergreens and flowers, is placed on a turf close to\nthe buttery, and every member there resident, as he leaves the Hall\nafter dinner, chops at the tree with a cleaver. The College cook stands\nby holding a plate, in which the Master deposits half a guinea, each\nFellow five shillings and sixpence. This custom is called \u201cchopping at\nthe tree.\u201d--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. ix. p. 468.\n\nOn Easter Day the rector of Ducklington for the time being, as long as\ncan be remembered, has paid \u00a310 per annum, which was formerly given away\nin the church amongst the parishioners, in veal or apple pies: of late\nyears it has been given away in bread. All the parishioners of\nDucklington and Hardwick who apply, whether rich or poor, without any\ndistinction, partake of it according to the size of their families. Many\nof the farmers take the bread as they say, for the sake of keeping up\ntheir right. It is stated that there is no document or record relating\nto this payment, nor any tradition respecting its origin.--_Old English\nCustoms and Charities_, p. 14.\n\nThe rector of Swerford supplies a small loaf for every house in the\nparish on Easter Sunday, which is given after evening service. It is\nunderstood that this is given on account of a bushel of wheat, which is\npayable out of a field called Mill Close, part of the glebe. Each house,\nwhether inhabited by rich or poor, receives a loaf.--_Ibid._ p. 18.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nIt was customary in this country, for the young men in the villages to\ntake off the young girls\u2019 buckles, and, on the Easter Monday, the young\nmen\u2019s shoes and buckles were taken off by the young women. On the\nWednesday they were redeemed by little pecuniary forfeits, out of which\nan entertainment called a _Tansey Cake_, was provided, and the jollity\nconcluded with dancing. At Ripon, where this custom also prevailed, it\nis reported that no traveller could pass the town without being\nstopped, and, if a horseman, having his spurs taken away, unless\nredeemed by a little money, which was the only means to get them\nreturned. This seems to bear an affinity to the custom of hocking.\n\nCole in his _Hist. of Filey_ (1828, p. 136) mentions a similar custom as\npractised in that place. He says, the young men seize the shoes of the\nfemales, collecting as many as they can, and, on the following day, the\ngirls retaliate by getting the men\u2019s hats, which are to be redeemed on a\nsubsequent evening, when both parties assemble at one of the inns, and\npartake of a rural repast.--_Gent. Mag._ 1790, vol. lx. p. 719.\n\nTwo farms lying in the township of Swinton, and which belong to Earl\nFitzwilliam, every year change their parish. For one year, from Easter\nDay at twelve at noon till next Easter Day at the same hour, they lie in\nthe parish of Mexbrough, and then till Easter Day following at the same\nhour, they are in the parish of Wath-upon-Dearne, and so\nalternately.--Blount\u2019s _Ancient Tenures of Land_.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nEaster Day is generally kept in Wales as the Sunday, that is, with much\nand becoming respect to the sacredness of the day. It is also marked by\nsomewhat better cheer, as a festival, of which lamb is considered as a\nproper constitutional part. In some places, however, after morning\nprayer, vestiges of the sundry sports and pastimes remain. It is thought\nnecessary to put on some new portion of dress at Easter and unlucky to\nomit doing so, were it but a new pair of gloves or a ribbon. This idea\nis evidently derived from the custom of former times, of baptizing at\nEaster, when the new dress was in some degree symbolical of the new\ncharacter assumed by baptism.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe solemnity of Easter (says Bishop Kennett) was anciently observed in\nIreland with so great superstition that they thought it lawful to steal\nall the year, to hoard up provisions against this festival\ntime.--Kennett _MS_.\n\nIn some parts of Ireland at Easter a cake, with a garland of meadow\nflowers, is elevated upon a circular board upon a pike, apples being\nstuck upon pegs around the garland. Men and women then dance round, and\nthey who hold out longest win the prize.[33]--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1826,\np. 37.\n\n  [33] Plutarch mentions a trial for dancing: a cake the prize.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 23.] EASTER MONDAY.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIn the Parliamentary Returns of 1786 a donor of the name of Randell is\nstated to have given by deed, in 1597, five quarters of wheat and money\nto the poor of Edlesborough. Forty-nine bushels of wheat were yearly\nsent by Lady Bridgewater to the mill to be ground in respect of this\ncharity. They were ground, and the flour baked at her expense; the bread\nwas made up in four-pound loaves, which were given away by the parish\nofficers on Easter Monday to all the poor of the parish, in shares\nvarying according to the size of the families, a loaf being given to\neach individual.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 18.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nPasch eggs are begged at the farmhouses; the children sing a short song,\nasking for--\n\n    \u201cEggs, bacon, apples, or cheese,\n    Bread or corn, if you please,\n    Or any good thing that will make us merry.\u201d\n\nThese eggs are in some parts of the county boiled in vinegar, and\notherwise ornamented, and hung up in the houses until another year. In\nsome cottages as many as a score may be seen hanging. The custom of\nlifting is also observed.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._, 1850, vol. v. p.\n253.\n\nIn a pamphlet entitled _Certayne Collections of Anchiante Times,\nconcerning the Anchiante and Famous Cittie of Chester_, already\nreferred to and published in Lysons\u2019 _Magna Britannia_, is the following\naccount of a curious practice once observed at Chester, \u201cThere is an\nanchant custome in this cittie of Chester: the memory of man now livinge\nnot knowing the original, that upon Monday in Easter weeke, yearely,\ncommonly called Black Mondaye, the two sheriffes of the cittie do shoote\nfor a breakfaste of calves-heades and bacon, commonly called the\nSheriffes\u2019 Breakfaste, the maner being thus: the day before, the drum\nsoundeth through the cittie, with a proclamation for all gentlemen,\nyeomen, and good fellowes, that will come with their bowes and arrowes\nto take part with one sheriff or the other, and upon Monday morning, on\nthe Rode-dee, the Mayor, shreeves, aldermen, and any other gentlemen\nthat be there, the one sherife chosing one, and the other sherife\nchosing another, and soe of the archers; the one sherife shoteth, and\nthe other sherife he shoteth to _shode_ him, beinge at length some\ntwelve score, soe all the archers on one side to shote till it be\n_shode_, and so till three shutes be wonne, and then all the winners\u2019\nside goe up together, first with arrowes in their hands, and all the\nloosers with bowes in their hands together, to the common hall of the\ncittie, where the maior, aldermen, and the reste, take parte together of\nthe saide breakfaste in loveing manner. This is yearely done, it beinge\na commendable exercise, a good recreation, and a lovinge assemblye.\u201d\n\nIn the year 1640 the sheriffs gave a piece of plate to be run for,\ninstead of the calves\u2019-head breakfast. In 1674, a resolution was entered\nin the Corporation journals that the calves\u2019-head feast was held by\nancient custom and usage, and was not to be at the pleasure of the\nsheriffs and leave-brokers. In the month of March, 1676-7, the sheriffs\nand leave-brokers were fined \u00a310, for not keeping the calves\u2019-head\nfeast. For this feast an annual dinner was afterwards substituted,\nusually given by the sheriffs at their own houses on any day most\nsuitable to their convenience.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nDuring a visit to the little village of Castleton, says a correspondent\nof _N. & Q._ (_4th S._ vol. v. p. 595), I noticed every child without\nexception had a bottle of _elecampane_--the younger ones having one tied\nround their necks--all sucking away at this curious compound of Spanish\njuice, sugar, and water with great assiduity. I was informed by a very\nold man that the custom had always obtained at Castleton on this day as\nlong as he could remember.\n\nThe custom of lifting was practised in some of the northern parts of\nthis county.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._, 1852, vol. vii. p. 205.\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nEaster Monday was formerly appropriated to the grand \u201cEpping Hunt.\u201d So\nfar back as the year 1226, King Henry III. confirmed to the citizens of\nLondon _free-warren_, or liberty to hunt a circuit about their city, in\nthe warren of Staines, &c.; and in ancient times, the Lord Mayor,\naldermen, and corporation, attended by a due number of the constituents,\nare said to have availed themselves of this right of chase \u201cin solemn\nguise.\u201d But years ago, the \u201cEpping Hunt\u201d lost the Lord Mayor and his\nbrethren in their corporate capacity; the annual sport subsequently\ndwindled into a mere burlesque and farcical show amongst the mob, and\neven that has died away, and is now numbered \u201camongst the things that\nwere.\u201d--_Sports, Pastimes and Customs of London_, 1847, p. 27.\n\nThe following extract illustrative of this ancient custom is taken from\nthe _Chelmsford Chronicle_ (April 15th, 1805): \u201cOn Monday last Epping\nForest was enlivened with the celebrated stag-hunt. The road from\nWhitechapel to the Bald-faced Stag, on the forest, was covered with\ncockney sportsmen, chiefly dressed in the costume of the chase, in\nscarlet-frock, black jockey cap, new boots, and buckskin breeches. By\nten o\u2019clock the assemblage of civil hunters, mounted on all sorts and\nshapes, could not fall short of 1,200. There were numberless Dianas,\nalso of the chase, from Rotherhithe, the Minories, &c., some in\nriding-habits, mounted on titups, and others by the side of their\nmothers, in gigs, tax-carts, and other vehicles appropriate to the\nsports of the field. The Saffron Walden stag-hounds made their joyful\nappearance about half after ten, but without any of the Melishes or\nBosanquets, who were more knowing sportsmen, than to risk either\nthemselves, or their horses, in so desperate a burst. The huntsmen\nhaving capped their half crowns, the horn blew just before twelve, as a\nsignal for the old fat one-eyed-stag (kept for the day) being enlarged\nfrom the cart. He made a bound of several yards, over the heads of some\npedestrians, at first starting, when such a clatter commenced as the\ndays of Nimrod never knew. Some of the scarlet-jackets were sprawling in\nthe high road a few minutes after starting--so that a lamentable return\nof the maimed, missing, thrown, and thrown out, may naturally be\nsupposed.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 460; see _Long Ago_, 1873, vol.\ni. pp. 19, 44, 83, 146; also _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. x. pp. 373, 399, 460,\n478; xi. p. 26.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt this season, in the neighbourhood of Ross, the rustics have a custom\ncalled _corn-showing_. Parties are made to pick out cockle from the\nwheat. Before they set out they take with them, cake, cider, and _a\nyard_ of toasted cheese. The first person who picks the cockle from the\nwheat has the first kiss of the maid and the first slice of the cake.\nThis custom, doubtless, takes its origin from the Roman as appears from\nthe following line of Ovid (_Fasti_, i. 691):--\n\n    \u201cEt careant loliis oculos vitiantibus agri.\u201d\n\n    \u201cLet the fields be stripped of eye-diseasing cockle.\u201d\n\n  --Fosbroke, _Ariconensia or Arch\u00e6ological Sketches of Ross and\n  Archenfield_, 1822.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nAt this season young people go out holiday-making in public-houses, to\neat _pudding-pies_, and this practice is called going a\n_pudding-pieing_. The pudding-pies are from the size of a teacup to that\nof a small tea-saucer. They are flat, like pastrycooks\u2019 cheesecakes,\nmade with a raised crust to hold a small quantity of custard, with\ncurrants lightly sprinkled on the surface. Pudding-pies and cherry-beer\nusually go together at these feasts.--Hone\u2019s _Year Book_, 1838, p. 361.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nIn Lancashire, and in Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire, and\nperhaps in other counties, the ridiculous custom of \u2018lifting\u2019 or\n\u2018heaving\u2019 is practised. On Easter Monday the men lift the women, and on\nEaster Tuesday the women lift or heave the men. The process is performed\nby two lusty men or women joining their hands across each other\u2019s\nwrists, then, making the person to be heaved sit down on their arms,\nthey lift him up aloft two or three times, and often carry him several\nyards along a street. A grave clergyman who happened to be passing\nthrough a town in Lancashire on an Easter Tuesday, and having to stay an\nhour or two at an inn, was astonished by three or four lusty women\nrushing into his room, exclaiming they had \u201ccome to lift him!\u201d \u201cTo lift\nhim!\u201d repeated the amazed divine; \u201cwhat can you mean?\u201d \u201cWhy, your\nreverence, we\u2019ve come to lift you, \u2019cause it\u2019s Easter Tuesday.\u201d \u201cLift me\nbecause it\u2019s Easter Tuesday! I don\u2019t understand you--is there any such\ncustom here?\u201d \u201cYes to be sure; why, don\u2019t you know? All us women was\nlifted yesterday, and us lifts the men to-day in turn. And, in course,\nit\u2019s our reights and duties to lift \u2019em.\u201d After a little further parley\nthe reverend traveller compromised with his fair visitors for\nhalf-a-crown, and thus escaped the dreaded compliment.--_Book of Days_,\nvol. i., p. 425.\n\nAgnes Strickland in her _Lives of the Queens of England_ (1864, vol. i.\np. 303), narrates how on the Easter Monday of 1290 seven of Queen\nEleanora\u2019s ladies unceremoniously invaded the chamber of King Edward\n(I.), and seizing their majestic master, proceeded to \u201cheave him\u201d in his\nchair, till he was glad to pay a fine of fourteen pounds to enjoy his\nown peace and be set at liberty.\n\nThe following extract is taken from the _Public Advertiser_, April 13th,\n1787:--The custom of rolling down Greenwich-hill at Easter is a relique\nof old city manners, but peculiar to the metropolis. Old as the custom\nhas been, the counties of Shropshire, Cheshire and Lancashire boast of\none of equal antiquity, which they call heaving, and perform with the\nfollowing ceremonies, on the Monday and Tuesday in the Easter week. On\nthe first day, a party of men go with a chair into every house into\nwhich they can get admission, force every female to be seated in their\nvehicle, and lift them up three times with loud huzzas. For this they\nclaim the reward of a chaste salute, which those who are too coy to\nsubmit to may get exempted from by a fine of one shilling, and receive a\nwritten testimony which secures them from a repetition of the ceremony\nfor that day. On the Tuesday the women claim the same privilege, and\npursue their business in the same manner, with this addition--that they\nguard every avenue to the town, and stop every passenger, pedestrian,\nequestrian or vehicular.\u201d\n\nA correspondent of the _Gent. Mag._, 1784, vol. xcvi. p. 96, says that\n_lifting_ was originally designed to represent our Saviour\u2019s\nResurrection.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.--LONDON.\n\nIn the Easter holidays the young men, says Fitzstephen (in his tract\nentitled \u2018_Descriptio Nobilissim\u00e6 Civitatis Londoni\u00e6_,\u2019 _circa_ 1174),\ncounterfeit a fight on the water: a pole is set up in the midst of the\nriver, with a target strongly fastened to it, and a young man standing\nin the fore part of a boat, which is prepared to be carried on by the\nflowing of the tide, endeavours to strike the target in his passage.\n\nIf he succeeds so as to break his lance, and yet preserve his footing,\nhis aim is accomplished; but if he fail, he tumbles into the water, and\nhis boat passes away with the stream. On each side, however, of the\ntarget, ride two vessels, wherein are stationed several young men ready\nto snatch him from the water, as soon as he appears again above the\nsurface.\n\nFormerly the Lord Mayors and the sheriffs were accustomed to,\nseparately, ask each of their friends as were aldermen or governors of\nthe hospitals, whom they saw at church, to dine with them at their own\nhouses. But, in process of time, however, it was agreed that the Lord\nMayor should invite all that were at church on the first day; and the\ntwo sheriffs, in their turn, on the next succeeding days. Hence, by\ndegrees, they began to invite other of the friends, and the aldermen\nbringing their ladies, other ladies were also invited, so that the\nprivate houses not being large enough, they began to entertain at their\nrespective halls.--Brayley, _Londiniana_, 1829, vol. ii. p. 28.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nFormerly, at Easter and Whitsuntide, the mayor, aldermen, and sheriff of\nNewcastle-upon-Tyne, with a great number of the burgesses, went yearly\nto the Forth, or Little Mall of the town, with the mace, sword, and cap\nof maintenance carried before them, and patronised the playing at\nhand-ball, dancing, and other amusements, and sometimes joined in the\nball-play, and at others joined hands with the ladies.--_Every Day\nBook_, vol. i. p. 430.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nDeering, in his _Historical Account of Nottingham_ (1751, p. 125),\nsays:--By a custom time beyond memory, the mayor and aldermen of\nNottingham and their wives have been used on Monday in Easter week,\nmorning prayer ended, to march from the town to St. Anne\u2019s Well, having\nthe town waits to play before them, and attended by all the clothing,\ni.e., such as have been sheriffs, and ever after wear scarlet gowns,\ntogether with the officers of the town, and many other burgesses and\ngentlemen, such as wish well to the woodward--this meeting being first\ninstituted, and since continued for his benefit.\n\n\nWARWICKSHIRE.\n\nEaster Monday and Tuesday, says a correspondent of Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._\n(1849, vol. i. p. 183), were known by the name of _heaving-days_,\nbecause, on the former day, it was customary for the men to heave and\nkiss the women, and on the latter for the women to retaliate upon the\nmen. The women\u2019s heaving-day was the most amusing. Many a time have I\npassed along the streets inhabited by the lower orders of people, and\nseen parties of jolly matrons assembled round tables on which stood a\nfoaming tankard of ale. There they sat in all the pride of absolute\nsovereignty, and woe to the luckless man that dared to invade their\nprerogatives! As sure as he was seen he was pursued; as sure as he was\npursued he was taken; and, as sure as he was taken, he was heaved and\nkissed, and compelled to pay sixpence for \u201cleave and licence\u201d to depart.\n\nAt one time a custom was observed at Birmingham, on the Easter Monday,\ncalled \u201cClipping the Church.\u201d This ceremony was performed amid crowds of\npeople and shouts of joy, by the children of the different charity\nschools, who at a certain hour flocked together for the purpose. The\nfirst comers placed themselves hand in hand with their backs against the\nChurch, and were joined by their companions, who gradually increased in\nnumber, till at last the chain was of sufficient length completely to\nsurround the sacred edifice. As soon as the hand of the last of the\ntrain had grasped that of the first, the party broke up, and walked in\nprocession to the other Church (for in those days Birmingham boasted but\nof two), where the ceremony was repeated.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p.\n431.\n\nThey have an ancient custom at Coleshill, says Blount, (_Jocular\nTenures_, Beckwith\u2019s Edition, p. 286), that if the young men of the town\ncan catch a hare, and bring it to the parson of the parish before ten\no\u2019clock on Easter Monday, the parson is bound to give them a\ncalf\u2019s-head, and a hundred eggs for breakfast, and a groat in money.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nAt sunset upon Easter Monday, and at no other period throughout the\nyear, a game is played by the children of Evesham called\n\u201cthread-my-needle.\u201d From the season of this observance, as well as the\ncry of the players while elevating their arms arch-wise, which _now_ is:\n\n    \u201cOpen the gates as high as the sky,\n    And let Victoria\u2019s troops pass by,\u201d\n\nit is probable, says May in his _Hist. of Evesham_ (1845, p. 319), that\nthe custom originally had reference to the great festival of the church\nand the triumphant language of the Psalmist, applied to the event\ncommemorated at this period--Psalm xxiv. 9: \u2018Lift up your heads, O ye\ngates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory\nshall come in.\u201d The accuracy of this supposition, however, may be fairly\ndoubted.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nIn North Wales, says Pennant, the custom of heaving upon Monday and\nTuesday in Easter week is preserved; and on Monday the young men go\nabout the town and country, from house to house, with a fiddle playing\nbefore them, to heave the women. On the Tuesday the women heave the men.\n\nAt Tenby Easter Monday was always devoted to merry-making; the\nneighbouring villages (Gumfreston especially) were visited, when some\namused themselves with the barbarous sport of cock-fighting, while\nothers frequented the two tea-parties held annually at Tenby and\nGumfreston, and known as the \u201cParish Clerks\u2019 Meeting.\u201d--Mason\u2019s _Tales\nand Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, p. 21.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\n\nBERWICK-UPON-TWEED.\n\nIt is pleasurable, says Fuller in his _History of Berwick-upon-Tweed_\n(1799, p. 445), to see what a great number of lovely and finely-dressed\nchildren make their appearance on Easter Monday, which is known in this\nneighbourhood as the Children\u2019s Day. Being attended by a multitude of\nservants, they parade and run about for many hours, amusing themselves\nin a variety of ways. This charming group is joined more or less by the\nparents of the children, who, together with such as are attracted by\ncuriosity, form, on such occasions, a company of a great many hundreds.\nThey assemble in greatest numbers behind the barracks, where the rampart\nis broadest. The fruiterers attend in full display, as well as many\nitinerants in various pursuits. The whole company may be called a\n_sportive fair_.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nIn the County of Antrim this day is observed by several thousands of the\nworking classes of the town and vicinity of Belfast resorting to the\nCave-hill, about three miles distant, where the day is spent in dancing,\njumping, running, climbing the rugged rocks, and drinking. Here many a\nrude brawl takes place, many return home with black eyes, and in some\ncases with broken bones. Indeed it is with them the greatest holiday of\nthe year, and to not a few it furnishes laughable treats to talk about\ntill the return of the following spring. On this evening a kind of\ndramatic piece is usually brought forward at the Belfast Theatre, called\n_The Humours of the Cave-hill.--The Table Book_, p. 507.\n\n\nCO. CLARE.\n\nOn Easter Monday multitudes go to Scattery Island for the purpose of\nperforming penance on their bare knees, round the stony beach and holy\nwell there. Tents are generally erected on this occasion, and often\ntimes more whisky is taken by the pilgrims than is found convenient on\ntheir return in crowded boats.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_, 1814,\nvol. ii. p. 459.\n\n\nCO. DOWN.\n\nAt Holywood the trundling of eggs, as it is called, is an amusement\ncommon at Easter. For this purpose the eggs are boiled hard, and dyed of\ndifferent colours, and, when they are thus prepared, the sport consists\nin throwing or trundling them along the ground, especially down a\ndeclivity, and gathering up the broken fragments to eat them. Formerly\nit was usual with the women and children to collect in large bodies for\nthis purpose, though nothing can be, to all appearance, more unmeaning\nthan this amusement. They yet pursue it in the vicinity of Belfast. It\nis a curious circumstance that this sport is practised only by the\nPresbyterians.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_, 1819, vol. iii. p. 207.\n\nOn Easter Monday several hundreds of young persons of the town and\nneighbourhood of Portaferry resort, dressed in their best, to a pleasant\nwalk near that town, called \u201cThe Walter.\u201d The avowed object of each\nperson is to see the fun, which consists in the men kissing the females,\nwithout reserve, whether married or single. This mode of salutation is\nquite a matter of course; it is never taken amiss, nor with much show of\ncoyness; the female must be very ordinary indeed, who returns home\nwithout having received at least a dozen hearty kisses. Tradition is\nsilent as to the origin of this custom, which of late years is on the\ndecline, especially in the respectability of the attendants.--_The Table\nBook_, p. 506.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 24.] EASTER TUESDAY.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nEvery Easter Tuesday, in pursuance of an ancient custom, the boys of\nChrist\u2019s Hospital, London, pay a visit to the Mansion House, and receive\nfrom the Lord Mayor the customary Easter gifts. On reaching the Mansion\nHouse, they march into the Egyptian Hall, and on passing the Lord Mayor,\nreceive a gratuity in coins fresh from the mint. To the fifteen Grecians\na guinea each is given; nine probationers, half-a-guinea; forty-eight\nmonitors, half-a-crown; and the ordinary scholars, one shilling each.\nEach boy also before leaving receives a glass of wine and two buns. The\nboys wear linen badges on their coats, on which the words \u201cHe is risen\u201d\nare inscribed. After this ceremony, the Lord Mayor and the rest of the\ncivic authorities go in the customary state to Christ Church, Newgate\nStreet, where the second Spital sermon is preached. At this service the\nwhole of the Christ\u2019s Hospital boys attend.--See _Daily News_, April\n12th, 1871, and April 3rd, 1872.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nHolly-bussing, says a writer in the _Newcastle Express_ (April 16th,\n1857), is a vernacular expression for a very ancient custom celebrated\nat Netherwitton, the origin of which is unknown. On Easter Tuesday the\nlads and lasses of the village and vicinity meet, and, accompanied by\nthe parish clerk, who plays an excellent fiddle, the inspiring strains\nof which put mirth and mettle in their heels, proceed to the wood to get\nholly; with which some decorate a stone cross that stands in the village\nwhile others are \u201cbobbing around\u201d to \u201cSpeed the Plough\u201d or \u201cBirnie\nBouzle.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 25.] LADY DAY.\n\n\nThe _Festival of the Annunciation_ commemorates in the Christian world\nthe message of the Angel to the Virgin Mary: hence it was anciently\ncalled St. Mary\u2019s Day in Lent, to distinguish it from other festivals in\nher honour:\n\n    \u201cSeinte Marie Daye in Leynte, among\n      All other dayes gode,\n    Is ryt for to holde heghe\n      He so [whoso] bein vnderstode.\u201d\n\n  Harl. MS. Codex 2277, fol. i.\n\nAll the festivals of the Virgin are properly Lady Days, but this falling\nin Lent, and being the first quarter day for rents and other payments,\nreadily became Lady Day _par excellence_. Otherwise considered, it is\nsimply an abridgment of \u201cOur Lady Day the Annunciation,\u201d as we find it\nwritten in the reign of Henry the Sixth. Some old customs on paying\nquarterly rents are noticed in Gascoigne\u2019s _Flowers of Poesie_, 4to,\n1575:\n\n    And when the tenantes come to paie their quarter\u2019s rent,\n    They bring some fowle at Midsummer, a dish of fish in Lent,\n    At Christmasse a capon, at Michaelmasse a goose,\n    And somewhat else at New Yeare\u2019s tide for feare their lease flie\n      loose.\u201d\n\n  --_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 206; Forster, _Perenn. Calend._ 1841,\n  p. 515.\n\n\nHERTFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt St. Alban\u2019s certain buns called \u201cPope Ladies\u201d are sold on Lady Day,\ntheir origin being attributed by some to the following story:--A noble\nlady and her attendants were travelling on the road to St. Alban\u2019s (the\ngreat North road passes through this town), when they were benighted and\nlost their way. Lights in the clock-tower at the top of the hill enabled\nthem at length to reach the monastery in safety, and the lady in\ngratitude gave a sum of money to provide an annual distribution on Lady\nDay of cakes, in the shape of ladies, to the poor of the neighbourhood.\nAs this bounty was distributed by the monks, the \u201cPope Ladies\u201d probably\nthus acquired their name.--See _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. x. p. 412. Another\ncorrespondent of _N. & Q._ (_4th S._ vol. x. 341) says these buns are\nsold on the first day of each year, and that there is a tradition that\nthey have some relation to the myth of Pope Joan.--See also the _Gent.\nMag._ 1820, vol. xc. p. 15.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nThe gyst-ale, or guising-feast, was an annual festival of the town of\nAshton-under-Lyne. It appears from the rental of Sir John de Assheton,\ncompiled A.D. 1422, that twenty shillings were paid to him as lord of\nthe manor for the privilege of holding this feast by its then\nconductors. The persons named in the roll as having paid 3_s._ 4_d._\neach are:--\u201cMargret, that was the wife of Hobbe the Kynges (of misrule);\nHobbe Adamson; Roger the Baxter; Robert Somayster; Jenkyn of the Wode;\nand Thomas of Curtual.\u201d The meaning of the term _gyst-ale_ is involved\nin some obscurity--most probably the payments above were for the _gyst_,\nor hire, for the privilege of selling ale and other refreshments during\nthe festivals held on the payment of the rents of the manor. These\n_guisings_ were frequently held in the spring, most probably about Lady\nDay, when manorial rents were usually paid; and, as the fields were\nmanured with _marl_ about the same period, the term _marlings_ has been\nsupposed to indicate the rough play or _marlocking_ which was then\npractised. This, however, must be a mistake, since the term relates to\nmerry pranks, or pleasure gambols only, and has no connection with marl\nas a manure.\n\nThese gyst-ales, or guisings, once ranked amongst the principal\nfestivals of Lancashire, and large sums of money were subscribed by all\nranks of society in order that they might be celebrated with becoming\nsplendour. The lord of the manor, the vicar of the parish, the farmer,\nand the operative, severally announced the sums they intended to give,\nand when the treasurer exclaimed \u201cA largesse,\u201d the crowd demanded \u201cfrom\nwhom?\u201d and then due proclamation was made of the sum subscribed. The\nreal amount, however, was seldom named, but it was announced that \u201cLord\nJohnson,\u201d or some other equally distinguished person had contributed \u201ca\nportion of ten thousand pounds\u201d towards the expenses of the feast.\n\nAfter the subscription lists were closed an immense garland was\nprepared, which contained abundance of every flower in season,\ninterspersed with a profusion of evergreens and ribbons of every shade\nand pattern. The framework of this garland was made of wood, to which\nhooks were affixed, and on these were suspended a large collection of\nwatches, jewels, and silver articles borrowed from the richer residents\nin the town. On the day of the gyst this garland was borne through the\nprincipal streets and thoroughfares, attended by crowds of townspeople\ndressed in their best attire. These were formed into a procession by a\nmaster of the ceremonies, locally termed the king. Another principal\nattendant was the Fool, dressed in a grotesque cap, a hideous grinning\nmask, a long tail hanging behind him, and a bell with which he commanded\nattention when announcements were to be made. In an early period of\nthese guisings the fool was usually mounted on a hobby-horse, and\nindulged in grotesque pranks as he passed along--hence we obtained the\nterm \u201chob-riding,\u201d and more recently the proverbial expression of\n\u201criding one\u2019s hobby to death.\u201d--Harland and Wilkinson, _Legends and\nTraditions of Lancashire_, 1873, p. 86.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nOn a table of benefactions in the Church at Oxburgh it is stated that\nSir Henry Bedingfield paid at Lady Day annually \u00a32 for lands belonging\nto the township of Oxburgh; that this was called _walk money_, and was\ngiven to the poor.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 124.\n\n\nISLE OF THANET.\n\nEvelyn in his _Diary_, under the date of March 25th, 1672 (Bohn\u2019s\nEdition, 1859, vol. ii. p. 78), says: \u201cObserving almost every tall tree\nto have a weather-cock on the top bough, and some trees half-a-dozen, I\nlearned that on a certain holiday the farmers feast their servants, at\nwhich solemnity they set up these cocks as a kind of triumph.\u201d\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nAt Kilmacteige, Co. of Sligo, the Lady Days are observed with most\nscrupulous attention, that is to say, so far as abstaining from all kind\nof daily labour, or following any trade or calling, although their\nsanctity does not operate on their minds so as to induce them to refrain\nfrom sports and pastimes, cursing or swearing, or frequenting\ntippling-houses and drinking to excess.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_,\n1814-19, vol ii. p. 864.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH 29.] LOW SUNDAY.\n\n\nThe Octave or first Sunday after Easter.\n\nThe author of _Christian Sodality_, a collection of discourses, 1652,\nsays:--This day is called White or Low Sunday because in the Primitive\nChurch those neophytes that on Easter Eve were baptized and clad in\nwhite garments did to-day put them off, with this admonition, that they\nwere to keep within them a perpetual candour of spirit, signified by the\n_Agnus Dei_ hung about their necks, which, falling down upon their\nbreasts, put them in mind what innocent lambs they must be, now that of\nsinful, high, and haughty men they were by baptism made low, and little\nchildren of Almighty God, such as ought to retain in their manners and\nlives the Paschal feasts which they had accomplished.\n\nSeymour in his _Survey of London_ (1734, B. iv. p. 100) tells us that\nthe aldermen used to meet the Lord Mayor and sheriffs at St. Paul\u2019s in\ntheir scarlet gowns, furred, without their cloaks, to hear the sermon.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nFenton in his _Tour through Pembrokeshire_ (1811, p. 495) alludes to the\ngame of _Knappan_ as being played at Pwlldu, in the parish of Penbedw,\non low Easter-day. He says the knappan was a ball of some hard wood, of\nsuch a size as a man might hold in his hand, and was boiled in tallow to\nmake it slippery. The players at this game were very numerous,\nfrequently amounting to a thousand or fifteen hundred people, parish\nagainst parish, hundred against hundred, and sometimes county against\ncounty. When the company assembled, about one or two o\u2019clock in the\nafternoon, entirely naked, with the exception of a light pair of\nbreeches, a great shout was given as the signal to begin, and the ball\nwas hurled bolt upright into the air by one of the parties and at its\nfall he that caught it hurled it towards the county or goal he played\nfor. The players consisted of horse and foot, who in the purest times of\nthe game never mixed, being governed by certain rules and regulations\nthat were never violated; but long before this game was disused various\nabuses and disorders had crept into it, so that it served to inflame\nevery bad passion, engender revenge, foment private quarrels, and\nstimulate even to bloodshed and murder.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 1.] ALL FOOLS\u2019 DAY.\n\n\nOn this day a custom prevails not only in Britain, but on the Continent,\nof imposing upon and ridiculing people in a variety of ways. It is very\ndoubtful what is the precise origin of this absurd custom. In France the\nperson imposed upon on All Fools\u2019 Day is called _Poisson d\u2019Avril_, an\nApril Fish, which Bellingen, in his _Etymology of French Proverbs_,\npublished in 1656, thus explains. The word _Poisson_, he contends, is\ncorrupted through the ignorance of the people from _Passion_, and length\nof time has almost totally defaced the original intention, which was as\nfollows: that as the Passion of our Saviour took place about this time\nof the year, and as the Jews sent Christ backwards and forwards to mock\nand torment him, that is, from Annas to Caiaphas, from Caiaphas to\nPilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate, this\nridiculous custom took its rise from thence, by which we send about from\none place to another such persons as we think proper objects of our\nridicule. A writer in the _Gent. Mag._, 1783, vol. liii. p. 578, also\nconjectures that this custom may have an allusion to the mockery of the\nSaviour of the world by the Jews. Another attempt to explain it has been\nmade by referring to the fact that the year formerly began in Britain on\nthe 25th of March, which was supposed to be the Incarnation of our Lord,\nand the commencement of a new year was always, both among the ancient\nheathens and among modern Christians, held as a great festival. It is to\nbe noted then that the 1st of April is the octave of the 25th of March,\nand the close consequently of that feast which was both the festival of\nthe Annunciation and of the New Year. Hence it may have become a day of\nextraordinary mirth and festivity.\n\nAlluding to this custom, Charles Dickens, jun. (_Gent. Mag._ 1869, New\nSeries, vol. ii. p. 543), says: A prince of the house of Lorraine,\nconfined in one of Louis XIII.\u2019s prisons, made his escape on the 1st of\nApril by swimming across the moat, and is accordingly commemorated as a\n_poisson d\u2019Avril_ to this day. Why this should be so is not very clear,\ninasmuch as the gaolers and not the prince would have been the April\nfools on the occasion. A later version of the same story would appear to\nbe the correct one. Here the prince and his wife, escaping in the\ndisguise of peasants on the 1st of April, were recognised by a\nservant-maid as they were passing out of the castle-gates. She\nimmediately made for the guard-room, giving the alarm to a sentinel by\nthe way, but, unfortunately for her, yet happily for the fugitives,\nalthough she may have forgotten that it was All Fool\u2019s Day, the soldiers\non guard had not. The information was treated with the utmost contempt,\nthe soldiers declining to be made game of, and while the royal\nprison-breakers got clear off, it is said that the luckless informer was\nsoundly buffetted by the guard for her ill-timed jocularity. This\nversion of the story, however, goes to prove nothing beyond the fact\nthat the custom of making April fools was well known in the time of\nLouis XIII., but in nowise accounts for the curious expression _poisson\nd\u2019Avril_; while the swimming story explains the fish, but leads one to\nbelieve that the incident was the origin of the dedication of the 1st of\nApril to fools.\n\nAnother curious explanation of this peculiar custom, giving it a Jewish\norigin, has also been suggested. It is said to have begun from the\nmistake of Noah sending the dove out of the Ark before the water had\nabated on the first day of the Hebrew month, answering to our month of\nApril, and to perpetuate the memory of this deliverance it was thought\nproper, whoever forgot so remarkable a circumstance, to punish them by\nsending them upon some sleeveless errand similar to that ineffectual\nmessage upon which the bird was sent by the patriarch.--_Public\nAdvertiser_, April 13th, 1769.\n\nMaurice, in his _Indian Antiquities_ (vi. 71), says that the custom\nprevailing both in England and India had its origin in the ancient\npractice of celebrating with festival rites the period of the vernal\nequinox, or the day when the new year of Persia anciently began.\n\nAddison, in the _Spectator_, referring to the year 1711, remarks that \u201ca\ncustom prevails everywhere among us on the 1st of April, when everybody\ntakes it in his head to make as many fools as he can. A neighbour of\nmine--a very shallow, conceited fellow, makes his boast that for these\nten years successively he has not made less than a hundred April fools.\nMy landlady had a falling-out with him, about a fortnight ago, for\nsending every one of her children upon some \u201csleeveless errand,\u201d as she\nterms it. Her eldest son went to buy a halfpenny-worth of inkle at a\nshoemaker\u2019s; the eldest daughter was dispatched half a mile to see a\nmonster; and, in short, the whole family of innocent children were made\nApril fools. Nay, my landlady herself did not escape him. The empty\nfellow has laughed upon these conceits ever since.\u201d\n\nIn the north of England persons imposed upon on this day are called\n\u201cApril Gouks.\u201d A gouk, or gowk, is properly a cuckoo, and is used here,\nmetaphorically, in vulgar language, for a fool. The cuckoo is, indeed,\neverywhere a name of contempt.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p.\n139.\n\n\nHAMPSHIRE.\n\nIn this county the following rhyme is said after twelve o\u2019clock:--\n\n    \u201cApril fool\u2019s gone past,\n    You\u2019re the biggest fool at last;\n    When April fool comes again\n    You\u2019ll be the biggest fool then.\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xii. p. 100.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nIn connection with the ancient custom of making \u201cApril fools\u201d on the 1st\nof April, the following hoax was practised on the London public on the\n1st April, 1860. Some days previous thousands of persons received a\nneatly printed and official-looking card, with a seal marked by an\ninverted sixpence at one of the angles. It was to this effect:--\u201cTower\nof London. Admit the Bearer and Friend to view the Annual Ceremony of\nwashing the White Lions on Sunday April 1st, 1860. Admitted at the White\nGate. It is particularly requested that no gratuity be given to the\nWarders or their Assistants.\u201d The hoax succeeded remarkably well, and\nconsequently several thousand persons were taken in. For many hours cabs\nmight have been seen wending their way towards Tower Hill on that Sunday\nmorning; the drivers asking every one they met \u201cHow they should get to\nthe White Gate.\u201d At last this piece of deception was found out, and the\nmany thousands who had been thus imposed upon returned home highly\ndisgusted.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nThe Scotch have a custom of Hunting the Gowk, as it is termed. This is\ndone by sending silly people upon fools\u2019 errands from place to place by\nmeans of a letter, in which is written:--\n\n    \u201cOn the first day of April\n    Hunt the Gowk another mile.\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 140.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 3.] ST. RICHARD\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nAubrey, in _MS. Lansd._ 231, says: \u201cThis custome is yearly observed at\nDroitwich, in Worcestershire, where, on the day of St. Richard, they\nkeep holyday, and dresse the well with green boughs and flowers. One\nyeare in the Presbyterian time it was discontinued in the civil warres,\nand after that the springe shranke up or dried up for some time; so\nafterwards they revived their annual custom, notwithstanding the power\nof the parliament and soldiers, and the salt water returned again and\nstill continues. This St. Richard was a person of great estate in these\nparts, and a briske young fellow that would ride over hedge and ditch,\nand at length became a very devout man, and after his decease was\ncanonized for a saint.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 7.] HOCK, OR _HOKE_ DAY.\n\n\nA popular holiday mentioned by Matthew Paris and other ancient writers.\nIt was usually kept on the Tuesday following the second Sunday after\nEaster Day, and distinguished by various sportive pastimes, which\nconsisted, according to Spelman, in the men and women binding each\nother, and especially the women the men, and so was called \u201cBinding\nTuesday.\u201d Jacob (_Law Dictionary_, 1797) says that \u201cHokeday, or Hock\nTuesday (_Dies Martis, quem quindenam Pasch\u00e6 vocant_), was a day so\nremarkable that rents were reserved and payable thereon; and in the\naccounts of Magdalen College, Oxford, there is a yearly allowance _pro\nmulieribus hockantibus_, in some manors of theirs in Hants, where the\nmen hock the women on Monday, and the contrary on Tuesday; the meaning\nof it is, that on that day the women in merriment stop the way with\nropes, and pull passengers to them, desiring something to be laid out in\npious uses. The following remarks are taken from _Book of Days_, vol. i.\np. 499:--\n\nThe meaning of the word _hoke_ or _hock_ seems to be totally unknown,\nand none of the derivations yet proposed seem to be deserving of our\nconsideration.[34] The custom may be traced, by its name at least, as\nfar back as the thirteenth century, and appears to have prevailed in all\nparts of England, but it became obsolete early in the last century. At\nCoventry, which was a great place for pageantry, there was a play or\npageant attached to the ceremony, which, under the title of \u201cThe old\nCoventry play of Hock Tuesday,\u201d was performed before Queen Elizabeth\nduring her visit to Kenilworth, in July 1575. It represented a series of\ncombats between the English and Danish forces, in which twice the Danes\nhad the better, but at last, by the arrival of the Saxon women to assist\ntheir countrymen, the Danes were overcome, and many of them were led\ncaptive in triumph by the women. Queen Elizabeth laughed well at this\nplay, and is said to have been so much pleased with it that she gave the\nactors two bucks and five marks in money. The usual performance of this\nplay had been suppressed in Coventry soon after the Reformation, on\naccount of the scenes of riot which it occasioned.\n\n  [34] Some have supposed that the term hock-day is equivalent to \u201c_dies\n  irrisionis_,\u201d or _irrisiorius_, a day of scorn and triumph, or, as we\n  now say, \u201ca day of hoaxing\u201d--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._, 1841, vol. ii. p.\n  198. Verstegan derives Hoc-tide from _Heughtyde_, which, he says, in\n  the Netherlands means a festival season.\n\n  Denne conjectures the name of this festivity to have been derived from\n  _Hockzeit_, the German word for a wedding. Skinner mentions a\n  derivation from the Dutch _hocken_, _desidere_, and adds, \u201cmallem\n  igitur deducere ab A.S. _Heah-tid_.\u201d Kennett (_Paroch. Antiq._ p. 495)\n  suggests the Saxon _head\u0153g_, which answers to the French\n  _haut-jour_.--See Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. pp. 184-191.\n\nIt will be seen that this Coventry play was founded on the statement\nwhich had found a place in some of our chronicles as far back as the\nfourteenth century, that these games of hock-tide were intended to\ncommemorate the massacre of the Danes on St. Brice\u2019s Day, 1002; while\nothers, alleging the fact that St. Brice\u2019s Day is the 13th of November,\nsuppose it to commemorate the rejoicings which followed the death of\nHardicanute, and the accession of Edward the Confessor, when the country\nwas delivered from Danish tyranny. Others, however, and probably with\nmore reason, think that these are both erroneous explanations; and this\nopinion is strongly supported by the fact that Hock Tuesday is not a\nfixed day, but a movable festival, and dependent on the great\nAnglo-Saxon pagan festival of Easter, like the similar ceremony of\nheaving, still practised on the borders of Wales on Easter Monday and\nTuesday. Such old pagan ceremonies were preserved among the Anglo-Saxons\nlong after they became Christians, but their real meaning was gradually\nforgotten, and stories and legends, like this of the Danes, afterwards\ninvented to explain them. It may also be regarded as a confirmation of\nthe belief that this festival is the representation of some feast\nconnected with the pagan superstitions of our Saxon forefathers, that\nthe money which was collected was given to the church, and was usually\napplied to the reparation of the church buildings. We can hardly\nunderstand why a collection of money should be thus made in\ncommemoration of the overthrow of the Danish influence, but we can\neasily imagine how, when the festival was continued by the Saxons as\nChristians, what had been an offering to some one of the pagan gods\nmight be turned into an offering to the church. The entries on this\nsubject in the old churchwardens\u2019 registers of many of our parishes not\nonly show how generally the custom prevailed, but to what an extent the\nmiddle classes of society took part in it.\n\nIn Reading these entries go back to a rather remote date, and mention\ncollections by men as well as women, while they seem to show that there\nthe women \u201chocked,\u201d as the phrase was, on the Monday, and the men on the\nTuesday.\n\nIn the registers of the parish of St. Laurence, under the year 1499, we\nhave:\n\n  \u201cItem, received of Hock money gaderyd of women, xx^{s.}\n\n  Item, received of Hock money gaderyd of men, iiij^{s.}\u201d\n\nIn the parish of St. Giles, under the date 1535:\n\n  \u201cHoc money gatheryd by the wyves (women), xiij^{s.} ix^{d.}\u201d\n\nIn St. Mary\u2019s parish, under the year 1559:\n\n  \u201cHoctyde money, the mens gatheryng, iiij^{s.}\n\n  The womens, xij^{s.}\u201d\n\nIn the \u201cPrivy Purse Expenses\u201d of Henry VIII. for the year 1505, is the\nfollowing entry:--\n\n  \u201cMay 2.--To Lendesay for the wiffs at Grenewiche upon Hock Monday,\n  3_s._ 4_d._\u201d\n\nHiggins, in his _Short View of English History_, says that, \u201cAt Hoctide\nthe people go about beating brass instruments, and singing old rhymes in\npraise of their cruel ancestors.\u201d Dr. Plot says that one of the uses of\nthe money collected at _Hoketyde_ was the reparation of the several\nparish churches where it was gathered. This is confirmed by extracts\nfrom the _Lambeth Book_.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 189.\n\n\nBERKSHIRE.\n\nSome singular Hocktide customs observed at Hungerford are thus described\nin the _Standard_ of April 14th, 1874:--These customs are connected with\nthe Charter for holding by the Commons the rights of fishing, shooting,\nand pasturage of cattle on the lands and property bequeathed to the town\nby John O\u2019Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The proceedings commenced on Friday\nevening with a supper, at which the fare was macaroni, Welsh rare-bits,\nwatercress, salad, and punch. To-day--John O\u2019Gaunt\u2019s Day--known in the\ntown as \u201cTuth\u201d Day, the more important business of the season is\ntransacted at the Town Hall, from the window of which the town-crier\nblows the famous old horn, which has done service on these occasions for\nmany long years. The tything or \u201ctuth\u201d men thereupon proceed to the high\nconstable\u2019s residence, to receive their \u201ctuth\u201d poles, which are usually\ndecorated with ribbons and flowers. The first business of these\nofficials, who are generally tradesmen of the borough, is to visit the\nvarious schools and ask a holiday for the children; then to call at each\nhouse and demand a toll from the gentlemen, and a kiss from the ladies,\nand distribute oranges _ad libitum_ throughout the day, in expectation\nof which a troop of children follow them through the streets, which are\nfor several hours kept alive by the joyous shouts and huzzas. The high\nconstable is elected at the annual court held to-day, and one of the\ncurious customs is the sending out by that officer\u2019s wife of a bountiful\nsupply of cheesecakes among the ladies of the place.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 20.] WORCESTERSHIRE.\n\n\nThe 20th of April is the great fair-day of Tenbury, and there is a\nbelief in the county that the cuckoo is never heard till Tenbury\nfair-day, or after Pershore fair-day, which is the 26th of\nJune.[35]--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. i. p. 429.\n\n  [35] Formerly there prevailed a singular custom peculiar to the county\n  of Shropshire, called the \u201ccuckoo-ale,\u201d which was celebrated in the\n  month of May, and sometimes near the latter end of April. As soon as\n  the first cuckoo had been heard all the labouring classes left off\n  work, even if in the middle of the day, and the time was devoted to\n  mirth and jollity over what was called the cuckoo-ale.--_Morning\n  Post_, May 17th, 1821.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 23.] ST. GEORGE\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nSt. George\u2019s Day, though now passed over without notice, was formerly\ncelebrated by feasts of cities and corporations, as we learn from Johan\nBale, who, speaking of the neglect of public libraries, has the\nfollowing curious apostrophe:\n\n\u201cO cyties of Englande, whose glory standeth more in bellye chere then in\nthe serche of wysdome godlye. How cometh it that neyther you, nor your\nydell masmongers, have regarded thys most worthy commodyte of your\ncountrey? I mean the conservacyon of your antiquytees, and of the worthy\nlabours of your lerned men. I thynke the renowne of suche a notable acte\nwolde have muche longar endured than of all your belly bankettes and\ntable tryumphes, eyther yet of your newly purchased hawles to kepe St.\nGeorges feast in.\u201d--Preface to the _Laboryeuse Journey and Serche of\nJohn Lyelande for Englande\u2019s Antiquitees_ in _Lives of Leland, Hearne,\nand Wood_, vol. i., sign C.\n\nAmong courtiers and people of fashion blue coats were worn on this day.\nCaptain Face, a character in the _Ram Alley_, alludes to the custom\namong the knights:--\n\n    \u201cDo you bandy tropes? By Dis I will be knight,\n    Wear a blue coat on great St. George\u2019s Day,\n    And with my fellows drive you all from Paul\u2019s.\u201d\n\n  Dodsley\u2019s _Old Plays_, vol. v. p. 486.\n\nIn Epigram 33 of _The Seconde Bowle_, by Thomas Freeman, 4to, 1614,\nquoted also in Dodsley\u2019s _Old Plays_, vol. xii. p. 398, its this\ndistich:\n\n    \u201cWith\u2019s eorum nomine keeping greater sway,\n    Than a Court blew coat on St. George\u2019s Day.\u201d\n\nDr. Forster, in his _Perennial Calendar_ (1824, p. 185), mentioning an\nallusion to this dress in Reed\u2019s _Old Plays_ (vol. xii.), observes that\nit was probably because blue was the fashionable colour of Britain, over\nwhich St. George presides, and not in imitation of the clothing of the\nfields in blue, by the flowering of the blue-bells, as many have\nsupposed.\n\nThe king\u2019s spurs became the fee of the choristers at Windsor on\ninstallations and feasts on St. George\u2019s Day. In the \u201cPrivy Purse\nExpenses of Henry VII.\u201d is an entry under the year 1495:\n\n\u201cOct. 1. At Windesor. To the children for the spoures.\u201d\n\nA similar disbursement occurs thrice in the Privy Purse Expenses of\nHenry VIII. in 1530.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 214.\n\nStrype, in his _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. pt. ii. p.\n3), says, \u201cApril 23rd [1557], being St. George\u2019s Day, the King\u2019s grace\nwent a procession at Whitehall, through the hall, and round about the\ncourt hard by the gate, certain of the Knights of the Garter\naccompanying him, viz., the Lord Mountagu, the Lord Admiral St. Anthony\nSt. Leger, the Lord Cobham, the Lord Dacre, Sir Thomas Cheyne, the Lord\nPaget, the Earl of Pembroke, the Earl of Arundel, the Lord Treasurer,\nand Secretary Petre, in a robe of crimson velvet, with the garter\nembroidered on his shoulder (as Chancellor of the Garter). One bare a\nrod of black, and a doctor the book of records. Then went all the\nheralds, and then the Lord Talbot bare the sword, and after him the\nsergeant-at-arms. And then came the king, the Queen\u2019s grace looking out\nof a window beside the court on the garden side. And the bishop of\nWinchester did execute the mass, wearing his mitre. The same afternoon\nwere chosen three Knights of the Garter, viz., the Lord Fitz-Water, the\ndeputy of Ireland; Lord Grey of Wilton, deputy of Guynes; and Sir Robert\nRochester, comptroller of the Queen\u2019s house. After, the duke of Muscovia\n(as that ambassador was usually termed) came through the hall and the\nguard stood on a row, in their rich coats, with halberts; and so passed\nup to the Queen\u2019s chamber, with divers aldermen and merchants. And after\ncame down again to the chapel to evensong, to see the ceremonies. And\nimmediately came the king, (the Lord Strange bearing the sword), and the\nKnights of the Garter, to evensong, which done, they went all up to the\nchamber of presence. After came the ambassador, and took his barge to\nLondon.[36]\n\n  [36] See also Machyn\u2019s _Diary_, 1848, p. 195.\n\n\nBERKSHIRE.\n\nThe following is a curious account of the expenses for decorating a\nfigure of St. George on this day, taken from Coates\u2019s _History of\nReading_, p. 221:\n\n\u201c_Charge of Saynt George._\n\n\u201cFirst payd for iij caffes-skynes, and ij horse-skynnes, iij^{s.}\nvj^{d.}\n\n\u201cPayd for makeying the loft that Saynt George standeth upon, vj^{d.}\n\n\u201cPayd for ij plonks for the same loft, viij^{d.}\n\n\u201cPayd for iiij pesses of clowt lether, ij^{s.} ij^{d.}\n\n\u201cPayd for makeyng the yron that the hors resteth upon, vj^{d.}\n\n\u201cPayd for makeyng of Saynt George\u2019s cote, viij^{d.}\n\n\u201cPayd to John Paynter for his labour, xlv^{s.}\n\n\u201cPayd for roses, bells, gyrdle, sword, and dager, iij^{s.} iiij^{d.}\n\n\u201cPayd for settyng on the bells and roses, iij^{d.}\n\n\u201cPayd for naylls necessarye thereto, x^{d.} ob.\u201d\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nIn a pamphlet entitled _Certayne Collections of Anchiante Times,\nconcerninge the Anchante and Famous Cittie of Chester_ (already alluded\nto) and published in Lysons\u2019 _Magna Britannia_, 1810, vol. ii. pt. ii.\npp. 588-590, is the following account of races at one time annually held\nat Chester on St. George\u2019s Day: In A.D. 1609, Mr. William Lester,\nmercer, being mayor of Chester, one Mr. Robert Amerye, ironmonger,\nsometime sherife of Chester (A.D. 1608), he, with the assent of the\nmayor and cittie, at his own coste chiefly, as I conceive, caused three\nsilver cuppes of good value to be made, the whiche saide silver cuppes\nwere, upon St. George\u2019s Daye, for ever to be thus disposed. All\ngentlemen that would bringe their horses to the Rood-dee that daye, and\nthere rune, that horse which with spede did over-rune the rest, should\nhave the beste cuppe there presently delivered, and that horse which\ncame seconde, nexte the firste, before the rest, had the seconde cuppe\nthere also delivered, and for the third cuppe it was to be rune for at\nthe ringe, by any gentleman that would rune for the same upon the said\nRood-dee, and upon St. George\u2019s Daye, being thus decreed, that every\nhorse putt in soe much money as made the value of the cupps or bells,\nand had the money, which horses did winne the same, and the use of the\ncupps, till that day twelve month, being in bond to deliver in the cupps\nthat daye, soe also for the cuppe for the ringe, which was yearly\ncontinued accordingly untill the yeare of our Lord 1623; John Brereton,\ninn-holder, being mayor of Chester, he altered the same after this\nmanner and caused the three cupps to be sould, and caused more money to\nbe gathered and added, soe that the intereste thereof woulde make one\nfaire silver cuppe, of the value of \u00a38, as I suppose, it may be more\nworth, and the race to be altered, viz., from beyonde the New-tower a\ngreat distance, and soe to rune five times from that place rownd about\nthe Rood-dee, and he that overcame all the rest the last course, to have\nthe cup freely for ever, then and there delivered, which is continued to\nthis daye. But here I must not omitt the charge, and the solemnitie\nmade, the first St. George\u2019s daye; he had a poet, one Mr. Davies, who\nmade speeches and poeticale verses, which were delivered at the high\ncrosse before the mayor and aldermen, with shewes of his invention,[37]\nwhich booke was imprinted and presented to that famous Prince Henry,\neldest sonne to the blessed King James, of famous memorie. Alsoe, he\ncaused a man to go upon the spire of St. Peter\u2019s steeple in Chester, and\nby the fane, at the same time he sounded a drum, and displayed a baner\nupon the top of the same spire. And this was the original of St.\nGeorge\u2019s race, with the change thereof.\n\n  [37] The following description of this show, written as it appears by\n  Mr. Amorye himself, is copied from some Cheshire collections, among\n  the Harleian MSS. No. 2150, f. 356. It appears that instead of three\n  cups, as stated by Mr. Rogers, the prizes that year were two bells and\n  one cup:\n\n  \u201cThe manner of the showe, that is, if God spare life and health, shall\n  be seene by all the behoulders upon St. George\u2019s Day next, being the\n  23rd April, 1610, and the same with more addytions to continue, being\n  for the kyng\u2019s crowne and dignitie, and the homage to the Kyng and\n  Prynce, with that noble victor St. George, to be continued for\n  ever.--God save the Kyng.\n\n  \u201cItem.--Two men in greene liveries set with worke upon their other\n  habit, with blacke heare, and blacke beards, very ougly to behoulde,\n  and garlands upon their heads, with firworks to scatter abroad, to\n  maintaine way for the rest of the showe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horseback, with the buckler and head-peece of St. George,\n  and three men to guide him, with a drum before him, for the honor of\n  Englande.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, called Fame, with a trumpet in his hand, and\n  three men to guide him, and he to make an oration, with his habit in\n  pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One called Mercury to descend from above in a cloude, his wings\n  and all other matters, in pompe, and heavenly musicke with him; and\n  after his oration spoken, to ryde on horsebacke, with his musicke\n  before hym.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, with the Kynge\u2019s arms upon a shield, in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One called Chester, with an oration, and drums before him, his\n  habit in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, conteening the Kynge\u2019s crowne and dignity,\n  with an oration in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke with a bell, dedicated to the kynge, being\n  double-gilt with the kynge\u2019s armes upon it, carried upon a septer in\n  pompe, and before him a noise of trumpets, in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, with an oration for the Prynce, in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, with a bell, dedicated to the Prynce, his\n  armes upon it, in pompe, and to be carried on a septer, and before the\n  bell, a noyse of trumpets.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, with a cup for St. George, carried upon a\n  septer, in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, with an oration for St. George, in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. St. George himself on horseback, in complete armor, with his stag\n  and buckler, in pompe, and before him a noyse of drums.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, called Peace, with an oration, in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, called Plentye, with an oration, in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horsebacke, called Envy, with an oration, whom Love will\n  comfort, in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. One on horseback, called Love, with an oration to maintaine all,\n  in pompe.\n\n  \u201cIt. The Maior and his bretheren, at the pentes of this citye, with\n  ther best apparell, and in scarlet; and all the orations to be made\n  before him, and seene at the high crosse, as they passe to the Roodye,\n  wher by Gent shall be runne for by thirr horses, for the two bells on\n  a double staffe and the cup to be runne for at the rynge in some place\n  by Gent and with a greater mater of the showe by armes, and shott, and\n  with more than I can recyte, with a banket after in the Pentis to make\n  welcome the Gent; and when all is done, then judge what you have seen,\n  and so speak on your mynd, as you fynd the--\n\n  \u201cActor for the presente\n  \u201cRobert Amorye.\u201d\n\n    \u201cAmor is love, and Amorye is his name,\n    That did begin this pomp and princelye game;\n    The charge is great to him that all begun,\n    Who now is satisfied to see all so well done.\u201d\n\n  Notwithstanding Mr. Amorye had entertained the citizens so well in\n  1610, it was ordered in 1612 \u201cthat the sports and recreations used on\n  St. George\u2019s Day should in future be done by the direction of the\n  Mayor and citizens, and not of any private person.\u201d--_Corporation\n  Records._\n\n\nLEICESTERSHIRE.\n\nAt Leicester, the \u201cRiding of the George\u201d was one of the principal\nsolemnities of the town. The inhabitants were bound to attend the\nMayor, or to \u201cride against the king,\u201d as it is expressed, or for \u201criding\nthe George\u201d or for any other thing to the pleasure of the Mayor and\nworship of the town.\n\nSt. George\u2019s horse, harnessed, used to stand at the end of St. George\u2019s\nChapel, in St. Martin\u2019s Church, Leicester.--Fosbroke, _Dict. of Antiq._\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nSt. George\u2019s Day was at one time celebrated at Dublin with high\nveneration. In the Chain-book of the city of Dublin are several entries\nto that purpose:\n\n\u201cItem 1. It was ordered in maintenance of the pageant of St. George,\nthat the Mayor of the foregoing year should find the Emperor and Empress\nwith their train and followers well apparelled and accoutered, that is\nto say, the Emperor attended with two doctors, and the Empress with two\nknights, and two maidens richly apparelled to bear up the train of her\ngown.\n\n\u201cItem 2. The Mayor for the time being was to find St. George a horse,\nand the wardens to pay 3_s._ 4_d._ for his wages that day. The bailiffs\nfor the time being were to find four horses, with men mounted on them,\nwell apparelled, to bear the pole-axe, the standard, and the several\nswords of the Emperor and St. George.\n\n\u201cItem 3. The elder master of the guild was to find a maiden well attired\nto lead the dragon, and the clerk of the market was to find a golden\nline for the dragon.\n\n\u201cItem 4. The elder warden was to find for St. George four trumpets; but\nSt. George himself was to pay their wages.\n\n\u201cItem 5. The younger warden was obliged to find the King of Dele and the\nQueen of Dele, as also two knights, to lead the Queen of Dele, and two\nmaidens to bear the train of her gown, all being entirely clad in black\napparel. Moreover, he was to cause St. George\u2019s Chapel to be well hung\nin black, and completely apparelled to every purpose, and was to provide\nit with cushions, rushes, and other necessaries for the festivity of\nthat day.\u201d--Harris, _History of Dublin_, 1766, p. 146.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 24.] ST. MARK\u2019S EVE.\n\n\nIn _Poor Robin\u2019s Almanac_ for 1770 is the following:--\n\n    \u201cOn St. Mark\u2019s Eve, at twelve o\u2019clock,\n    The fair maid will watch her smock,\n    To find her husband in the dark,\n    By praying unto good St. Mark.\u201d\n\n\n_Ass-ridlin_ is another superstition practised in the northern counties.\nThe ashes being riddled or sifted on the hearth, if any of the family be\nto die within the year the mark of the shoe, it is supposed, will be\nimpressed on the ashes; and many a mischievous wight has made some of\nthe credulous family miserable by slyly coming down stairs, after the\nrest have retired to bed, and marking the ashes with the shoe of one of\nthe members.--Jamieson, _Etymol. Dict._\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nOn St. Mark\u2019s Eve it is customary in this county for young maidens to\nmake the _dumb-cake_, a mystical ceremony which has lost its origin. The\nnumber of the party never exceeds three; they meet in silence to make\nthe cake, and as soon as the clock strikes twelve, they each break a\nportion off to eat, and when done they walk up to bed backwards without\nspeaking a word, for if one speaks the spell is broken. Those that are\nto be married see the likeness of their sweethearts hurrying after them,\nas if wishing to catch them before they get into bed; but the maids\nbeing apprised of this beforehand (by the cautions of old women who have\ntried it), take care to unpin their clothes before they start, and are\nready to slip into bed before they are caught by the pursuing shadow. If\nnothing is seen, the desired token may be a knocking at the doors, or a\nrustling in the house, as soon as they have retired. To be convinced\nthat it comes from nothing else but the desired cause, they are always\nparticular in turning out the cats and dogs before the ceremony begins.\nThose that are to die unmarried neither see nor hear anything; but they\nhave terrible dreams, which are sure to be of newly-made graves,\nwinding-sheets, and churchyards, and of rings that will fit no finger,\nor which, if they do, crumble into dust as soon as put on. There is\nanother dumb ceremony, of eating the yolk of an egg in silence and then\nfilling the shell with salt, when the sweetheart is sure to make his\nvisit in some way or other before morning.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p.\n523.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nIn Yorkshire it is usual for the common people to sit and watch in the\nchurch-porch from eleven o\u2019clock at night until one in the morning. In\nthe third year, for this must be done thrice, it is supposed that they\nwill see the ghosts of all those who are to die the next year pass into\nthe church. When any one sickens, who is thought to have been seen in\nthis manner, it is presently whispered about that he will not recover,\nfor that such a one who has watched St. Mark\u2019s Eve, says so. The\nsuperstition is in such force that, if the patients themselves hear of\nit, they almost despair of recovery, and many are actually said to have\ndied by the influence of their imaginations on this occasion.\n\n    \u201c\u2018\u2019Tis now,\u2019 replied the village belle,\n      \u2018St. Mark\u2019s mysterious Eve;\n    And all that old traditions tell\n      I tremblingly believe.\n\n    \u2018How, when the midnight signal tolls,\n      Along the churchyard green\n    A mournful train of sentenced souls\n      In winding-sheets are seen!\n\n    \u2018The ghosts of all whom Death shall doom\n      Within the coming year,\n    In pale procession walk the gloom\n      Amid the silence drear.\u2019\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1819, vol. i. p. 192; J. Montgomery, _Vigil of\n  St. Mark_.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 25.] ST. MARK\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThis day is distinguished in old kalendars by a second appellation,\n_Litania Major_, which had reference to the prayers, and solemn\nprocessions of covered crosses on this day. It was frequently\nconfounded with the processions of the Rogations, which depended upon\nthe movable feast of the Ascension, and were also called Litanies,\nthough it does not appear that the processions of St. Mark were ever\ncalled Rogations. A mistake of this kind was committed by the author of\na Saxon homily on the Litania Major, by applying to it the term Gang\nDays, the Saxon name of the three days preceding Holy Thursday.--_Med.\n\u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 219.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nSt. Mark\u2019s Day is observed at Alnwick by a ridiculous custom in\nconnection with the admission of freemen of the common, alleged to have\nreference to a visit paid by King John to Alnwick. It is said that this\nmonarch, when attempting to ride across Alnwick Moor, then called the\nForest of Aidon, fell with his horse into a bog or morass where he stuck\nso fast that he was with great difficulty pulled out by some of his\nattendants. Incensed against the inhabitants of that town for not\nkeeping the roads over the moor in better repair, or at least for not\nplacing some post or mark pointing out the particular spots which were\nimpassable, he inserted in their charter, both by way of memento and\npunishment, that for the future all new created freemen should on St.\nMark\u2019s Day pass on foot through that morass, called the Freemen\u2019s Well.\nIn obedience to this clause of their charter, when any new freeman is to\nbe made, a small rill of water which passes through the morass is kept\ndammed up for a day or two previous to that on which this ceremonial is\nto be exhibited, by which means the bog becomes so thoroughly liquified\nthat a middle sized man is chin deep in mud and water in passing over\nit. Besides which, not unfrequently, holes and trenches are dug; in\nthese, filled up and rendered invisible by the liquid mud, several\nfreemen have fallen down and been in great danger of suffocation. In\nlater times, in proportion as the new-made freemen are more or less\npopular the passage is rendered more or less difficult.\n\nEarly in the morning of St. Mark\u2019s Day the houses of the new freemen are\ndistinguished by a holly-tree planted before each door, as the signal\nfor their friends to assemble and make merry with them. About eight\no\u2019clock the candidates for the franchise, being mounted on horseback and\narmed with swords, assemble in the market place, where they are joined\nby the chamberlain and bailiff of the Duke of Northumberland, attended\nby two men armed with halberds. The young freemen arranged in order,\nwith music playing before them and accompanied by a numerous cavalcade,\nmarch to the west end of the town, where they deliver their swords. They\nthen proceed under the guidance of the moorgrieves through a part of\ntheir extensive domain, till they reach the ceremonial well. The sons of\nthe oldest freemen have the honour of taking the first leap. On the\nsignal being given they pass through the bog, each being allowed to use\nthe method and pace which to him shall seem best, some running, some\ngoing slow, and some attempting to jump over suspected places, but all\nin their turns tumbling and wallowing like porpoises at sea, to the\ngreat amusement of the populace, who usually assemble in vast numbers on\nthis occasion. After this aquatic excursion, they remount their horses\nand proceed to perambulate the remainder of their large common, of which\nthey are to become free by their achievement. In passing the open part\nof the common the young freemen are obliged to alight at intervals, and\nplace a stone on a cairn as a mark of their boundary, till they come\nnear a high hill called the Twinlaw or Tounlaw Cairns, when they set off\nat full speed, and contest the honour of arriving first on the hill,\nwhere the names of the freemen of Alnwick are called over. When arrived\nabout two miles from the town they generally arrange themselves in order\nand, to prove their equestrian abilities, set off with great speed and\nspirit over bogs, ditches, rocks, and rugged declivities till they\narrive at Rottenrow Tower on the confines of the town, the foremost\nclaiming the honour of what is termed \u201cwinning the boundaries,\u201d and of\nbeing entitled to the temporary triumphs of the day. Having completed\nthe circuits the young freemen, with sword in hand, enter the town in\ntriumph,[38] preceded by music, and accompanied by a large concourse of\npeople in carriages, &c. Having paraded the streets, the new freemen and\nthe other equestrians enter the Castle, where they are liberally\nregaled, and drink the health of the lord and lady of the manor. The\nnewly-created burgesses then proceed in a body to their respective\nhouses, and around the holly-tree drink a friendly glass with each\nother. After this they proceed to the market-place, where they close the\nceremony over an enlivening bowl of punch.--_Antiquarian Repertory_,\n1809, vol. iv. p. 387; _History of Alnwick_, 1822, pp. 304-309; _Gent.\nMag._, 1756, vol. xxvi. p. 73.\n\n  [38] It appears by a traditionary account that at one time they were\n  met by women dressed up with ribbons, bells, and garlands of\n  gumflowers, who welcomed them with dancing and singing; they were\n  called _timber-waits_, probably a corruption of _timbrel-waits_,\n  players on timbrels, waits being an old appellation for those who play\n  on musical instruments in the street.\n\nIn the _Lonsdale Magazine_ (1828, vol. iii. p. 312) occurs the\nfollowing: On Wednesday (St. Mark\u2019s Day) twelve persons were made free\nof the Borough of Alnwick, by scrambling through a muddy pool, and\nperambulating the boundaries of the moor.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt the fairs held in Wednesbury on the 25th of April and 23rd of July\n(old style) a custom prevailed for many years called \u201cWalking the Fair.\u201d\nThe ceremonies connected with it were conducted in the following manner:\nOn the morning of the fair the beadle appeared in the market-place\ndressed for the occasion, and wearing as badges of his office a bell, a\nlong pike, &c. To him assembled a number of the principal inhabitants of\nthe parish, often with a band of music. They then marched in procession,\nheaded by the beadle, through different parts of the town; called at the\nElephant and Castle, in the High Bullen, drank two tankards of ale, and\nthen returned into the market-place where they quenched their thirst\nagain with the same kind of beverage. After this they dined together at\none of the public-houses. The expenses incurred in this \u201cWalking the\nFair\u201d were defrayed by the parish funds.--_Hist. of Wednesbury_, 1854,\np. 153.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 26.] ROGATION SUNDAY.\n\n\nRogation Sunday received and retains its title from the Monday, Tuesday,\nand Wednesday immediately following it, which are called _Rogation\nDays_, derived from the Latin _rogare_, to beseech; the earliest\nChristians having appropriated extraordinary prayers and supplications\nfor those three days, as a preparation for the devout observance of our\nSaviour\u2019s Ascension on the day next succeeding to them, denominated Holy\nThursday, or Ascension Day.\n\nSo early as the year 550, Claudius Mamertus, bishop of Vienne in France,\nextended the object of Rogation Days, before then solely applied to a\npreparation for the ensuing festival of the Ascension, by joining to\nthat service other solemnities, in humble supplication for a blessing on\nthe fruits of the earth at this season blossoming forth. Whether, as is\nasserted by some authors, Mamertus had cause to apprehend that any\ncalamity might befall them by blight or otherwise at this particular\nperiod, or merely adapted a new Christian rite on the Roman\n_terminalia_, is a matter of dispute. Sidonius, bishop of Clermont, soon\nfollowed the example, and the first Council of Orleans, held in the\nsixth century, confirmed its observance throughout the Church. The whole\nweek in which these days happen is styled Rogation Week; and in some\nparts it is still known by the other names of Cross Week, Grass Week,\nand Gang or Procession Week: Rogation, in token of the extraordinary\npraying; Cross, because anciently that symbol was borne by the priest\nwho officiated at the ceremonies of this season; Grass, from the\npeculiar abstinence observed, such as salads, green-sauce, &c., then\nsubstituted for flesh; and Gang, or Procession, from the accustomed\nperambulations. Supplications and abstinence are yet enjoined by the\nReformed Church, and also such part of the ceremony of the processions\nas relates to the perambulating of the circuit of parishes, conformably\nto the regulation made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. One of our\nchurch homilies of the day is composed particularly for this occasion.\n\u201cThe people shall once a year, at the time accustomed,\u201d says the\ninjunction of that Sovereign, \u201cwith the curate and substantial men of\nthe parish, walk about the parishes as they were accustomed, and at\ntheir return to church make their common prayers; provided that the\ncurate in the said common perambulations, as heretofore in the days of\nRogations, at certain convenient places, shall admonish the people to\ngive thanks to God, in the beholding of God\u2019s benefits, for the increase\nand abundance of his fruits upon the face of the earth, with the saying\nof Psalm civ., _Benedic, anima mea_, &c.: at which time also the same\nminister shall inculcate this and such like sentences, \u201cCursed be he\nwhich translateth the bounds and dales of his neighbour,\u201d or such other\nwords of prayer as shall be hereafter appointed.\u201d The bearing of willow\nwands makes part of this ceremony.\n\nBefore the Reformation, the processions in this week were observed with\nevery external mark of devotion; the Cross was borne about in solemn\npomp, to which the people bowed the ready knee; with other rites\nconsidered of too superstitious a nature to warrant their\ncontinuance.--Brady, _Clavis Calendaria_, 1815, vol. i. p. 348.\n\n\nBEDFORDSHIRE.\n\nA certain estate in Husborne Crawley has to pay 4_l._ on Rogation Day,\nonce in seven years, to defray the expenses of perambulating, and\nkeeping up the boundaries of the parish.--_Old English Customs and\nCharities_, p. 116.\n\n\nDORSETSHIRE.\n\nOn Monday in Rogation week was formerly held in the town of Shaftesbury\nor Shaston a festival called the Bezant, a festival so ancient that no\nauthentic record of its origin exists.\n\nThe borough of Shaftesbury stands upon the brow of a lofty hill, and\nuntil lately, owing to its situation, was so deficient in water that its\ninhabitants were indebted for a supply of this necessary article of life\nto the little hamlet of Enmore Green, which lies in the valley below.\nFrom two or three wells or tanks, situate in the village, the water\nwith which the town was provided was carried up the then precipitous\nroad, on the backs of horses and donkeys, and sold from door to door.\n\nThe Bezant was an acknowledgment on the part of the mayor, aldermen and\nburgesses of the borough to the lord of the manor of Mitcombe, of which\nEnmore Green forms a part, for the permission to use this privilege; no\ncharter or deed, however, exists among their archives, as to the\ncommencement of the custom, neither are there any records of interest\nconnected with its observances beyond the details of the expenses\nincurred from year to year. On the morning of Rogation Monday, the mayor\nand aldermen accompanied by a lord and lady appointed for the occasion,\nand by their mace-bearers carrying _the Bezant_, went in procession to\nEnmore Green. The lord and lady performed at intervals, as they passed\nalong a traditional kind of dance to the sound of violins; the steward\nof the manor meeting them at the green, the mayor offered for his\nacceptance, as the representative of his lord, _the Bezant_,--a calf\u2019s\nhead, uncooked,--a gallon of ale, and two penny loaves, with a pair of\ngloves edged with gold lace, and gave permission to use the wells, as of\nold, for another year. The steward, having accepted the gifts, retaining\nall for his own use, except the Bezant, which he graciously gave back,\naccorded the privilege, and the ceremony ended.\n\nThe Bezant, which gives its name to the festival is somewhat difficult\nto describe.[39] It consisted of a sort of trophy, constructed of\nribbons, flowers, and peacock\u2019s feathers, fastened to a frame, about\nfour feet high, round which were hung jewels, coins, medals, and other\nthings of more or less value, lent for the purpose by persons interested\nin the matter;[40] and many traditions prevailed of the exceeding value\nto which in earlier times it sometimes reached, and of the active part\nwhich persons of the highest rank in the neighbourhood took in its\nannual celebration.\n\n  [39] Bezant being the name of an ancient gold coin, the ceremony\n  probably took its name from such a piece of money being originally\n  tendered to the lord of the manor.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 585.\n\n  [40] Hutchins says this _beson_ or _byzant_ was so richly adorned with\n  plate and jewels, borrowed from the neighbouring gentry, as to be\n  worth no less than 1500_l._--_History of Dorset_, 1803, vol. ii. p.\n  425.\n\nLatterly, however, the festival sadly degenerated, and in the year 1830,\nthe town and the manor passing into the hands of the same proprietor, it\nceased altogether, and is now one of those many observances which are\nnumbered with the past. If this had not happened, however, the necessity\nfor it no longer exists. The ancient borough is no longer indebted to\nthe lord of the manor for its water, for, through the liberality of the\nMarquis of Westminster, its present owner, the town is bountifully\nsupplied with the purest water from an artesian well sunk at his\nexpense.--_The Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 585; Hutchins, _History of\nDorset_, 1803, vol. ii. p. 425.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nIn Rogation week, about Keston and Wickham, a number of young men meet\ntogether and with a most hideous noise run into the orchards, and,\nencircling each tree, pronounce these words:\n\n    \u201cStand fast, root; bear well top;\n    God send us a youling sop!\n    Every twig, apple big;\n    Every bough, apple enow.\u201d\n\nFor this incantation the confused rabble expect a gratuity in money, or\ndrink, which is no less welcome; but if they are disappointed of both,\nthey with great solemnity anathematize the owners and trees with\naltogether as insignificant a curse. It seems highly probable that this\ncustom has arisen from the ancient one of perambulation among the\nheathen, when they made prayers to the gods for the use and blessing of\nthe fruits coming up, with thanksgiving for those of the preceding year;\nand as the heathens supplicated \u00c6olus, god of the winds, for his\nfavourable blasts, so in this custom they still retained his name with a\nvery small variation: this ceremony is called _youling_, and the word is\noften used in their invocations.--Hasted, _History of Kent_, vol. i. p.\n109.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Stanlake, says Plot, the minister of the parish, in his procession in\nRogation Week, reads the Gospel at a barrel\u2019s head, in the cellar of the\nChequer Inn, in that town, where, according to some, there was formerly\na hermitage, according to others a cross, at which they read a Gospel in\nformer times; over which the house, and particularly the cellar, being\nbuilt, they are forced to continue the custom.--_History of\nOxfordshire_, 1705, p. 207.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nAmong the local customs which formerly prevailed at Wolverhampton may be\nnoticed that which was popularly called \u201cProcessioning.\u201d Many of the\nolder inhabitants can well remember when the sacrist, resident\nprebendaries, and members of the choir assembled at morning prayers on\nMonday and Tuesday in Rogation Week, with the charity children bearing\nlong poles clothed with all kinds of flowers then in season, and which\nwere afterwards carried through the streets of the town with much\nsolemnity, the clergy, singing-men and boys, dressed in their sacred\nvestments, closing the procession, and chanting, in a grave and\nappropriate melody, the Canticle, _Benedicite, omnia opera_, &c. This\nceremony, innocent at least, and not illaudable in itself, was of high\nantiquity, taking probably its origin in the Roman offerings of the\nPrimiti\u00e6, from which (after being rendered conformable to our purer\nworship) it was adapted by the first Christians, and handed down,\nthrough a succession of ages, to modern times. The idea was, no doubt,\nthat of returning thanks to God, by whose goodness the face of nature\nwas renovated, and fresh means provided for the sustenance and comfort\nof his creatures. It was discontinued about 1765.\n\nThe boundaries of the township and parish of Wolverhampton are in many\npoints marked out by what are called _Gospel trees_, from the custom of\nhaving the Gospel read under or near them by the clergyman attending the\nparochial perambulations. Those near the town were visited for the same\npurpose by the _processioners_ before mentioned, and are still preserved\nwith the strictest care and attention.--Shaw, _History of\nStaffordshire_, vol. ii. part i. p. 165.\n\nThus Herrick in his _Hesperides_ says:--\n\n                      \u201cDearest, bury me\n    Under that Holy-Oke, or Gospel-Tree,\n    Where (though thou seest not) thou may\u2019st think upon\n    Me, when thou yerely go\u2019st procession.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 29.] ASCENSION EVE.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nThe following extract is taken from the _Whitby Gazette_ of May 28th\n1870:--\n\nTHE PENNY HEDGE.--The formality of planting the penny hedge in the bed\nof the River Esk, on Ascension Eve, was performed on Wednesday last by\nMr. Isaac Herbert, who has for fifty years discharged this _onerous_\nduty. The \u201cnine stakes,\u201d \u201cthe nine strout-stowers,\u201d and the \u201cnine\ngedders\u201d have all been once more duly \u201cplanted.\u201d The ceremony was\nwitnessed by a number of ladies and gentlemen, and that highly important\nfunctionary, the bailiff of the lord of the manor, Mr. George Welburn,\nof Fylingdales, was present, and blew the usual malediction, \u201cOut on\nyou! Out on you! Out on you!\u201d through the same identical horn which\nseventeen centuries ago roused with its lugubrious notes, on Ascension\nEve, our ancestors from their peaceful slumbers. Whether the wood was\ncut at the \u201cstray head,\u201d and with a \u201cknife of a penny price,\u201d we are not\nable to say, but a good hedge was planted; and although each stake may\nnot be quite \u201ca yard from another,\u201d the hedge will doubtless be of such\nstrength as to withstand the effect of the prescribed number of\ntides.--See Young\u2019s _History of Whitby_.\n\nSome time in the spring, says a writer in the _Gent. Mag._ (1790, vol.\nlx. p. 719), I think the day before Holy Thursday, all the Clergy,\nattended by the singing men and boys of the choir, perambulate the town\n(Ripon) in their canonicals, singing hymns, and the blue-coat\ncharity-boys follow singing, with green boughs in their hands.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL 30.] ASCENSION DAY.\n\n\nIn England Ascension Day has been known as \u201cBounds Thursday,\u201d from\nbeating the bounds of the parish, transferred by a corruption of\nRogation processions to this day.--_Kalendar of English Church_, 1865,\np. 72.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIn the parish of Edgcott there was about an acre of land, let at 3_l._ a\nyear, called \u201cGang Monday land,\u201d which was left to the parish officers\nto provide cakes and beer for those who took part in the annual\nperambulation of the parish.\n\nAt Clifton Reynes, in the same county, a bequest of land for a similar\npurpose directs that one small loaf, a piece of cheese, and a pint of\nale should be given to every married person, and half a pint of ale to\nevery unmarried person resident in Clifton, when they walked the parish\nboundaries in Rogation Week.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, pp.\n120, 122.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nPennant, in his _Tour from Chester to London_ (1811, p. 40), tells us\nthat on Ascension Day the old inhabitants of Nantwich piously sang a\nhymn of thanksgiving for the blessing of the Brine. A very ancient pit,\ncalled the Old Brine, was also held in great veneration, and till within\nthese few years was annually on this festival decked with flowers and\ngarlands, and was encircled by a jovial band of young people,\ncelebrating the day with song and dance. Aubrey (in _MS. Lansd._ 231)\nsays, in Cheshire, when they went in perambulation, they did blesse the\nsprings, i.e. they did read a gospel at them, and did believe the water\nwas the better.\n\nFormerly there existed at Frodsham the following custom:--In the\nwalking of the boundaries of the parish the \u201cmen of Frodsham\u201d passed,\nacross the brook dividing it from Helsby (then in the adjoining parish\nof Durham), the Frodsham banner to the \u201cmen of Helsby,\u201d who in their\nturn passed over the Helsby banner.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nOne of the prettiest customs of the county of Derby is that of\nwell-dressing on Holy Thursday or Ascension Day at Tissington, near\nDovedale. In the village are five springs or wells, and these are\ndecorated with flowers, arranged in the most beautiful devices. Boards\nare cut into arches, pediments, pinnacles, and other ornamental forms,\nand are covered with moist clay to the thickness of about half-an-inch;\nthe flowers are cut off their stems and impressed into the clay as\nclosely together as possible, forming mottoes, borders, and other\ndevices; these are then placed over the wells, and it is impossible to\nconceive a more beautiful appearance than they present, the water\ngurgling from beneath them, and overhung by the fine foliage of the\nnumerous evergreens and forest trees by which they are surrounded. There\nis one particular variety of the double daisy known to gardeners as the\nTissington daisy, which appears almost peculiar to the place, and is in\nmuch repute for forming the letters of the texts and mottoes, with which\nthe wells are adorned. The day is observed as a complete holiday, and\nthe festival attracts a considerable number of visitors from all the\nneighbouring towns and villages. Divine Service is performed in the\nChurch, and on its conclusion the minister and congregation join in\nprocession and visit each well. A portion of Scripture is read at each,\nand a psalm or appropriate hymn is sung. The whole of the wells being\nvisited, and a prayer offered up, the company separate and, from the\nabsence of public-houses in the village, spend the rest of the day in\ntemperate enjoyment. The same custom was observed at Brewood and\nBilbrook, in the County of Stafford.--_Gent. Mag._ 1794, lxiv. pp. 115,\n226; _Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii p. 205; vide _Times_,\nMay 19th, 1874.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nA correspondent of the _Gent. Mag._ (1787, vol. lvii, p. 718), says: It\nis the custom in many villages in the neighbourhood of Exeter \u201cto hail\nthe Lamb,\u201d upon Ascension morn. That the figure of a lamb actually\nappears in the east upon this morning is the popular persuasion; and so\ndeeply is it rooted, that it has frequently resisted (even in\nintelligent minds) the force of the strongest argument.\n\nAt Exeter, says Heath in his _Account of the Islands of Scilly_ (1750,\np. 128), the boys have a custom of throwing water, that is, of damming\nup the channel in the streets, at going the bounds of the several\nparishes in the city, and of splashing the water upon the people passing\nby. Neighbours as well as strangers, are forced to compound hostilities\nby giving the boys of each parish money to pass without ducking; each\nparish asserting its own prerogative in this respect.\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nThe _Oyster Fishery_ has always formed a valuable part of the privileges\nand trading property of the town of Colchester. Richard I. granted to\nthe burgesses the fishery of the River Colne, from the North Bridge as\nfar as Westnesse; and this grant was confirmed to them by subsequent\ncharters, especially that of Edward IV. This fishery includes not merely\nthe plain course of the Colne, but all the creeks, &c., with which it\ncommunicates: that is to say, the entire _Colne Water_, as it is\ncommonly called. It is, moreover, proved by records that the burgesses\nof Colchester are legally entitled to the sole right of fishing in this\nwater, to the exclusion of all others not licensed and authorized by\nthem; \u201cand have, and ever had, the full, sole, and absolute power to\nhave, take, and dispose of to their own use, all oysters and other fish\nwithin the said river or water.\u201d There are some parishes adjoining the\nwater whose inhabitants are admitted, upon licence from the mayor, to\nfish and dredge oysters therein, these parishes being Brightlingsea,\nWivenhoe, and East Doniland. For the better preservation of this\nprivilege Courts of Admiralty or Conservancy have been customarily held\non Colne Water; at which all offences committed within the limits of the\naquatic royalty are presented by a jury, and fines exacted on the\noffenders. In March or April yearly, proclamation is made by the legal\nauthorities on the water near Mersea Stone, \u201cthat the River Colne is\nshut, and that all persons are forbidden to dredge, or take any oysters\nout of the said river or the creeks thereto appertaining before the\nfeast of St. Mary Magdalen, the 22nd of July.\u201d This is called _Setting_\n(i.e. Shutting) the Colne.--Cromwell, _History of Colchester_, 1825, pp.\n289-294.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nUnder the name of Richardson\u2019s Charity, a distribution takes place at\nInce on the feast of the Ascension, of five loads of oatmeal, each load\nweighing two hundred and forty pounds. Three loads are given to the poor\nof the township of Ince, one to the poor of Abram, and the other to the\npoor of Hindley.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 36.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nIn St. Magnus and other city churches in London, the clergy are\npresented with ribbons, cakes, and silk staylaces.--_N. & Q. 1st S._\nvol. ix. p. 9.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nIt is customary to go in triennial processions on Holy Thursday, to\nperambulate the parishes and beat the boundaries, for the purpose of\nmarking and retaining _possession_; hence the ceremony is called\n_possessioning_. The parochial authorities are accompanied by other\ninhabitants and a number of boys, to whom it is customary to distribute\nbuns, &c., in order to impress it upon their memory should the\nboundaries at any future period be disputed.--Baker, _Glossary of\nNorthamptonshire Words and Phrases_, vol. ii. p. 131.\n\nIn the town of Northampton the ceremony of beating the bounds is termed\n\u201cbeating the cross.\u201d\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nOn Ascension Day, says Mackenzie in his _History of Newcastle_ (1827,\nvol. ii. p. 744), every year the mayor and burgesses of Newcastle survey\nthe boundaries of the River Tyne. This annual festive expedition starts\nat the Mansion-House Quay, and proceeds to or near the place in the sea\ncalled Sparhawk, and returns up the river to the utmost limits of the\nCorporation at Hedivin Streams. They are accompanied by the brethren of\nthe Trinity House and the River Jury in their barges.\n\nBrockett mentions the _smock-race_ on Ascension Day, a race run by\nfemales for a smock. These races were frequent among the young country\nwenches in the north. The prize, a fine Holland chemise, was usually\ndecorated with ribbons. The sport is practised at Newburn, near\nNewcastle.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 210.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIn Rogation week the bounds of many of the parishes are still beaten\nwith as much pomp by the beadle as ever; and it is believed that if an\negg which is laid on Ascension Day be placed in the roof of a house, the\nbuilding will be preserved from fire and other calamities.--_Jour. of\nArch. Assoc._, 1853, vol. viii. p. 233.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Oxford the little crosses cut in the stones of buildings to denote\nthe division of the parishes are whitened with chalk. Great numbers of\nboys, with peeled willow rods in their hands, accompany the minister in\nthe procession.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 200.\n\nAubrey, in his _Remains of Gentilism and Judaism_, says: \u201cThe fellows of\nNew College have, time out of mind, every Holy Thursday, betwixt the\nhours of eight and nine, goune to the hospital called Bart\u2019lemews neer\nOxford, when they retire into the chapell, and certaine prayers are\nread, and an antheme sung, from thence they goe to the upper end of the\ngrove adjoining to the chapell (the way being before them strewed with\nflowers by the poor people of the hospitall), they place themselves\nround about the spring there, where they warble forth melodiously a song\nof three, four, or five parts; which being performed they refresh\nthemselves with a morning\u2019s draught there, and retire to Oxford before\nsermon.\u201d\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nFormerly, at Lichfield, the clergyman of the parish, accompanied by the\nchurchwardens and sidesmen and followed by a concourse of children\nbearing green boughs, repaired to different reservoirs of water and\nthere read the gospel for the day, after which they were regaled with\ncakes and ale; during the ceremony the door of every house was decorated\nwith an elm bough. This custom was founded on one of the early\ninstitutions of Christianity, that of blessing the springs and\nwells.--_Account of Lichfield_, 1818-19, p. 133.\n\n\nSUFFOLK.\n\nBy his will, proved in December 1527, John Cole of Thelnetham, directed\nthat a certain farm-rent should be applied yearly to the purpose of\nproviding \u201ca bushell and halffe of malte to be browne, and a bushell of\nwhete to be baked to _fynde a drinkinge upon Ascension Even everlastinge\nfor ye parishe of Thelnetham to drinke at the Cross of Trappetes_.\u201d\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nAt Evesham it is customary for the master-gardeners to give their\nwork-people a treat of baked peas, both white and grey (and pork), every\nyear on Holy Thursday.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 208.\n\n\n\n\nMAY EVE.\n\n\nAn old Roman kalendar, cited by Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p.\n216), says that on the 30th of April boys go to seek the May-trees\n(Maii arbores a pueris exquiruntur), and in Dryden\u2019s time this early\nobservance of May seems to have been customary; one of his heroines\n\n    \u201cWak\u2019d, as her custom was, before the day,\n    To do th\u2019 observaunce due to sprightly May;\n    For sprightly May commands our youth to keep\n    The vigils of her night, and breaks their rugged sleep.\u201d--\n\n  _Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 229.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nAt Penzance a number of young men and women assemble together at a\npublic-house, and sit up till the clock strikes twelve, when they go\nround the town with violins, drums, and other instruments, and by sound\nof music call upon others to join them. As soon as the party is formed,\nthey proceed to different farm-houses within four or five miles of the\nneighbourhood, where they are expected as regularly as May morning\ncomes; and they there partake of a beverage called junket, made of raw\nmilk and rennet, or running, as it is called, sweetened with sugar, and\na little cream added. After this they take tea, and \u201cheavy country\ncake,\u201d composed of flour, cream, sugar, and currants, then partake of\nrum and milk, and conclude with a dance. After thus regaling themselves\nthey gather the May. While some are breaking down the boughs, others sit\nand make the \u201cMay-music.\u201d This is done by cutting a circle through the\nbark at a certain distance from the bottom of the May branches; then, by\ngently and regularly tapping the bark all round from the cut circle to\nthe end, the bark becomes loosened, and slips away whole from the wood,\nand a hole being cut in the pipe, it is easily formed to emit a sound\nwhen blown through and becomes a whistle. The gathering and the\n\u201cMay-music\u201d being finished, they then \u201cbring home the May\u201d by five or\nsix o\u2019clock in the morning, with the band playing and their whistles\nblowing. After dancing throughout the town they go to their respective\nemployments. Although May-day should fall on a Sunday, they observe the\nsame practice in all respects, with the omission of dancing in the\ntown.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 561.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nOn the last day of April, the proprietor of every flower-garden in the\nneighbourhood of Torquay receives visits from a great number of girls,\nwho solicit \u201csome flowers for the May-dolls.\u201d This is usually complied\nwith, and at no great cost, as flowers are commonly very abundant. Soon\nafter nine o\u2019clock on May-day, or the day following when that falls on\nSunday, the same young folk call at every house, and stop everyone they\nmeet, to show their May-dolls, collecting, at the same time, such small\ngratuities as may be offered.--_Once a Week_, Sept. 24th, 1870.\n\n\nHUNTINGDONSHIRE.\n\nAt Great Gransden on the evening or night preceding May-day, the young\nmen (farmers\u2019 servants) go and cut the May or hawthorn boughs, which\nthey bring home in bundles, and leave some at almost every house,\naccording to the numbers of young persons in it, singing what they call\n_The Night Song_. On the evening of May-day, and the following evenings,\nthey go round to every house where they left a bough, and sing the _May\nSong_. One is dressed with a shirt over his other clothes, and decorated\nwith ribbons, and is called the _May Lord_, another in girls\u2019 clothes,\nis called the _May Lady_, or _Mary_. One has a handkerchief on a pole or\nstick as a flag, whose business is to keep off the crowd. The rest have\nribbons in their hats. The money collected is spent in a feast of\nplum cake, bread and cheese, and tea.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nThe evening before May-day is termed \u201cMischief Night\u201d by the young\npeople of Burnley and the surrounding district, when all kinds of\nmischief are perpetrated. Formerly shop-keepers\u2019 sign-boards were\nexchanged: \u201cJohn Smith, Grocer,\u201d finding his name and vocation changed,\nby the sign over his door, to \u201cThomas Jones, Tailor,\u201d and _vice vers\u00e2_;\nbut the police have put an end to these practical jokes. Young men and\nwomen, however, still continue to play each other tricks by placing\nbranches of trees, shrubs, or flowers under each others\u2019 windows, or\nbefore their doors. All these have a symbolical meaning, as\nsignificant, if not always as complimentary, as \u201cthe Language of\nFlowers.\u201d Thus \u201ca thorn\u201d implies \u201cscorn;\u201d \u201cwicken\u201d (the mountain ash),\n\u201cmy dear chicken;\u201d \u201ca bramble,\u201d for one who likes to ramble, &c. Much\nill-feeling is at times engendered by this custom.--Harland and\nWilkinson, _Lancashire Folk Lore_, 1867, p. 239; see _N. & Q. 1st S._\nvol. v. p. 580; _4th S._ vol. vii. p. 525.\n\nWhile reading one evening towards the close of April 1861, says a writer\nin the _Book of Days_ (vol. i. p. 546), I was on a sudden aware of a\nparty of waits or carollers who had taken their stand on the lawn in my\ngarden,[41] and were serenading the family with a song. There were four\nsingers, accompanied by a flute and a clarionet, and together they\ndiscoursed most simple and rustic music. I was at a loss to divine the\noccasion of this loyal custom, seeing the time was not within any of the\ngreat festivals, Easter, May-day, or Whitsuntide. Inquiry resulted in my\nobtaining from an old \u201cMayer\u201d the words of two songs, called by the\nsingers themselves \u201cMay Songs,\u201d though the rule and custom are that they\n_must_ be sung before the 1st of May. My chief informant, an elderly man\nnamed Job Knight, tells me that he went out a May-singing for about\nfourteen years, but has now left it off. He says that the Mayers usually\ncommence their singing-rounds about the middle of April, though some\nparties start as early as the beginning of that month. The singing\ninvariably ceases on the evening of the 30th of April. Job says he can\nremember the custom for about thirty years, and he never heard any other\nthan the two songs which follow. These are usually sung, he says, by\nfive or six men, with a fiddle or flute and clarionet accompaniment. The\nsongs are verbally as recited by Job Knight, the first of which leaves\nmarks of some antiquity, both in construction and phraseology. There is\nits double refrain--the second and fourth lines in every stanza--which\nboth musically and poetically are far superior to the others. Its quaint\npicture of manners, the worshipful master of the house in his chain of\ngold, the mistress with gold along her breast, &c., the phrases \u201chouse\nand harbour,\u201d \u201criches and store,\u201d--all seem to point to earlier times.\nThe last line of this song appears to convey its object and to indicate\na simple superstition that these songs were charms to draw or drive\n\u201cthese cold winters away.\u201d There are several lines in both songs, in\nwhich the sense, no less than the rhythm, seems to have been marred from\nthe songs having been handed down by oral tradition alone, but I have\nnot ventured on any alteration.\n\n    [41] In the hamlet of Swinton, township of Worsley, parish of\n    Eccles.\n\nIn the second, and more modern, song, the refrain in the fourth line of\neach stanza is again the most poetical and musical of the whole.\n\nOLD MAY SONG.\n\n    All in this pleasant evening, together comers (? come are) we,\n      For the summer springs so fresh, green, and gay;\n    We\u2019ll tell you of a blossom and buds on every tree,\n      Drawing near to the merry month of May.\n\n    Rise up, the master of this house, put on your chain of gold,\n      For the summer springs so fresh, green, and gay;\n    We hope you\u2019re not offended, (with) your house we make so bold,\n      Drawing near to the merry month of May.\n\n    Rise up, the mistress of this house, with gold along your breast,\n      For the summer springs so fresh, green, and gay;\n    And if your body be asleep, we hope your soul\u2019s at rest,\n      Drawing near to the merry month of May.\n\n    Rise up, the children of this house, all in your rich attire,\n      For the summer springs so fresh, green, and gay;\n    For every hair upon your head(s) shines like the silver wire,\n      Drawing near to the merry month of May.\n\n    God bless this house and harbour, your riches and your store,\n      For the summer springs so fresh, green, and gay;\n    We hope the Lord will prosper you, both now and evermore,\n      Drawing near to the merry month of May.\n\n    So now we\u2019re going to leave you, in peace and plenty here,\n      For the summer springs so fresh, green, and gay;\n    We shall not sing you May again until another year,\n      For to draw you these cold winters away.\n\nNEW MAY SONG.\n\n    Come listen awhile to what we shall say,\n    Concerning the season, the month we call May;\n    For the flowers they are springing, and the birds they do sing,\n    And the baziers[42] are sweet in the morning of May.\n\n    When the trees are in bloom, and the meadows are green,\n    The sweet-smelling cowslips are plain to be seen;\n    The sweet ties of nature, which we plainly do see,\n    For the baziers are sweet in the morning of May.\n\n    All creatures are deem\u2019d, in their station below,\n    Such comforts of love on each other bestow;\n    Our flocks they\u2019re all folded, and young lambs sweetly do play,\n    And the baziers are sweet in the morning of May.\n\n    So now to conclude with much freedom and love,\n    The sweetest of blessings proceeds from above;\n    Let us join in our song that right happy may we be,\n    For we\u2019ll bless with contentment in the morning of May.\u201d[43]\n\n  [42] The _bazier_ is the name given in this part of Lancashire to the\n  auricula, which is usually in full bloom in April.\n\n  [43] The Cheshire May-song is very similar to this.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nOliver in his _Monumental Antiquities of Great Grimsby_ (1825, p. 39),\nspeaking of Holm Hill and Abbey Hill, two of the seven hills on which\nthe British town of Grym-by was situated, says they were united by an\nartificial bank, called the _Ket Bank_, in connection with which he\nrelates the following curious ceremony:--\n\nThe great female divinity of the British Druids was Ket, or Ceridwen; a\npersonification of the Ark of Noah; the famous Keto of Antiquity, or, in\nother words Ceres, the patroness of the ancient mysteries. To enter into\na full explanation of these mysteries is unnecessary. Suffice it to say\nthat the aspirant, at the conclusion of the ceremony of initiation, was\nplaced in a small boat, to represent the confinement of Noah in the\nArk;--which boat was a symbol of the helio-arkite deity,--and committed\nto the waves with directions to gain a proposed point of land, which was\nto him a shore, not only of safety, but of triumph. On this shore he was\nreceived by the hierophant and his attendants, who had placed themselves\nthere for the express purpose, and pronounced a favourite of Ket, by\nwhom he was now said to be purified with water, and consequently\nregenerated and purged from all his former defilements. The Abbey Hill\nwas the place where these sacred mysteries were celebrated, and the\ndesignation of this bank fully corroborates the conjecture, for whoever\nwill attentively consider the situation of these two hills, connected\nby an extended embankment even at the present day, will be convinced\nthat a more convenient spot could not be found for the performance of\nthe above ceremony. The sacred rites were solemnized within the stone\ncircle, which doubtless existed on the Abbey Hill, and the candidate at\nthe highest time of the tide was committed to the mercy of the waves\nfrom the point now known by the name of Wellow Mill, and he had to\nstruggle against the declining tide, until he was cast at the foot of\nHolm Hill, upon the bank of Ket, the presiding deity, under whose\nspecial protection he was ever after placed.\n\nThis ceremony always took place on May Eve, for at no other season was\nthe final degree of perfection conferred, and as soon as the fortunate\naspirants had succeeded in gaining the safe landing-place of Ket, which\nled by an easy gradation to the summit of the hill, fires were lighted\non the apex of this and all the neighbouring hills, and the most\nextravagant joy was visible throughout the district.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nOn May Eve, the juvenile branches of nearly every family in the Isle of\nMan, used to gather primroses, and strew them before the doors of their\ndwellings, in order to prevent the entrance of fairies on that night. It\nwas quite a novel sight to a stranger to the custom to see this delicate\nflower plentifully arranged at the door of every house he might pass,\nparticularly in the towns on the night in question or early on the\nfollowing morning. This custom is now abandoned: indeed, it was\ncontinued to a late date more through the habit and amusement of\nchildren than from superstition. Persons more advanced in life\ncongregated on the mountains on May Eve, and to scare fairies and\nwitches, supposed to be roaming abroad on that particular night in\nnumbers greater than ordinary, set fire to the gorse or _Koinney_, and\nblew horns. Many of them remained on the hills till sunrise,\nendeavouring to pry into futurity by observing particular omens. If a\nbright light was observed to issue, seemingly, from any house in the\nsurrounding village, it was considered a certain indication that some\nmember of the family would soon be married; but if a dim light were\nseen moving slowly in the direction of the parish church, it was then\ndeemed equally certain that a funeral would soon pass that way to the\nchurchyard.--Train, _History of the Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 118.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\n\u201cAt Woodstock,\u201d says Aubrey, \u201cthey every May Eve goe into the parke and\nfetch away a number of hawthorne trees, which they set about their\ndores: \u2019tis pity that they make such a destruction of so fine a tree.\u201d\n\n\nWALES.\n\nAt Tenby the inhabitants went out in troops, bearing in their hands\nboughs of thorn in full blossom, which were bedecked with other flowers,\nand then stuck outside the windows of the houses. Maypoles were reared\nup in different parts of the town, decorated with flowers, coloured\npapers, and bunches of variegated ribbon.--Mason\u2019s _Tales and Traditions\nof Ireland_, 1858, p. 21.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe following custom of the Irish is described in a MS. of the sixteenth\ncentury, and seems to have been of Pagan origin: \u201cUpon Maie Eve they\nwill drive their cattell upon their neighbour\u2019s corne, to eate the same\nup; they were wont to begin from the vast, and this principally upon the\nEnglish churl. Unlesse they do so upon Maie daie, the witch hath power\nupon their cattell all the yere following.\u201d--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. vii.\np. 81.\n\nSir Henry Piers, in his _Account of Westmeath_, 1682, says:--\u201cOn May\nEve, every family sets up before their door a green bush, strewed over\nwith yellow flowers, which the meadows yield plentifully. In counties\nwhere timber is plentiful, they erect tall slender trees, which stand\nhigh, and they continue almost the whole year; so that a stranger would\ngo nigh to imagine that they were all signs of ale-sellers, and that all\nhouses were ale-houses.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMAY 1.] MAY DAY.\n\n\nThe festival of May Day has existed in this country, though its form has\noften changed, from the earliest times, and we find abundant traces of\nit both in our poets and old chroniclers. Tollet imagines that it\noriginally came from our Gothic ancestors; and certainly, if this is to\nbe taken for a proof, the Swedes and Goths welcomed the first of May\nwith songs and dance, and many rustic sports; but there is only a\ngeneral, not a particular, likeness between our May-day festivities and\nthose of our Gothic ancestors. Others again have sought for the origin\nof our customs in the _Floralia_, or rather the _Maiuma_, of the Romans,\nwhich were established at a later period under the Emperor Claudius, and\ndiffered perhaps but little from the former, except in being more\ndecent. But though it may at first seem probable that our May-games may\nhave come immediately from the _Floralia_ or _Maiuma_ of the Romans,\nthere can be little question that their final origin must be sought in\nother countries, and far remoter periods. Maurice says (_Indian\nAntiquities_, vol i. p. 87) that our May-day festival is but a\nrepetition of the phallic festivals of India and Egypt, which in those\ncountries took place upon the sun entering Taurus, to celebrate Nature\u2019s\nrenewed fertility. \u03a6\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 (_phallos_) in Greek signifies _a pole_, in\naddition to its more important meaning, of which this is the type; and\nin the precession of the Equinoxes and the changes of the calendar we\nshall find an easy solution of any apparent inconsistencies arising from\nthe difference of seasons.\n\nThat the May-festival has come down to us from the Druids, who\nthemselves had it from India, is proved by many striking facts and\ncoincidences, and by none more than the vestiges of the god _Bel_, the\nApollo, or Orus, of other nations. The Druids celebrated his worship on\nthe first of May, by lighting immense fires in honour of him upon the\nvarious carns, and hence the day is called by the aboriginal Irish and\nthe Scotch Highlanders--both remnants of the Celtic stock--la Bealtine,\nBealtaine or Beltine, that is, the _day of Belen\u2019s fire_, for, in the\nCornish, which is a Celtic dialect, we find that _tan_ is fire, and _to\ntine_ signifies to light the fire.\n\nThe Irish still retain the Ph\u0153nician custom of lighting fires at short\ndistances, and making the cattle pass between them. Fathers, too, taking\ntheir children in their arms, jump or run through them, thus passing the\nlatter as it were through the flames--the very practice so expressly\ncondemned in Scripture. But even this custom appears to have been only a\nsubstitute for the atrocious sacrifice of children as practised by the\nelder Ph\u0153nicians. The god Saturn, that is, Moloch, was represented by a\nstatue bent slightly forward, and so placed that the least weight was\nsufficient to alter its position. Into the arms of this idol the priest\ngave the child to be sacrificed, when, its balance being thus destroyed,\nit flung or rather dropt, the victim into a fiery furnace that blazed\nbelow. If other proofs were wanting of Eastern origin, we might find\nthem in the fact that Britain was called by the earlier inhabitants the\nIsland of Beli, and that Bel had also the name of Hu, a word which we\nsee again occurring in the _Huli_ festival of India.--_New Curiosities\nof Literature_, vol. i. p. 229. See Higgins\u2019 _Celtic Druids_, chap. v.\nsect. 23, p. 181; _Household Words_, 1859, vol. xix. p. 557; Tolan\u2019s\n_History of the Druids_, 8vo, p. 115; _Celtic Researches_, 1806, 8vo, p.\n191; Vossius, _On the Origin of Idolatries_: _Essai sur le Culte des\nDivinit\u00e9s G\u00e9n\u00e9ratrices_.\n\n\n_Going a-Maying._--Bourne (_Antiquitates Vulgares_, chap. xxv.)\ndescribes this custom as it existed in his time:--On the calends, or\nfirst of May, commonly called May-day, the juvenile part of both sexes\nare wont to rise a little after midnight and walk to some neighbouring\nwood, accompanied with music and blowing of horns, where they break down\nbranches from the trees, and adorn themselves with nosegays and crowns\nof flowers; when this is done they return with their booty homewards,\nabout the rising of the sun, and make their doors and windows to triumph\nwith their flowery spoils.\n\nIn Chaucer\u2019s _Court of Love_ we read that early on May-day \u201cFourth goth\nal the court, both most and lest, to fetche the flowris fresh and\nblome.\u201d\n\nIn the old romance, too, _La Morte d\u2019Arthur_, translated by Sir Thomas\nMaleor, or Mellor, in the reign of Edward IV., is a passage descriptive\nof the customs of the times. \u201cNow it befell in the moneth of lusty May,\nthat Queene Guenever called unto her the knyghtes of the Round Table,\nand gave them warning that early in the morning she should ride on\nmaying into the woods and fields beside Westminster.\u201d The rural clergy,\nwho seem to have mingled themselves with their flock on all occasions,\nwhether of sorrow, devotion, or amusement, were reproved by Grostete, or\nGreathead, Bishop of Lincoln, for going a-maying.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._\nvol. i. p. 233.\n\nShakespeare likewise, alluding to this custom, says (_Henry VIII._ Act\nv. sc. 3), it was impossible to make the people sleep on May-morning,\nand (_Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream_, Act i. sc. 1) that they rose up early to\nobserve May day.\n\n                \u201cIf thou lovest me then,\n    Steal forth thy father\u2019s house to-morrow night;\n    And in the wood, a league without the town,\n    Where I did meet thee once with Helena,\n    To do observance to a morn of May,\n    There will I stay for thee.\u201d\n\nAnd again:\n\n    \u201cNo doubt they rise up early to observe\n    The rite of May.\u201d--Act. iv. sc. 1.\n\n\n_May-dew._--This was held of singular virtue in former times, and thus\nin the _Morning Post_ of 2nd May, 1791, we are told that the day before,\nbeing the First of May, according to annual and superstitious custom, a\nnumber of persons went into the fields and bathed their faces with the\ndew on the grass, under the idea that it would render them beautiful.\nPepys on a certain day in May makes this entry in his _Diary_: \u201cMy wife\naway, down with Jane and W. Hewer to Woolwich, in order to a little ayre\nand to lie there to-night, and so to gather May-dew to-morrow morning,\nwhich Mrs. Turner hath taught her is the only thing in the world to wash\nher face with.\u201d\n\n\n_May-games._--When Christianity, says Soane (_Curiosities of\nLiterature_, p. 230), found its way into Britain, the same mode would\nseem to have been adopted in regard to the May-games by the wise\nliberality of the first missionaries that we see them employing in so\nmany other cases. Conceding to the prejudices of the people, they did\nnot attempt to root out long established characters, but invested them\nwith another character as bees close in with wax the noxious substance\nthey are unable to remove. Thus in course of time the festival was not\nonly diverted from its original intention, but even the meaning of its\nvarious symbols was forgotten. It degenerated into a mere holiday, and\nas such long continued to be the delight of all ages and of all classes,\nfrom king and queen upon the throne to the peasant in his cottage. Thus,\nfor example, Henry VIII. appears to have been particularly attached to\nthe exercise of archery and the observance of May. \u201cSome short time\nafter his coronation,\u201d says Hall (_Vit. Henry VIII._, fol. vi. 6), \u201che\ncame to Westminster with the Queen and all their train. And on a time\nbeing there, his Grace, the Earls of Essex, Wiltshire, and other\nnoblemen, to the number of twelve, came suddenly into the Queen\u2019s\nchamber, all apparelled in short coats of Kentish Kendal, with hoods on\ntheir heads, and hosen of the same, every one of them his bow and\narrows, and a sword and buckler, like outlaws or Robin Hood\u2019s men;\nwhereof the Queen, the ladies, and all others there, were abashed, as\nwell for the strange sight, as also for their sudden coming; and after\ncertain dances and pastimes made, they departed.\u201d\n\nStow, too, in his _Survey of London_ (1603, 4to, p. 99) has the\nfollowing:--\u201cIn the moneth of May, namely on May-day in the morning,\nevery man, except impediment, would walke into the sweete meadows and\ngreene woods, there to rejoyce their spirites with the beauty and savour\nof sweete flowers, and with the harmony of birds praysing God in their\nkind; and for example hereof Edward Hall hath noted that K. Henry the\nEighth, as in the 3 of his reigne and divers other years, so namely on\nthe seventh of his reigne on May day in the morning, with Qween Katheren\nhis wife, accompanied with many lords and ladies, rode a-maying from\nGreenwitch to the high ground of Shooter\u2019s hill, where as they passed by\nthe way they espied a company of tall yeomen clothed all in greene, with\ngreene whoodes and with bowes and arrowes, to the number of 100. One\nbeing their chieftaine was called Robin Hoode, who required the king and\nhis companie to stay and see his men shoote, whereunto the king\ngraunting, Robin Hoode whistled, and all the 200 archers shot off,\nlosing all at once, and when he whistled againe, they likewise shot\nagaine; their arrowes whistled by craft of the head, so that the noyse\nwas strange and loude, which greatly delighted the king, queene, and\ntheir companie.\u201d\n\nIt may seem strange, remarks Soane, that Robin Hood should be so\nprominent a figure in a festival which originated long before he was\nborn, since we first find mention of him and his forest companions in\nthe reign of King John, while the floral games of England, as we have\nseen, had their rise with the Druids. The sports of Robin Hood were most\nprobably first instituted for the encouragement of archery, and it is\nnot surprising if a recreation so especially connected with summer and\nthe forest, was celebrated at the opening of the year--the opening, that\nis, so far as it related to rural sports and pleasures. By degrees it\nwould become blended with the festival already existing, and in a short\ntime, from its superior attraction, it would become the principal\nfeature of it.\n\nDouce, in his _Illustrations of Shakespeare_ (vol. ii. p. 454), says the\nintroduction of Robin Hood into the celebration of May probably\nsuggested the addition of a king or lord of May. Soane, however, takes a\nvery different view, being of opinion that the custom of electing a Lord\nand Lady of the May in the popular sports existed at a far earlier\nperiod--long indeed before the time of Robin Hood\u2019s introduction--at the\nsame time supporting his statement from a command given in the synod at\nWorcester, A. D. 1240, Canon 38, \u201cNe intersint ludis inhonestis, nec\nsustineant ludos fieri de rege et regina.\u201d For an interesting account of\nthe Robin Hood games see Strutt\u2019s novel, _Queen Hoo Hall_ (quoted in\n_Book of Days_, vol. i. p 580). Consult also Ritson\u2019s _Collection of\nPoems_ relating to Robin Hood (1853), and Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849,\nvol. i. pp. 247-272.\n\n\n_Morris-dance._--It is supposed to be of Moorish origin, and to be\nderived to us from Spain. Hence its name. The principal characters of it\ngenerally were Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Scarlet, Stokesley, Little John,\nthe Hobby Horse, the Bavian or Fool, Tom the Piper with his pipe and\ntabor, the Dragon, of which we have no mention before 1585. The number\nof characters varied much at different times and places. See Brand\u2019s\n_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. pp. 247-270, and _Book of Days_, vol i. pp.\n630-633.\n\n\n_Maypoles._--The earliest representation of an English maypole is that\npublished in the _Variorum_ Shakespeare, and depicted on a window at\nBetley in Staffordshire, then the property of Mr. Tollet, and which he\nwas disposed to think as old as the time of Henry VIII. The pole is\nplanted in a mound of earth, and has affixed to it St. George\u2019s\nred-cross banner, and a white pennon or streamer with a forked end. The\nshaft of the pole is painted in a diagonal line of black colour upon a\nyellow ground, a characteristic decoration of all these ancient\nmaypoles, as alluded to by Shakespeare in his _Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream_,\nwhere it gives point to Hermia\u2019s allusion to her rival Helena as, \u201ca\npainted maypole.\u201d--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 575.--See Brand\u2019s _Pop.\nAntiq._ 1849, pp. 234-247.\n\nIt was, says Hone (_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 556), a great object\nwith some of the more rigid reformers to suppress amusements, especially\nmaypoles; and these idols of the people were taken down as zeal grew\nfierce, and put up as it grew cool, till, after various ups and downs,\nthe favourites of the populace were by the Parliament, on the 6th April,\n1644, thus provided against: \u201cThe Lords and Commons do further order and\nordain that, all and singular maypoles that are or shall be erected,\nshall be taken down and removed by the constables, bossholders,\ntithing-men, petty constables, and churchwardens of the parishes where\nthe same be, and that no maypole be hereafter set up, erected, or\nsuffered to be set up within this kingdom of England or dominion of\nWales; the said officers to be fined five shillings weekly till the said\nmaypole be taken down.\u201d Accordingly down went all the maypoles that were\nleft. The restoration of Charles II. however was the signal for their\nrevival. On the very 1st of May afterwards, in 1661, the maypole in the\nStrand was reared with great ceremony and rejoicing. A contemporary\nwriter (in _Cities Loyalty Displayed_, 1661, 4to) speaking of it, says,\n\u201cThis tree was a most choice and remarkable piece; \u2019twas made below\nBridge, and brought in two parts up to Scotland Yard, near the King\u2019s\nPalace, and from thence it was conveyed, April 14th, to the Strand to be\nerected [nearly opposite Somerset House]. It was brought with a streamer\nflourishing before it, drums beating all the way, and other sorts of\nmusick; it was supposed to be so long that landsmen (as carpenters)\ncould not possibly raise it; (Prince James, the Duke of York, Lord High\nAdmiral of England, commanded twelve seamen off aboord to come and\nofficiate the business, whereupon they came and brought their cables,\npullies, and other tacklins, with six great anchors); after this was\nbrought three crowns borne by three men bare-headed, and a streamer\ndisplaying all the way before them, drums beating, and other musick\nplaying; numerous multitudes of people thronging the streets with great\nshouts and acclamations all day long. The maypole then being joyned\ntogether, the crown and cane with the King\u2019s arms richly gilded was\nplaced on the head of it. This being done, the trumpets did sound, and\nin four hours space it was advanced upright, after which being\nestablished fast in the ground, six drums did beat, and the trumpets did\nsound; again great shouts and acclamations the people give that it did\nring throughout all the Strand. After that came a morris-dance finely\ndeckt, with purple scarfs in their half-shirts with a tabor, and pipe,\nthe ancient musick, and danced round about the maypole, and after that\ndanced the rounds of their liberty. Upon the top of this famous standard\nis likewise set up a royal purple streamer, about the middle of it is\nplaced four crowns more, with the King\u2019s arms likewise; there is also a\ngarland set upon it of various colours of delicate rich favours, under\nwhich is to be placed three great lanthorns, to remain for three\nhonours; that is, one for Prince James, Duke of York, Lord High Admiral\nof England; the other for the Vice-Admiral; and the third for the\nrear-Admiral: these are to give light in dark nights, and to continue so\nlong as the pole stands, which will be a perpetual honour for\nseamen.\u201d--See _The Town_, Leigh Hunt (1859, p. 161).\n\nThe author of a pamphlet entitled _The Way to Things by Words, and Words\nby Things_, considers the maypole in a curious light. We gather from\nhim, says Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 245), that our ancestors\nheld an anniversary assembly on May-day, and that the column of May\n(whence our maypole) was the great standard of justice in the\nEy-commons, or fields of May. Here it was the people, if they saw\ncause, deposed or punished their governors, their barons, and their\nkings. The judge\u2019s bough or wand (now discontinued, and only faintly\nrepresented by a trifling nosegay), and the staff or rod of authority in\nthe civil and in the military (for it was the mace of civil power, and\nthe truncheon of the field-officers), are both derived from hence.\n\nA mayor, he says, received his name from this May, in the sense of\nlawful power; the crown--a mark of dignity and symbol of power, like the\nmace and sceptre--was also taken from the May, being representative of\nthe garland or crown, which when hung on the top of the May or pole, was\nthe great signal for convening the people; the arches of it, which\nspring from the circlet and meet together at the mound or round bell,\nbeing necessarily so formed, to suspend it to the top of the pole. The\nword maypole, he observes, is a pleonasm; in French it is called singly\n_Mai_.\n\nIn front of the spot now occupied by St. Mary-le-Strand anciently stood\na cross, at which, says Stow, \u201cIn the year 1294 and other times, the\njustices itinerant sat without London.\u201d\n\nIn the _British Apollo_ (1708, vol. i.) a writer says: It was a custom\namong the ancient Britons, before converted to Christianity, to erect\nthese maypoles, adorned with flowers, in honour of the goddess Flora.\n\nKeysler, says Mr. Borlase, thinks that the custom of the maypole took\nits origin from the earnest desire of the people to see their king, who,\nseldom appearing at other times, made his procession at this time of\nyear to the great assembly of the states held in the open air.--_Pop.\nAntiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 246.\n\n\n_Chimney-sweepers._--How or when the chimney-sweepers contrived to\nintrude their sooty persons into the company of the gay and graceful\nFlora upon her high festival does not appear. It is certain, however,\nthat in London they have long observed the early days of May as an\nestablished holiday, on which occasion they parade the streets in\nparties, fantastically tricked out in tawdry finery, enriched with\nstrips of gilt and various coloured papers, &c. With their faces\nchalked, and their shovels and brushes in hand, they caper the\n\u201cChimney-sweeper\u2019s Dance\u201d to a well-known tune, considered by amateurs\nas more noisy than musical. Some of the larger parties are accompanied\nby a fiddle, a \u201cJack-in-the-Green,\u201d and a \u201cLord and lady of the May.\u201d\nThe \u201cJack-in-the-Green\u201d is a man concealed within a frame of wickerwork\ncovered with leaves, flowers, &c.--Soane, _New Curiosities of\nLiterature_, p. 261; _Sports, Pastimes, and Customs of London_, 1847, p.\n34; See _Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 583, vol. ii. p. 619.\n\n\n_Milkmaid\u2019s Dance._--On the first day of May, says a writer in the\n_Spectator_ (vol. v.), \u201cthe ruddy milkmaid exerts herself in a most\nsprightly manner under a pyramid of silver tankards, and, like the\nvirgin Tarpeia, oppressed by the costly ornaments which her benefactors\nlay upon her.\u201d These decorations of silver cups, tankards, and salvers\nwere borrowed for the purpose, and hung round the milk-pails, with the\naddition of flowers and ribbons, which the maidens carried upon their\nheads when they went to the houses of their customers, and danced in\norder to obtain a small gratuity from each of them. Of late years the\nplate, with the other decorations, was placed in a pyramidical form, and\ncarried by two chairmen upon a wooden horse. The maidens walked before\nit, and performed the dance without any incumbrance. Sometimes in place\nof the silver tankards and salvers they substituted a cow. The animal\nhad her horns gilt, and was nearly covered with ribbons of various\ncolours, formed into bows and roses, and interspersed with green oaken\nleaves and bunches of flowers.--Strutt, _Sports and Pastimes_, 1801, b.\niv. p. 266.[44]\n\n  [44] At Baslow, in the county of Derby, the festival of kit-dressing\n  is, occasionally, observed. The kits or milk pails are fancifully and\n  tastefully decorated with ribbons, and hung with festoons of flowers\n  and ornaments of muslin and silk, and with gold and silver thread. The\n  kits are carried on the heads of the young women of the village, who,\n  attended by the young men and preceded by a band of music, parade the\n  streets, and end the day\u2019s proceedings by a dance. _Jour. of Arch.\n  Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 208.\n\nPepys in his _Diary_, May 1st, 1667, says, \u201cTo Westminster; on the way\nmeeting many milkmaids, with their garlands upon their pails, dancing\nwith a fiddler before them, and saw pretty Nelly [Nell Gwynne] standing\nat her lodgings\u2019 door in Drury Lane in her smock sleeves and bodice,\nlooking upon one; she seemed a mighty pretty creature.\u201d\n\nIn a set of prints called the _Tempest Cryes of London_, one is called\nthe Merry Milkmaid, whose proper name was Kate Smith. She is dancing\nwith her milk-pail on her head, decorated with silver cups, tankards,\nand salvers borrowed for the purpose, and tied together with ribbons,\nand ornamented with flowers. Misson, too, in his _Observations on his\nTravels in England_, alludes to this custom. He says: On the 1st of May,\nand the five and six days following, all the pretty young country girls\nthat serve the town with milk dress themselves up very neatly, and\nborrow abundance of silver plate, whereof they make a pyramid, which\nthey adorn with ribbons and flowers, and carry upon their heads instead\nof their common milk-pails. In this equipage, accompanied by some of\ntheir fellow milkmaids and a bag-pipe or fiddle, they go from door to\ndoor, dancing before the houses of their customers, in the midst of boys\nand girls that follow them in troops, and everybody gives them\nsomething.--Ozell\u2019s _Translation_, 8vo, 1719, p. 307.\n\nIn Read\u2019s _Weekly Times_, May 5th, 1733, occurs the following:--On\nMay-day the milk-maids who serve the Court danced minuets and rigadoons\nbefore the Royal family, at St. James\u2019s House, with great applause.\n\nThe following lines descriptive of the milkmaid\u2019s garland are taken from\n_Every Day Book_, vol. i. pp. 569, 570:--\n\n    \u201cIn London thirty years ago,\n      When pretty milkmaids went about,\n    It was a goodly sight to see\n      Their May-day pageant all drawn out.\n\n    Themselves in comely colours drest,\n      Their shining garland in the middle,\n    A pipe and tabor on before,\n      Or else the foot-inspiring fiddle.\n\n    They stopt at houses where it was\n      Their custom to cry \u2018milk below!\u2019\n    And, while the music play\u2019d, with smiles\n      Join\u2019d hands and pointed toe to toe.\n\n    Thus they tripp\u2019d on, till--from door to door\n      The hop\u2019d-for annual present sent--\n    A signal came, to courtsey low,\n      And at that door cease merriment.\n\n    Such scenes and sounds once blest my eyes\n      And charm\u2019d my ears; but all have vanish\u2019d.\n    On May-day now no garlands go,\n      For milkmaids and their dance are banish\u2019d.\n\n  See Chappell\u2019s _Popular Music of the Olden Time_, 1855-9; also _Every\n  Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 1562.\n\n\n_May-gosling._--A writer in the _Gent. Mag._ (1791, vol. lxi. p. 327)\nsays a May-gosling, on the 1st of May, is made with as much eagerness in\nthe north of England as an April noddy (noodle) or fool on the 1st of\nApril.\n\n\u201cU. P. K. spells May-goslings\u201d is an expression used by boys at play as\nan insult to the losing party. U. P. K. is _up-pick_, that is, up with\nyour pin or peg, the mark of the goal. An additional punishment was\nthus: the winner made a hole in the ground with his heel, into which a\npeg about three inches long was driven, its top being below the surface;\nthe loser, with his hands tied behind him, was to pull it up with his\nteeth, the boys buffeting with their hats, and calling out, \u201cUp-pick!\nyou May gosling!\u201d or \u201cU. P. K., gosling in May.\u201d[45]\n\n  [45] See p. 265.\n\n\nBERKSHIRE.\n\nAt Abingdon the children and young people formerly went about in groups\non May morning, singing the following carol:--\n\n    \u201cWe\u2019ve been a-rambling all the night,\n      And sometime of this day;\n    And now returning back again,\n      We bring a garland gay.\n        Why don\u2019t you do as we have done\n          On this first day of May?\n        And from our parents we have come,\n          And would no longer stay.\n\n    A garland gay we bring you here,\n      And at your door we stand;\n    It is a sprout well budded out,\n      The work of our Lord\u2019s hand.\n        Why don\u2019t you do, &c.\n\n    So dear, so dear as Christ loved us,\n      And for our sins was slain;\n    Christ bids us turn from wickedness\n      Back to the Lord again.\n        Why don\u2019t you do,\u201d &c.--\n\n  _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. iii. p. 401.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIn a MS. in the British Museum entitled _Status Schol\u00e6 Etonensis_, A.D.\n1560, it is stated that on the day of St. Philip and St. James, if it be\nfair weather, and the master grants leave, those boys who choose it may\nrise at four o\u2019clock, to gather May-branches, if they can do it without\nwetting their feet; and that on that day they adorn the windows of the\nbed-chambers with green leaves, and the houses are perfumed with\nfragrant herbs.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nSome derive May from Maia, the mother of Mercury, to whom they offered\nsacrifices on the first day of it; and this seems to explain the custom\nwhich prevails on this day at Cambridge of children having a figure\ndressed in a grotesque manner, called a _May-lady_, before which they\nset a table having on it wine, &c. They also beg money of passengers,\nwhich is considered as an offering to the _Maulkin_; for their plea to\nobtain it is \u201cPray remember the poor May-lady.\u201d Perhaps the garlands,\nfor which they also beg, originally adorned the head of the goddess. The\nbush of hawthorn, or, as it is called, May, placed at the doors on this\nday, may point out the firstfruits of the spring, as this is one of the\nearliest trees which blossoms.--Audley, _Companion to the Almanack_,\n1816, p. 71.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nIn this county the young men formerly celebrated May-day by placing\nlarge bidden boughs over the doors of the houses where the young women\nresided to whom they paid their addresses; and an alder bough was often\nplaced over the door of a scold.--Lysons\u2019 _Magna Britannia_, 1810, vol.\nii. pt. ii. p. 462.\n\nMaypoles are also erected, and danced round in some villages with as\nmuch avidity as ever.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._, 1850, vol. v. p. 254.\nWashington Irving in his _Sketch Book_ says, I shall never forget the\ndelight I felt on first seeing a Maypole. It was on the banks of the\nDee, close by the picturesque old bridge that stretches across the\nriver from the quaint little city of Chester. I had already been carried\nback into former days by the antiquities of that venerable place, the\nexamination of which is equal to turning over the pages of a\nblack-letter volume, or gazing on the pictures in Froissart. The Maypole\non the margin of that poetic stream completed the illusion. My fancy\nadorned it with wreaths of flowers, and peopled the green bank with all\nthe dancing revelry of May-day.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nIn Cornwall this day is hailed by the juveniles as \u201cdipping-day.\u201d On\nMay-morning the children go out into the country and fetch home the\nflowering branches of the white-thorn, or boughs of the narrow-leaved\nelm, which has just put forth its leaves, both of which are called\n\u201cMay.\u201d At a later hour all the boys of the village sally forth with\ntheir bucket, can, and syringe, or other instrument, and avail\nthemselves of a licence which the season confers \u201cto dip\u201d or well nigh\ndrown, without regard to person or circumstances, the passenger who has\nnot the protection of a piece of \u201cMay\u201d in his hat or button-hole. The\nsprig of the hawthorn or elm is probably held to be proof that the\nbearer has not failed to rise early \u201cto do observance to a morn of\nMay.\u201d--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xii. p. 297. Borlase, in his _Natural\nHistory of Cornwall_, tells us that an ancient custom still retained by\nthe Cornish is that of decking their doors and porches on the 1st of May\nwith green sycamore and hawthorn boughs, and of planting trees, or\nrather stumps of trees, before their houses.\n\nBond, in his _History of East and West Looe_ (1823, p. 38), says:--On\nMay-day the boys dress their hats with flowers and hawthorn, and furnish\nthemselves with bullocks\u2019 horns, in which sticks of about two feet long\nare fixed, and with these instruments filled with water they parade the\nstreets all day, and dip all persons who pass them if they have not what\nis called May in their hats, that is, a sprig of hawthorn.\n\nA writer also in _Once a Week_ (Sept. 24th, 1870), speaking of certain\nCornish customs, tells us that dipping was admitted by the boys of Looe\nto be very great fun, and a May-day without any would have been voted\nan utter failure; nevertheless the coppers of commutation were very\nacceptable, as the great two-day fair of the town was held towards the\nclose of the week, when cash was generally in demand. Hence when any one\nflung pence among them, they were wont to chant during the scramble--\n\n    \u201cThe First of May is dipping-day,\n    The Sixth of May is Looe\u2019s fair day.\u201d\n\nOn the 1st of May a species of festivity, Hitchins tells us, was\nobserved in his time at Padstow: called the _Hobby-horse_, from the\nfigure of a horse being carried through the streets. Men, women, and\nchildren flocked round it, when they proceeded to a place called Traitor\nPool, about a quarter of a mile distant, in which the hobby-horse was\nalways supposed to drink. The head after being dipped into the water,\nwas instantly taken out, and the mud and water were sprinkled on the\nspectators, to the no small diversion of all. On returning home a\nparticular song was sung, which was supposed to commemorate the event\nthat gave the hobby-horse birth. According to tradition the French once\nupon a time effected a landing at a small cove in the vicinity, but\nseeing at a distance a number of women dressed in red cloaks, whom they\nmistook for soldiers, they fled to their ships and put to sea. The day\ngenerally ended in riot and dissipation.--Hitchins, _History of\nCornwall_, 1824, vol. i. p. 720.\n\nOn the first Sunday after May-day it is a custom with families at\nPenzance to visit Rose-hill, Poltier, and other adjacent villages, by\nway of recreation. These pleasure-parties generally consist of two or\nthree families together. They carry flour and other materials with them\nto make the \u201cheavy cake\u201d[46] at the farm-dairies, which are always open\nfor their reception. Nor do they forget to take tea, sugar, rum, and\nother comfortable things for their refreshment, which, by paying a\ntrifle for baking and for the niceties awaiting their consumption,\ncontent the farmers for the house-room and pleasure they afford their\nwelcome visitants.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p 561.\n\n  [46] See May-eve, Penzance, p. 216.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nMaypoles are to be seen in some of the village-greens still standing,\nand adorned with garlands on May-day. On this morning, too, the young\nvillage women go out about sunrise for the purpose of washing their\nfaces in the May-dew, and return in the full hope of having their\ncomplexions improved by the process.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._, 1852,\nvol. vii. p. 206.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nAt the village of Holne, situated on one of the spurs of Dartmoor, is a\nfield of about two acres, the property of the parish, and called the\nPloy (play) Field. In the centre of this stands a granite pillar\n(Menhir) six or seven feet high. On May-morning before daybreak the\nyoung men of the village used to assemble there, and then proceed to the\nmoor, where they selected a ram lamb (doubtless with the consent of the\nowner), and after running it down, brought it in triumph to the Ploy\nField, fastened it to the pillar, cut its throat, and then roasted it\nwhole, skin, wool, &c. At midday a struggle took place, at the risk of\ncut hands, for a slice, it being supposed to confer luck for the ensuing\nyear on the fortunate devourer. As an act of gallantry the young men\nsometimes fought their way through the crowd to get a slice for the\nchosen amongst the young women, all of whom, in their best dresses,\nattended the Ram Feast, as it was called. Dancing, wrestling, and other\ngames, assisted by copious libations of cider during the afternoon,\nprolonged the festivity till midnight.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. vii. p.\n353.\n\nIn some places it is customary for the children to carry about from\nhouse to house two dolls, a large and a small one--beautifully dressed\nand decorated with flowers. This custom has existed at Torquay from time\nimmemorial.\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nAt Saffron-Walden, and in the village of Debden, an old May-day song\n(almost identical with that given under BERKSHIRE, which see) is sung\nby the little girls, who go about in parties, carrying garlands from\ndoor to door.\n\nThe garlands which the girls carry are sometimes large and handsome, and\na doll is usually placed in the middle, dressed in white, according to\ncertain traditional regulations.--_Illustrated London News_, June 6th,\n1857, p. 553.\n\n\nGLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\nIn the village of Randwick, hard by the Stroud cloth-mills, at the\nappointed daybreak, three cheeses were carried upon a litter, festooned\nand garlanded with blossoms, down to the churchyard, and rolled thrice\nmystically round the sacred building; being subsequently carried back in\nthe same way upon the litter in triumphal procession, to be cut\nup on the village-green and distributed piecemeal among the\nbystanders.--_Household Words_, 1859, vol. xix. p. 515.\n\nIn this county the children sing the following song as they dance round\nthe Maypole:\n\n    \u201cRound the Maypole, trit-trit-trot!\n    See what a Maypole we have got;\n              Fine and gay.\n              Trip away,\n        Happy is our new May-day.\u201d--\n\n  _Aunt Judy\u2019s Magazine_, 1874, No. xcvii. p. 436.\n\n\nHAMPSHIRE.\n\nIn the village of Burley, one of the most beautiful villages of the New\nForest, a maypole is erected, a f\u00eate is given to the school-children,\nand a May-queen is chosen by lot; a floral crown surmounts the pole, and\ngarlands of flowers hang about the shaft.\n\n\nHERTFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Baldock, in former times, the peasantry were accustomed to make a\n\u201cmy-lord-and-my-lady\u201d in effigy on the first of May. These figures were\nconstructed of rags, pasteboard, old masks, canvas, straw, &c., and were\ndressed up in the holiday habiliments of their fabricators--\u201cmy lady\u201d in\nthe best gown\u2019d, apron, kerchief, and mob cap of the dame, and \u201cmy\nlord\u201d in the Sunday gear of her master. The tiring finished, \u201cthe pair\u201d\nwere seated on chairs or joint-stools, placed outside the cottage-door\nor in the porch, their bosoms ornamented with large bouquets of May\nflowers. They supported a hat, into which the contributions of the\nlookers-on were put. Before them, on a table were arranged a mug of ale,\na drinking-horn, a pipe, a pair of spectacles, and sometimes a\nnewspaper.\n\nThe observance of this usage was exclusively confined to the wives of\nthe labouring poor resident in the town, who were amply compensated for\ntheir pains-taking by the contributions, which generally amounted to\nsomething considerable. But these were not the only solicitors on\nMay-day; the juveniles of Baldock constructed a garland of hoops\ntransversed, decorated with flowers, ribbons, &c., affixed to the\nextremity of a staff, by which it was borne, similar to those at\nNorthampton and Lynn.--Hone, _The Year Book_, 1838, p. 1593.\n\nThe following amusing account of the manner in which May-day was\nformerly observed at Hitchin is given by a correspondent of _Every Day\nBook_, 1826, vol. i. p. 565:\n\nSoon after three o\u2019clock in the morning a large party of the\ntownspeople, and neighbouring labourers parade the town, singing the\n_Mayer\u2019s Song_. They carry in their hands large branches of May, and\nthey affix a branch either upon or at the side of the doors of nearly\nevery respectable house in the town. Where there are knockers they place\ntheir branches within the handles. The larger the branch is that is\nplaced at the door the more honourable to the house, or rather to the\nservants of the house. If in the course of the year a servant has given\noffence to any of the mayers, then, instead of a branch of May, a branch\nof elder, with a bunch of nettles, is affixed to her door: this is\nconsidered a great disgrace, and the unfortunate subject of it is\nexposed to the jeers of her rivals. On May-morning, therefore, the girls\nlook with some anxiety for their May-branch, and rise very early to\nascertain their good or ill-fortune. The houses are all thus decorated\nby four o\u2019clock in the morning. Throughout the day parties of these\nmayers are seen dancing and frolicking in various parts of the town. The\ngroup that I saw to-day, which remained in Bancroft for more than an\nhour, was composed as follows:--First came two men with their faces\nblacked, one of them with a birch broom in his hand, and a large\nartificial hump on his back; the other dressed as a woman, all in rags\nand tatters, with a large straw bonnet on, and carrying a ladle; these\nare called \u201cMad Moll and her husband;\u201d next came two men, one most\nfantastically dressed with ribbons, and a great variety of\ngaudy-coloured silk handkerchiefs tied round his arms, from the\nshoulders to the wrists, and down his thighs and legs to the ancles; he\ncarried a drawn sword in his hand; leaning upon his arm was a youth\ndressed as a fine lady in white muslin, and profusely bedecked from top\nto toe with gay ribbons--these were called the \u201cLord and Lady\u201d of the\ncompany; after these followed six or seven couples more, attired much in\nthe same style as the lord and lady, only the men were without the\nswords. When this group received a satisfactory contribution at any\nhouse the music struck up from a violin, clarionet, and fife,\naccompanied by the long drum, and they began the merry dance. While the\ndancers were merrily footing it the principal amusement to the populace\nwas caused by the grimaces and clownish tricks of Mad Moll and her\nhusband. When the circle of spectators became so contracted as to\ninterrupt the dancers, then Mad Moll\u2019s husband went to work with his\nbroom, and swept the road-dust, all round the circle, into the faces of\nthe crowd, and when any pretended affronts were offered to his wife, he\npursued the offenders, broom in hand; if he could not overtake them,\nwhether they were males or females, he flung his broom at them. These\nflights and pursuits caused an abundance of merriment.\n\nThe _Mayer\u2019s Song_ is a composition, or rather a medley of great\nantiquity, and is as follows:--\n\n    \u201cRemember us poor mayers all.\n      And thus do we begin\n    To lead our lives in righteousness,\n      Or else we die in sin.\n\n    We have been rambling all this night,\n      And almost all this day,\n    And now returned back again\n      We have brought you a branch of May.\n\n    A branch of May we have brought you,\n      And at your door it stands,\n    It is but a sprout, but it\u2019s well budded out\n      By the work of our Lord\u2019s hands.\n\n    The hedges and trees they are so green,\n      As green as any leek,\n    Our Heavenly Father, he watered them\n      With his heavenly dew so sweet.\n\n    The heavenly gates are open wide,\n      Our paths are beaten plain,\n    And if a man be not too far gone,\n      He may return again.\n\n    The life of man is but a span,\n      It flourishes like a flower;\n    We are here to day, and gone to-morrow,\n      And are dead in an hour.\n\n    The moon shines bright, and the stars give a light\n      A little before it is day.\n    So God bless you all, both great and small,\n      And send you a joyful May.\u201d\n\n\nHUNTINGDONSHIRE.\n\nIn the village of Glatton, May-day is observed by the election of Queen\nof the May, and the making of the garland.\n\nThe garland is of a pyramidal shape, and in this respect resembles the\nold milk-maid\u2019s garland; it is composed of crown-imperials, tulips,\nanemones, cowslips, kingcups, daffodils, meadow-orchis, wallflowers,\nprimroses, lilacs, laburnums, and as many roses and bright flowers as\nthe season may have produced. These, with the addition of green boughs,\nare made into a huge pyramidal nosegay, from the front of which a\ngaily-dressed doll stares vacantly at her admirers. This doll is\nintended to represent Flora. From the base of the nosegay hang ribbons,\nhandkerchiefs, pieces of silk, and any other gay-coloured fabric that\ncan be borrowed for the occasion. The garland is carried by the two\nmaids of honour to the May queen who place their hands beneath the\nnosegay, and allow the gay-coloured streamers to fall towards the\nground. The garland is thus some six feet high.\n\nThe following song was sung by \u201cthe Mayers\u201d on May-day, 1865, in the\nvillage of Denton and Chaldecote, when they went round with their\n\u201cgarland\u201d:--\n\n    \u201cHere comes us poor Mayers all,\n      And thus do we begin\n    To lead our lives in righteousness,\n      For fear we should die in sin.\n\n    To die in sin is a dreadful thing,\n      To die in sin for nought;\n    It would have been better for us poor souls\n      If we had never been born.\n\n    Good morning, lords and ladies,\n      It is the first of May;\n    I hope you\u2019ll view the garland,\n      For it looks so very gay.\n\n    The cuckoo sings in April,\n      The cuckoo sings in May,\n    The cuckoo sings in June,\n      In July she flies away.\n\n    Now take a Bible in your hand,\n      And read a chapter through;\n    And when the day of judgment comes\n      The Lord will think of you.\u201d--\n\n  _N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. vii. p. 373.\n\nIt is the custom at Warboys for certain of the poor of the parish to be\nallowed to go into Warboys Wood on May-day morning for the purpose of\ngathering and taking away bundles of sticks. It may possibly be a relic\nof the old custom of going to a wood in the early morning of May-day for\nthe purpose of gathering May-dew.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. xii. p. 42.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nSir Dudley Diggs, by his will, dated 1638, left the yearly sum of \u00a320 to\nbe paid to two young men and two maids, who on May 19th yearly should\nrun a tye at Old Wives Lees in Chilham and prevail; the money to be paid\nout of the profits of the land of this part of the manor of Selgrave,\nwhich escheated to him after the death of Lady Clive. These lands, being\nin three pieces, lie in the parishes of Preston and Faversham, and\ncontain about forty acres, all commonly called the _Running Lands_. Two\nyoung men and two young maids run at Old Wives Lees in Chilham yearly on\nMay 1st, and the same number at Sheldwich Lees on the Monday following,\nby way of trial; and the two who prevail at each of those places run\nfor the \u00a310 at _Old Wives Lees_ as above mentioned on May 19th.--Hasted,\n_History of Kent_, vol ii. p. 787.\n\nAt Sevenoaks the children carry their tasteful boughs and garlands from\ndoor to door. The boughs consist of a bunch of greenery and wild flowers\ntied at the end of a stick, which is carried perpendicularly. The\ngarlands are formed of two hoops interlaced cross-wise, and covered with\nblue and yellow flowers from the woods and hedges. Sometimes the\ngarlands are fastened at the end of a stick carried perpendicularly, and\nsometimes hanging from the centre of a stick borne horizontally by two\nchildren. Either way the effect is pleasing, and fully worth the few\npence which the appeal of \u201cMay-day, garland-day! please to remember the\nMay-bough!\u201d makes one contribute.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. iii. p. 424.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nIn most places it is customary for each driver of a team to decorate his\nhorses with gaudy ribbons on May-day. In Liverpool and Birkenhead,\nhowever, where some thousands of men are employed as carters, this\nMay-day dressing has grown into a most imposing institution. Every\ndriver of a team in and around the docks appears to enter into rivalry\nwith his neighbours, and the consequence is that most of the horses are\ngaily dressed and expensively decorated. The drivers put on their new\nsuits, covered with white linen slops, and sport new whips in honour of\nthe occasion. Some of the embellishments for the horses are of a most\ncostly character; not a few are disposed in most admirable taste; and in\nseveral instances they amount to actual art-exhibitions, since the carts\nare filled with the articles in which their owners deal. Real and\nartificial flowers are disposed in wreaths and other forms upon\ndifferent parts of the harness, and brilliant velvet cloths, worked in\nsilver and gold, are thrown over the loins of the horses; and if their\nowners are of sufficient standing to bear coats-of-arms, these are\nemblazoned upon the cloths, surrounded with many curious and artistic\ndevices. Not only are the men interested in these displays, but wives\nand daughters, mistresses and servants, vie with each other as to who\nshall produce the most gorgeous exhibition. A few years ago the\nCorporation of Liverpool exhibited no fewer than one hundred and\nsixty-six horses in the procession, the first cart containing all the\nimplements used by the scavenging department, most artistically\narranged. The railway companies, the brewers, the spirit-merchants, and\nall the principal dock-carriers, &c., send their teams with samples of\nproduce to swell the procession. After parading the principal streets,\nheaded by bands of music and banners, the horses are taken home to their\nrespective stables, and public drinks are given to the carters by the\nCorporation, the railway companies, and other extensive firms. The Mayor\nand other members of the Corporation attend these annual feasts, and\nafter the repasts are ended the carters are usually addressed by some\npopular speaker, and much good advice is frequently given them.--Harland\nand Wilkinson, _Legends and Traditions of Lancashire_, 1873, p. 96.\n\nIn the _Life of Mrs. Pilkington_ (_Gent. Mag._ 1754, vol. xxiv. p. 354)\nallusion seems made to this custom. The writer says, They took places in\nthe waggon, and quitted London early on May-morning; and it being the\ncustom in this month for the passengers to give the waggoner at every\ninn a ribbon to adorn his team, she soon discovered the origin of the\nproverb, \u201cas fine as a horse;\u201d for before they got to the end of their\njourney the poor beasts were almost blinded by the tawdry party-coloured\nflowing honours of their heads.\n\nIn connection with this custom may be mentioned one practised at\nGilmerton, in the parish of Liberton, county of Edinburgh. The carters\nhave friendly societies for the purpose of supporting each other in old\nage or during ill-health, and with the view partly of securing a day\u2019s\nrecreation, and partly of recruiting their numbers and funds, they have\nan annual procession. Every man decorates his cart, horse, and ribbons,\nand a regular procession is made, accompanied by a band of music. To\ncrown all there is an uncouth uproarious race with cart-horses on the\npublic road, which draws forth a crowd of Edinburgh idlers, and all ends\nin a dinner, for which a fixed sum is paid.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_,\n1845, vol. i. p. 12.\n\nThe maypole of Lostock, a village near Bolton, in Lancashire, is\nprobably the most ancient on record. It is mentioned in a charter by\nwhich the town of West Halton was granted to the Abbey of Cockersand,\nabout the reign of King John. The pole, it appears, superseded a cross,\nand formed one of the landmarks which defined the boundaries, and must\ntherefore have been a permanent and not an annual erection. The words of\nthe charter are, \u201cDe Lostockmepull, ubi crux sita fuit recta linea in\naustro, usque ad crucem-super-le-Tunge.\u201d--Dugd., _Monast. Anglic._ 1830,\nvol. vi. p. ii. n. ii. p. 906; _Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 238.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nFormerly it was customary in some parts of this county to change\nservants on May-day.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1823, p. 118.\n\nA peculiar rustic ceremony used annually to be observed at Horncastle\ntowards the close of the last century. On the morning of May-day, when\nthe young people of the neighbourhood assembled to partake in the\namusements which ushered in the festival of the month, a train of youths\ncollected themselves at a place called the _May-bank_. From thence with\nwands enwreathed with cowslips, they walked in procession to the\nmaypole, situated to the west end of the town, and adorned on that\nmorning with every variety in the gifts of Flora. Here, uniting in the\nwild joy of young enthusiasm, they struck together their wands, and,\nscattering around the cowslips, testified their thankfulness for that\nbounty which, widely diffusing its riches, enabled them to return home\nrejoicing at the promises of the opening year.--Weir, _Sketches of\nHorncastle_.\n\nDr. Stukeley, in his _Itinerarium Curiosum_ (1724, p. 29), alluding to\nthis custom, says there is a maypole hill near Horncastle, where\nprobably stood an Hermes in Roman times. The boys annually keep up the\nfestival of the _Floralia_ on May-day, making a procession to this hill\nwith May-gads (as they call them) in their hands. This is a white willow\nwand, the bark peeled off, tied round with cowslips. At night they have\na bonfire, and other merriment, which is really a sacrifice or religious\nfestival.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nMay Day is ushered in with blowing of horns on the mountains, and with a\nceremony which, says Waldron, has something in the design of it pretty\nenough. In almost all the great parishes they choose from among the\ndaughters of the most wealthy farmers a young maid for the _Queen of\nMay_. She is dressed in the gayest and best manner they can, and is\nattended by about twenty others, who are called maids of honour. She has\nalso a young man, who is her captain, and has under his command a good\nnumber of inferior officers. In opposition to her is the Queen of\nWinter, who is a man dressed in woman\u2019s clothes, with woollen hood,\nfur-tippets, and loaded with the warmest and heaviest habits one upon\nanother. In the same manner are those, who represent her attendants,\ndrest; nor is she without a captain and troop for her defence. Both\nbeing equipt as proper emblems of the Beauty of the Spring and the\nDeformity of the Winter, they set forth from their respective quarters,\nthe one preceded by violins and flutes, the other with the rough music\nof the tongs and the cleavers. Both parties march till they meet on a\ncommon, and then their trains engage in a mock battle. If the Queen of\nthe Winter\u2019s forces get the better, so as to take the Queen of May\nprisoner, she is ransomed for as much as pays the expenses of the day.\nAfter this ceremony Winter and her company retire, and divert themselves\nin a barn, and the others remain on the green, where, having danced a\nconsiderable time, they conclude the evening with a feast, the queen at\none table with her maids, the captain with his troop at another. There\nare seldom less than fifty or sixty at each board.\n\nFor the seizure of her Majesty\u2019s person that of one of her slippers\nwas substituted more recently, which was in like manner ransomed\nto defray the expenses of the pageant. The procession of the\n_Summer_--which was subsequently composed of little girls, and called\nthe _Maceboard_[47]--outlived that of its rival, the _Winter_, some\nyears, and now, like many other remnants of antiquity, has fallen into\ndisuse.--Train, _History of the Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 118;\nWaldron, _Description of the Isle of Man_, p. 154.\n\n  [47] The _maceboard_ (probably a corruption of May sports) went from\n  door to door inquiring if the inmates would buy the queen\u2019s favour,\n  which was composed of a small piece of ribbon.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nLondon boasted several maypoles before the days of Puritanism. Many\nparishes vied with each other in the height and adornment of their own.\nOne famed pole stood in Basing Lane, near St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral, and was\nin the time of Stow kept in the hostelry called Gerard\u2019s Hall. \u201cIn the\nhigh-roofed hall of this house,\u201d says he, \u201csometime stood a large fir\npole, which reached to the roof thereof--a pole of forty feet long and\nfifteen inches about, fabled to be the justing staff of Gerard the\nGiant.\u201d A carved wooden figure of this giant, pole in hand, stood over\nthe gate of this old inn until March 1852, when the whole building was\ndemolished for city improvements.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 576. See\n_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 612.\n\nA maypole was annually erected on May-day morning in Leadenhall Street,\nthen called Cornhill, before the south door of the church known as that\nof St. Andrew the Apostle; and, in order to distinguish this church from\nothers dedicated to the same saint, it was termed in consequence St.\nAndrew\u2019s-Under-Shaft.[48] On the 1st May, 1517 (9th of Henry VIII.), a\nviolent tumult occurred in the city, and this pole was not raised\nafterwards.[49] The inhabitants had long regarded with much jealousy the\nnumerous foreigners who about that time took up their abode in\nLondon[50] and practised various trades, to the great injury, as was\nthen thought, of the citizens, and on the 28th of April a quarrel took\nplace between some of the London apprentices--at that time a powerful\nbody--and two or three foreigners whom they met in the street, when\nblows were exchanged. This disturbance, however, was quickly quelled,\nbut a rumour suddenly became general, although none knew on what\ngrounds, that on the ensuing May-day, taking advantage of the sports and\npastimes which were expected, all foreigners then in the city would be\nslain. In consequence of this various precautions were adopted by the\nauthorities with a view to prevent if possible any contemplated outrage,\nand all men were commanded to stay in their houses. Notwithstanding this\ninjunction, on the evening before May-day two striplings were found in\nCheapside \u201cplaying at the bucklers,\u201d and having been commanded to\ndesist, the cry of \u201c\u2019Prentices, \u2019prentices, bats and clubs!\u201d the usual\ngathering words at that period, was heard through the streets, and many\nhundreds of persons, armed with clubs and other weapons, assembled from\nall quarters, broke open the prisons, destroyed many houses occupied by\nforeigners, and committed other excesses. After some exertions on the\npart of the city authorities,[51] nearly three hundred of the rioters\nwere captured. A commission was appointed to inquire into the\ninsurrection, and a great number of the prisoners were condemned to die,\nbut with the exception of one John Lincolne, who was hung, they were all\nultimately pardoned. After this circumstance, which acquired for the day\non which it happened the title of \u201cEvil May-day,\u201d and induced those in\npower to discountenance sports which led to large congregations, the\nCornhill shaft was hung on a range of hooks under the \u201cpentises[52]\u201d of\na neighbouring row of houses, where it remained till 1549. In that year,\none Sir Stephen, curate of St. Catherine Cree, in a sermon which he\npreached at Paul\u2019s Cross, persuaded the people that this pole had been\nmade into an idol by naming the church of St. Andrew with the addition\nof Under that Shaft; and so worked upon them, that in the afternoon of\nthe same day, \u201cafter they had dined,\u201d the inhabitants with great labour\nraised the pole off the hooks on which it had rested thirty-two years,\nand each man sawing off for himself a piece equal to the length of his\nhouse, it was quickly demolished and burned.--Godwin and Britton,\n_Churches of London_, 1839; Brayley, _Londiniana_, 1829, vol. iii. p.\n223; Hall\u2019s _Chronicle_, 1517.\n\n  [48] This pole, when it was fixed in the ground, was higher than the\n  church steeple; and it is to this that Chaucer the poet refers when he\n  says, speaking of a vain boaster, that he bears his head \u201cas he would\n  bear the great shaft of Cornhill.\u201d--Stow\u2019s _Survey_, B. ii. p. 65;\n  Godwin and Britton, _Churches of London_, 1839.\n\n  [49] Pennant, _London_ (5th edition, p. 587), says this shaft gave\n  rise to the insurrection. Godwin and Britton deny this was the case.\n\n  [50] Hall, in his _Chronicle_, says these foreigners \u201ccompassed the\n  citie rounde aboute, in Southwarke, in Westminster, Temple Barre,\n  Holborne, Sayncte Martynes, Sayncte John\u2019s Strete, Algate, Toure Hyll,\n  and Sainct Katherines.\u201d\n\n  [51] Cholmondeley, constable of the Tower, discharged some guns into\n  the streets, while the Earls of Shrewsbury and Surrey, collecting the\n  gentlemen of the Inns of Court, restrained the violence of the\n  populace.--Lyttleton, _History of England_, vol. ii. p. 167.\n\n  [52] Of the pent-house, or shelving roof projecting from the main\n  wall, by which the shops at that period were ordinarily protected,\n  many examples, Godwin and Britton say, existed in their time.\n\nBrayley in his _Londiniana_ (vol. iv. p. 318) says, nearly opposite to\nCraven Buildings is a low public-house, bearing the sign of the _Cock\nand Pye_ (a contraction for the Cock and Magpye), which two centuries\nago was almost the only dwelling in the eastern part of Drury Lane,\nexcept the mansion of the Drewries. Hither the youths and maidens of the\nmetropolis, who, in social revelry on May-day threaded the jocund dance\naround the maypole in the Strand, were accustomed to resort for cakes\nand ale and other refreshments.\n\n\n_May Fair._--This saturnalia was held by a grant of the Abbot of\nWestminster, \u201cwith revelry for fourteen days.\u201d It took place annually,\ncommencing on the first of May. The locality was anciently called Brook\nField, the site of which is now covered with Curzon Street, Hertford\nStreet, and Chesterfield House. Frequent allusions to the fair are found\nin plays and pamphlets of Charles II.\u2019s time, and hand-bills and\nadvertisements of the reign of James II. and his successors are in\nexistence.\n\nMay Fair was granted by James II., in the fourth year of his reign, to\nSir John Coell and his heirs for ever, in trust for Henry Lord Dover,\nand his heirs for ever. Before 1704 the ground became much built upon,\nas we learn from the old rate-books, and in November 1708 the gentlemen\nof the grand jury for the county of Middlesex and the city of\nWestminster made presentment of the fair, in terms of abhorrence, as a\n\u201cvile and riotous assembly.\u201d The Queen listened to a petition from the\nbench of justices for Middlesex, and a royal proclamation, dated April\n28th, 1709, prohibiting the fair (at least as far as the amusements were\nconcerned), was the result. It was, however, soon revived \u201cas of old,\u201d\nand, we are told, was much patronised \u201cby the nobility and gentry.\u201d It\nhad also its attractions for the ruder class of holiday-makers, as we\nlearn from the following copy of a hand-bill formerly in the Upcott\nCollection, dated 1748:\n\n\u201c_May Fair._--At the Ducking Pond on Monday next, the 27th inst., Mr.\nHooton\u2019s dog Nero (ten years old, with hardly a tooth in his head to\nhold a duck, but well known for his goodness to all that have seen him\nhunt), hunts six ducks for a guinea against the bitch called the Flying\nSpaniel, from the Ducking Pond on the other side of the water, which has\nbeat all she has hunted against, excepting Mr. Hooton\u2019s Good Blood. To\nbegin at two o\u2019clock.\n\n\u201cMr. Hooton begs his customers won\u2019t take it amiss to pay twopence\nadmittance at the gate, and take a ticket, which will be allowed as cash\nin their reckoning; no person admitted without a ticket, that such as\nare not liked may be kept out.\n\n\u201c_Note_--Right Lincoln ale.\u201d\n\nMr. Morley, in his _History of Bartholomew Fair_ (1859, p. 103), after\nnoticing the presentment of the grand jury in 1708 and the prohibition\nof May Fair, tells us that the fair was revived, and \u201cfinally abolished\nin the reign of George II. after a peace-officer had been killed in the\nattempt to quell a riot.\u201d The statement, however, of the fair having\nbeen finally abolished in the reign of George II. is perfectly\ngratuitous on the part of the historian of \u201cBartlemy,\u201d as it existed\nuntil near the end of another reign. Carter the antiquary wrote an\naccount of it in 1816, and he says that a few years previously it was\nmuch in the same state as it had been for fifty years. This description,\nfull of curious interest, was communicated to the _Gentleman\u2019s Magazine_\nfor March 1816 (vol. lxxxvi. p. 228). It has been reprinted in Hone\u2019s\n_Every Day Book_, 1826, vol. i. p. 572; See Soane\u2019s _New Curiosities of\nLiterature_, 1867, vol i. p. 250, &c.; _N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. x. p. 358.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nOn the morning of May-day the girls from the neighbouring villages of\nKingsthorpe, &c., bring into Northampton their garlands, which they\nexhibit from house to house (to show, as the inhabitants say, what\nflowers are in season), and usually receive a trifle from each house.\n\nThe skeleton of the garland is formed of two hoops of osier or hazel\ncrossing each other at right angles, affixed to a staff about five feet\nlong, by which it is carried; the hoops are twined with flowers and\nribbons so that no part of them is visible. In the centre is placed one,\ntwo, or three dolls, according to the size of the garland and the means\nof the youthful exhibitors. Great emulation is excited amongst them, and\nthey vie with each other in collecting the choicest flowers, and\nadorning the dolls in the gayest attire; ribbon streamers of the varied\ncolours of the rainbow, the lacemakers adding their spangled bobbins,\ndecorate the whole. The garlands are carried from house to house\nconcealed from view by a large pocket-handkerchief, and in some villages\nit is customary to inquire if the inmates would like to see the Queen of\nthe May.\n\nWherever the young people receive a satisfactory contribution they chant\ntheir simple ditties, which conclude with wishing the inhabitants of the\nhouse \u201ca joyful May,\u201d or \u201ca merry month of May.\u201d The verses sung by the\nDallington children are entirely different from those of any other\nvillage, and are here subjoined:--\n\n    \u201cThe flowers are blooming everywhere,\n      O\u2019er every hill and dale;\n    And oh! how beautiful they are,\n      How sweetly do they smell!\n\n    Go forth, my child, and laugh and play,\n      And let your cheerful voice,\n    With birds, and brooks, and merry May,\n      Cry out, Rejoice! rejoice!\u201d\n\nWhen the Mayers have collected all the money they can obtain, they\nreturn to their homes, and regale themselves, concluding the day with a\nmerry dance round the garland.--_Every Day Book_, 1826, vol. ii. p.\n615; _Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and Phrases_, 1854, vol. ii. p.\n421.\n\nClare, \u201cthe Peasant Poet\u201d of Northampton, in one of his MS. ballads,\ndescribes the manner in which May-day is observed in his native village,\nHelpstone, near Peterborough, and the neighbourhood. His delightful\nballad is printed by Miss Baker in her work already quoted (vol. ii. p.\n423).\n\n    \u201cHow beautiful May and its morning comes in!\n    The songs of the maidens, you hear them begin\n    To sing the old ballads while cowslips they pull,\n    While the dew of the morning fills many pipes full.\n\n    The closes are spangled with cowslips like gold,\n    Girls cram in their aprons what baskets can\u2019t hold;\n    And still gather on to the heat of the day,\n    Till force often throws the last handful away.\n\n    Then beneath an old hawthorn they sit, one and all,\n    And make the May-garlands, and round _cuck_ a ball\n    Of cowslips and blossoms so showy and sweet,\n    And laugh when they think of the swains they shall meet.\n\n    Then to finish the garland they trudge away home,\n    And beg from each garden the flowers then in bloom;\n    Then beneath the old eldern, beside the old wall,\n    They set out to make it, maid, misses and all.\n\n    The ribbons the ploughmen bought maids at the fair\n    Are sure to be seen in a garland so fair;\n    And dolls from the children they dress up and take,\n    While children laugh loud at the show they will make.\n\n    Then they take round the garland to show at each door,\n    With kerchief to hide the fine flowers cover\u2019d o\u2019er;\n    At cottages also, when willing to pay,\n    The maidens their much-admired garland display.\n\n    Then at _duck-under-water_[53] adown the long road\n    They run with their dresses all flying abroad;\n    And ribbons all colours, how sweet they appear!\n    May seems to begin the life of the year.\n\n    Then the garland on ropes is hung high over all,\n    One end to a tree, and one hooked to a wall;\n    When they _cuck_ the ball over till day is nigh gone,\n    And then tea and cakes and the dancing comes on.\n\n    And then, lawk! what laughing and dancing is there,\n    While the fiddler makes faces within the arm-chair;\n    And then comes the _cushion_,[54] the girls they all shriek,\n    And fly to the door from the old fiddler\u2019s squeak.\n\n    But the doors they are fastened, so all must kneel down,\n    And take the rude kiss from the unmannerly clown.\n    Thus the May games are ended, to their houses they roam,\n    With the sweetheart she chooses each maiden goes home.\u201d\n\n  [53] Duck-under-the-water. A game in which the players run, two and\n  two, in rapid succession, under a handkerchief held up aloft by two\n  persons standing apart with extended arms. Formerly in this northern\n  part of Northamptonshire even married women on May-day played at this\n  game under the garland, which was extended from chimney to chimney\n  across the village street.--_Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and\n  Phrases_, 1854, vol. i. p. 204.\n\n  [54] The cushion dance appears to be of some antiquity: it is thus\n  mentioned by Selden in his _Table Talk_, under \u201cKing of\n  England\u201d:--\u201cThe court of England is much altered. At a solemn dancing,\n  first you have the great measures, then the Corrantoes and the\n  Galliards, and this is kept up with ceremony; at length to French-more\n  [Frenchmore] and the cushion dance, and then all the company\n  dance--lord and groom, lady and kitchen maid, no distinction. So in\n  our court in Queen Elizabeth\u2019s time gravity and state were kept up. In\n  King James\u2019 time things were very pretty well. But in King Charles\u2019\n  time there was nothing but Frenchmore and the cushion-dance, omnium\n  gatherum, tolly polly, hoite come toite.\u201d In Playford\u2019s _Dancing\n  Master_ (1698, p. 7) it is described as follows:--\u201cThis dance is begun\n  by a single person (either man or woman), who, taking a cushion in\n  hand, dances about the room, and at the end of the tune stops and\n  sings, \u2018This dance it will no further go;\u2019 the musician answers, \u2018I\n  pray you, good sir, why say you so?\u2019 _Man._ \u2018Because Jean Sanderson\n  will not come to.\u2019 _Musician._ \u2018She must come to, and she shall come\n  to, and she must whether she will or no.\u2019 Then he lays down the\n  cushion before a woman, on which she kneels, and he kisses her,\n  singing, \u2018Welcome, Joan Sanderson, welcome, welcome.\u2019 Then she rises,\n  takes up the cushion, and both dance, singing, \u2018Prinkum prankum is a\n  fine dance, and shall we go dance it once again?\u2019 Then making a stop,\n  the woman sings as before, \u2018This dance it will no further go.\u2019\n  _Musician._ \u2018I pray you, madam, why say you so?\u2019 _Woman._ \u2018Because\n  John Sanderson will not come to.\u2019 _Musician._ \u2018He must come to,\u2019 &c.\n  (as before). And so she lays down the cushion before a man, who,\n  kneeling upon it, salutes her, she singing \u2018Welcome, John Sanderson,\u2019\n  &c. Then he taking up the cushion, they dance round, singing as\n  before, and thus they do till the whole company are taken into the\n  ring. Then the cushion is laid before the first man, the woman singing\n  \u2018This dance,\u2019 &c. (as before), only instead of \u2018not come to,\u2019 they\n  sing, \u2018go fro;\u2019 and instead of \u2018Welcome, John Sanderson,\u2019 \u2018Farewell,\n  farewell;\u2019 and so they go out one by one as they came in.\u201d\n\n  This dance was well known in Holland in the early part of the\n  seventeenth century, and an interesting engraving of it may be seen in\n  the \u2018Emblems of John de Brunnes,\u2019 Amst. 1624.--Nares\u2019 _Glossary_\n  (Halliwell and Wright), 1859, vol. i. p. 219.\n\nA native of Fotheringhay, Mr. W. C. Peach, relates that he was formerly\naccustomed to go into the fields over-night and very early on May-day to\ngather cowslips, primroses, wood-anemones, blue bells, &c., to make the\ngarlands. The garland, if possible, was hung in the centre of the street\non a rope stretched from house to house. Then was made the trial of\nskill in tossing balls (small white leather ones) through the framework\nof the garland, to effect which was a triumph. Speaking of the May-bush\n(a large tree selected for being tall, straight, full of branches, and\nif possible flowers), Mr. W. C. Peach says, \u201cI have been looking out for\na pretty bush days before the time, and if hawthorn and in blossom, then\nit was glorious. I have seen them ten or twelve feet high, and many in\ncircumference, and they required a stalwart arm to carry and put them\ninto a hole in the ground before the front door, where they were wedged\non each side so as to appear growing. Flowers were then thrown over the\nbush and around it, and strewn as well before the door. Pretty little\nbranches of whitethorn, adorned with the best flowers procurable, were\noccasionally put up, unperceived by others if possible, against the\nbed-room of the favourite lass, to show the esteem in which she was\nheld, and the girls accordingly were early on the alert to witness the\nrespective favours allotted them. Elder, crab-tree, nettles, thistles,\nsloes, &c., marked the different degrees of respect in which some of\nthem were held.\u201d--_Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and Phrases_, vol.\nii. p. 427.\n\nAt Nassington they carry garlands about, and beg for money; in the\nevening they tie them across the street from chimney to chimney, and\ndance under them. Formerly married women used to amuse themselves by\nplaying under them at the game of Duck-under-the-water.[55]--_Ibid._ p.\n428.\n\n  [55] See note on page 252.\n\nAt Nassington a curious pasture custom also takes place on May-day.\nThere is a large tract of meadow-land lying on the side of the river\nNen, which the inhabitants of the village have the right of pasturing\ncows upon.[56] The pasture season commences on May-day, and on the\nevening preceding a rail is put across the entrance to the pasture,\nwhich the cows must leap to get into. Much rivalry takes place on this\noccasion. The lads watch through the night and the dawning of May-day,\nthe lasses with their cows being ready at the proper moment to see which\ncow shall leap the rail first into the meadow, and the cow which does\nthis is led round the village in the afternoon, her horns decorated with\nribbons, &c. Degradation only awaits the hindmost cow, she has to carry\nelder, nettles, and thistles as her badge, and the lass who milks her\nhas to bear the gibes and jeers of the villagers.--_Glossary, &c._, p.\n428.\n\n  [56] _Vide_ Bridge\u2019s _Hist. of Co. of Northampton_, 1791, vol. ii. p.\n  468.\n\nAt Morton-Pinkeney the following song is sung by the children on\nMay-morning:--\n\n    \u201cI have a little purse in my pocket,\n      All fixed with a silver pin;\n    And all that it wants is a more little silver\n      To line it well within.\n    The clock strikes one, I must be gone,\n      Or else it will be day;\n    Good morning to you, my pretty fair maid,\n      I wish you the merriment of May.\u201d--\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 426.\n\nAt Polebrook, on the last few days of April, the Queen of May and her\nattendants gather what flowers they can from the surrounding meadows,\nand call at the houses of the principal inhabitants to beg flowers, the\ngift or the loan of ribbons, handkerchiefs, dolls, &c., with which to\nform their garland. This being arranged on hoops, the young maidens\nassemble on May-morning, and carry it round the village, preceded by a\nfiddler; and the following quaint song--very similar to the one used at\nHitchin, and thought from its phraseology to have been written in the\ntime of the Puritans--is sung by the Queen and her company at the\ndifferent houses, and a gratuity is solicited.\n\n    \u201cRemember us poor mayers all,\n      For now we do begin\n    To lead our lives in righteousness,\n      For fear we die in sin.\n\n    To die in sin is a serious thing,\n      To go where sinners mourn;\n    \u2019Twould have been better for our poor souls\n      If we had ne\u2019er been born.\n\n    Now we\u2019ve been travelling all the night,\n      And best part of this day;\n    And now we\u2019re returning back again,\n      And have brought you a branch of May.\n\n    A branch of May, which looks so gay,\n      Before your door to stand;\n    \u2019Tis but a sprout, but \u2019tis well spread out,\n      The work of our Lord\u2019s hand.\n\n    Arise, arise, you pretty fair maid,\n      Out of your drowsy dream,\n    And step into your dairy-house\n      For a sup of your sweet cream.\n\n    O, for a sup of your sweet cream,\n      Or a jug of your own beer;\n    And if we tarry in the town,\n      We\u2019ll call another year.\n\n    Now take the Bible in your hand,\n      And read a chapter through,\n    And when the day of judgment comes,\n      The Lord will think of you.\n\n    Repent, repent, ye wicked men,\n      Repent before you die;\n    There\u2019s no repentance in the grave,\n      When in the ground you lie.\n\n    But now my song is almost done,\n      I\u2019ve got no more to say;\n    God bless you all, both great and small,\n      I wish you a joyful May.\u201d\n\nThe garland is afterwards suspended by ropes from the school-house to an\nopposite tree, and the mayers and other children amuse themselves by\nthrowing balls over it. With the money collected tea and cakes are\nprovided for the joyous party. The Queen of the May takes her seat at\nthe head of the tea-table, under a bower composed of branches of may and\nblackthorn; a wreath of flowers is placed on her head, and she is hailed\n\u201cLady of the May.\u201d The attendants wait round her, the party of mayers\nseat themselves at a long table below, and the evening concludes with\nmirth and merriment.--_Glossary, &c._, p. 424.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND\n\nThe young people of both sexes go out early in the morning to gather the\nflowering thorn and the dew off the grass, which they bring home with\nmusic and acclamations; and having dressed a pole on the town-green with\ngarlands, dance around it. A syllabub is also prepared for the\nMay-feast, which is made of warm milk from the cow, sweet cakes, and\nwine; and a kind of divination is practised by fishing with a ladle for\na wedding-ring which is dropped into it for the purpose of\nprognosticating who shall be first married.--Hutchinson, _Hist. of\nNorthumberland_, 1778, vol. ii., Appendix, p. 14.\n\nAt Newcastle-upon-Tyne it was formerly usual on May-mornings for the\nyoung girls to sing these lines in the streets, at the same time\ngathering flowers:--\n\n    \u201cRise up, maidens, fie for shame!\n    For I\u2019ve been four long miles from hame,\n    I\u2019ve been gathering my garlands gay,\n    Rise up, fair maids, and take in your May!\u201d--\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 219.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nThe May-day customs observed in this county are in many respects similar\nto those of other counties, but Nottinghamshire has the honour of being\nthe parent of most of the happy sports which characterise this joyous\nperiod of the year, from the fact of most of the May-day games having\nhad their origin in the world famous Robin Hood, whose existence and\nrenown are so intimately connected with this district. His connection\nwith \u201cMerry Sherwood\u201d and the Sheriff of Nottingham have been universal\nthemes for centuries; and these and the \u201cMiller of Mansfield\u201d and the\n\u201cWise Men of Gotham\u201d have done more towards making this county famous\nthan all the rest of the ballads and popular literature put together.\nMaypoles and morris-dances were formerly very general, and the\ncharacters of Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, and the\nHobby-horse were well sustained. The maypoles were sometimes very\nelegantly ornamented, and surmounted by flags and streamers of various\ncolours. One was not many years ago remaining by Hucknall Folkard, and\nat the top were portions of the ironwork and decorations still in being.\nThe morris-dance was unquestionably one of the most popular of the many\ngames incident to this season, and was very generally prevalent\nthroughout this county, and many are the ballads dedicated to its\nobservance. The following is of 1614:--\n\n    \u201cIt was my hap of late by chance\n    To meet a country morris-dance,\n    When, chiefest of them all the foole\n    Plaid with a ladle and a toole;\n    When every younker shak\u2019t his hels,\n    And fine Maid Marian with her smoile,\n    Showed how a rascal plaid the voile,\n    And when the hobby horse did wihy,\n    Then all the wenches gave a tihy,\u201d &c.\n\nMay-day, although a day of general holiday and rejoicing, is\nnevertheless considered, as is the whole of the month, unlucky for\nmarriage, and few are celebrated on this day; more weddings being\nhastened, so as to be over before this day, than postponed until June.\nThis does not apply to divinations for future partners, for in some\nparts of the county it is usual to prepare a sweet mixture on the first\nof May, composed of new milk, cakes, wine, and spice, and for the\nassembled company to fish with a ladle for a ring and a sixpence, which\nhave been dropped into the bowl; the young man who gains the ring and\nthe young woman the sixpence being supposed to be intended for each\nother.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. viii. p. 234.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nPrevious to the Reformation a requiem mass is said to have been\nperformed every May-morning at an early hour on the top of Magdalen\ntower, Oxford, for the repose of the soul of Henry VII., who had\nhonoured that college with a visit in 1486-7. The choristers continue to\nexecute in the same place, at five o\u2019clock in the morning of the same\nday, certain pieces of choir-music, for which service the rectory of\nSlimbridge in Gloucestershire pays the yearly sum of \u00a310. The ceremony\nhas encouraged the notion that Henry contributed to the erection of the\ntower, but his only recorded act of favour to the college is the\nconfirmation of its claim to the rectory charged with the annual\npayment.\n\nThe following hymn is sung on the occasion of this ceremony:\n\n    \u201cTe Deum Patrem colimus,\n    Te laudibus prosequimur,\n    Qui corpus cibo reficis\n    C\u0153lesti mentem gratia.\n\n    Te adoramus, O Jesu!\n    Te, Fili unigenite!\n    Te, qui non dedignatus es\n    Subire claustra Virginis.\n\n    Actus in crucem factus es,\n    Irato Deo victima;\n    Per te, Salvator unice,\n    Vit\u00e6 spes nobis rediit.\n\n    Tibi, \u00e6terne Spiritus,\n    Cujus afflatu peperit\n    Infantem Deum Maria,\n    \u00c6ternum benedicimus!\n\n    Triune Deus, hominum\n    Salutis Auctor optime,\n    Immensum hoc mysterium\n    Ovanti lingua canimus.\u201d\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_2nd S._ vii. p. 446) thinks this hymn was\ncomposed by Dr. Thomas Smith, a very learned fellow of Magdalen College,\nsoon after the Restoration, and that it was not sung till about the\nmiddle of the last century.[57]--Akerman, _History of Oxford_, vol. i.\np. 251; Wade, _Walks in Oxford_, 1817, vol. i. p. 132.\n\n  [57] Whilst making some researches in the library of Christchurch,\n  Oxford, Dr. Rimbault discovered what appeared to him to be the first\n  draft of the hymn in question. It has the following note:--\u201cThis hymn\n  is sung every day in Magdalen College Hall, Oxon, dinner and supper,\n  throughout the year for the after-grace, by the chaplain, clerks, and\n  choristers there. Composed by Dr. Benjamin Rogers, Doctor of Musicke,\n  of the University of Oxon, 1685.\u201d It has been popularly supposed, says\n  Dr. Rimbault, to be the Hymnus Eucharisticus, written by Dr. Nathaniel\n  Ingelo, and sung at the civic feast at Guildhall on the 5th of July,\n  1660, while the King and the other exalted personages were at dinner;\n  but this is a mistake, for the words of Ingelo\u2019s hymn, very different\n  from the Magdalen hymn, still exist, and are to be found in Wood\u2019s\n  Collection in the Ashmolean Museum.\n\nDr. Rimbault, in a communication to the _Illustrated London News_ (May\n17th, 1856), speaking of this custom, says:--In the year of our Lord God\n1501, the \u201cmost Christian\u201d King Henry VII. gave to St. Mary Magdalen\nCollege the advowsons of the churches of Slimbridge, county of\nGloucester, and Fyndon, county of Sussex, together with one acre of land\nin each parish. In gratitude for this benefaction, the college was\naccustomed, during the lifetime of their royal benefactor, to celebrate\na service in honour of the Holy Trinity, with the collect still used on\nTrinity Sunday, and the prayer, \u201cAlmighty and everlasting God, we are\ntaught by Thy Holy Word that the hearts of kings,\u201d &c.; and after the\ndeath of the king to commemorate him in the usual manner. The\ncommemoration service ordered in the time of Queen Elizabeth is still\nperformed on the 1st of May, and the Latin hymn in honour of the Holy\nTrinity, which continues to be sung on the tower at sun-rising, has\nevidently reference to the original service. The produce of the two\nacres above mentioned used to be distributed on the same day between the\nPresident and Fellows; it has however for many years been given up to\nsupply the choristers with a festal entertainment in the college-hall.\n\nIt was also the custom at Oxford a generation ago for little boys to\nblow horns about the streets early on May-day, which they did for the\npurpose of \u201ccalling up the old maids.\u201d \u201cI asked an aged inhabitant,\u201d\nsays a correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_4th S._ vol. vii. p. 430), \u201chow long\nthe horn-blowing had ceased, and he replied, ever since the Reform Bill\ncame in; but that he remembered the time when the workhouse children\nwere let out for May-day early in the morning with their horns and\ngarlands, and a worthy alderman whom he named always kept open house on\nthat day, and gave them a good dinner.\u201d \u201cCalling up the old maids\u201d no\ndoubt refers to the practice of calling up the maids, whether old or\nyoung, to go a-maying. Hearne, in his preface to Robert of Gloucester\u2019s\n_Chronicle_, alluding to the custom (p. 18) says:--\u201c\u2019Tis no wonder,\ntherefore, that upon the jollities on the first day of May formerly the\ncustom of blowing with, and drinking in, horns so much prevailed, which,\nthough it be now generally disused, yet the custom of blowing them\nprevails at this season, even to this day at Oxford, to remind people of\nthe pleasantness of that part of the year, which ought to create mirth\nand gayety.\u201d\n\nAubrey has this memorandum in his _Remains of Gentilisme and Judaisme_\n(MS. Lansd. 266, p. 5):--At Oxford the boys do blow cows\u2019 horns and\nhollow canes all night; and on May-day the young maids of every parish\ncarry about garlands of flowers, which afterwards they hang up in their\nchurches.\n\nAt Combe, in the same county, troops of little girls dressed up\nfantastically parade the village, carrying sticks, to the top of which\nare tied bunches of flowers, and singing the following song:--\n\n    \u201cGentlemen and ladies,\n      We wish you a happy May;\n    We\u2019ve come to show our garlands,\n      Because it is May-day.\u201d\n\nThe same verse, substantially, is the May-day song at Wootton, an\nadjoining parish. The last two of the four lines are sometimes as\nfollow:--\n\n    \u201cCome, kiss my face, and smell my mace,\n    And give the lord and lady something.\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. vii. p. 425.\n\nAt Headington, about two miles from Oxford, the children gather garlands\nfrom house to house. Each garland is formed of a hoop for a rim, with\ntwo half hoops attached to it and crossed above, much in the shape of a\ncrown; each member is adorned with flowers, and the top surmounted by a\ncrown imperial or other showy bunch of flowers. Each garland is attended\nby four children, two girls dressed in all their best, who carry the\ngarland, supported betwixt them by a stick passed through it between the\narches. These are followed by the \u201clord and lady,\u201d a boy and girl, who\ngo from house to house and sing the same song as is sung at Combe. In\nthe village are upwards of a dozen of these garlands, with their \u201clords\nand ladies,\u201d which give to the place the most gay and animated\nappearance.--_Literary Gazette_, May 1847.\n\nAt Islip the children, carrying May-garlands, go about in little groups,\nsinging the following carol:--\n\n    \u201cGood morning, mi-sus and master,\n      I wish you a happy day;\n    Please to smell my garland,\n      Because it is the first of May.\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 219.\n\n\nSHROPSHIRE.\n\nIt has been usual for the people in this neighbourhood to assemble on\nthe Wrekin hill on the Sunday after May-day, and the three successive\nSundays, to drink a health \u201cto all friends round the Wrekin;\u201d but as on\nthis annual festival various scenes of drunkenness and licentiousness\nwere frequently exhibited, its celebration has of late been very\nproperly discouraged by the magistracy, and is going deservedly to\ndecay.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 599.\n\n\nSOMERSETSHIRE.\n\nAt Minehead May-day is observed by the celebration of a custom called\n\u201cHobby-horsing.\u201d A number of young men, mostly fishermen and sailors,\nhaving previously made some grotesque figures of light stuff, rudely\nresembling men and horses with long tails, sufficiently large to cover\nand disguise the persons who are to carry them, assemble together and\nperambulate the town and neighbourhood, performing a variety of antics,\nto the great amusement of the children and young persons. They never\nfail to pay a visit to Dunster Castle, where, after having been\nhospitably regaled with strong beer and victuals, they always receive a\npresent in money. Many other persons, inhabitants of the places they\nvisit, give them small sums, and such persons as they meet are also\nasked to contribute a trifle; if they are refused, the person of the\nrefuser is subjected to the ceremony of booting or pursuing. This is\ndone by some of the attendants holding his person while one of the\nfigures inflicts ten slight blows on him with the top of a boot, he is\nthen liberated, and all parties give three huzzas. The most trifling sum\nbuys off this ceremony, and it is seldom or never performed but on\nthose who purposely throw themselves in their way, and join the party,\nor obstruct them in their vagaries. This custom probably owes its origin\nto some ancient practice of perambulating the boundaries of the\nparish.--Savage, _History of Carthampton_, p. 583.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Uttoxeter groups of children carry garlands of flowers about the\ntown. The garlands consist of two hoops, one passing through the other,\nwhich give the appearance of four half circles, and they are decorated\nwith flowers and evergreens and surmounted with a bunch of flowers as a\nsort of crown, and in the centre of the hoops is a pendent orange and\nflowers. Mostly one or more of the children carry a little pole or\nstick, with a collection of flowers tied together at one end, and\ncarried vertically, and the children themselves are adorned with ribbons\nand flowers. Thus they go from house to house, which they are encouraged\nto do by the pence they obtain.--Redfern, _History of Uttoxeter_, 1865,\np. 262.\n\n\nSUFFOLK.\n\nFormerly in this county it was the custom in most farm-houses for any\nservant who could bring in a branch of hawthorn in full blossom to\nreceive a dish of cream for breakfast. To this practice the following\nrhyme apparently alludes:--\n\n    \u201cThis is the day,\n    And here is our May,\n    The finest ever seen,\n    It is fit for the queen;\n    So pray, ma\u2019am, give us a cup of your cream\u201d--\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 229.\n\n\nSURREY.\n\nIn the parish of St. Thomas, Southwark, says Allen (_History of Surrey\nand Sussex_, 1829, vol. i. p. 261), there was an ancient custom for the\nprincipal inhabitants to meet and dine together annually on the first of\nMay. This was called the \u201cMay-feast.\u201d The gentleman who presided on the\noccasion was called the steward. At the meeting in 1698, Mr. John\nPanther, being in that office, proposed to make a collection for binding\nout as apprentices the children of poor persons having a legal\nsettlement. This was readily acceded to, and it was resolved that the\nminister of the parish, and such gentlemen as had served the office of\nsteward, and should afterwards serve it, should be governors. This\nexcellent plan has been followed ever since: the members for the borough\nare always invited to the feast, and a liberal collection is made. By\nmeans of donations and good management on the part of the governors a\nconsiderable sum has been invested in the public funds. These boys are\napprenticed annually, and if so many are not found in St Thomas\u2019s\nparish, the stewards in rotation may each appoint one from any other\nparish.--Brayley, _History of Surrey_, 1841, vol. v. p. 399.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nIn very early times May-day was celebrated with great spirit in the town\nof Rye; young people going out at sunrise and returning with large\nboughs and branches of trees, with which they adorned the fronts of the\nhouses. About three hundred years ago the Corporation possessed certain\nwoodlands, called the common woods, whither the people used to go and\ncut the boughs, until at length they did so much damage that the\npractice was prohibited. A few years ago here and there a solitary\nmay-bough graced a house, but they have now ceased to appear altogether.\nA garland or two carried by little children, and the chimney-sweepers in\ntheir ivy-leaves, representing \u201cJack of May,\u201d are the only relics of\nthese May-day sports, so characteristic of merry England in former\ntimes.--Holloway, _Hist. of Rye_, 1847, p. 608.\n\n\nWESTMORELAND.\n\nAt a village called Temple Sowerby it is customary for a number of\npersons to assemble together on the green, and there propose a certain\nnumber as candidates for contesting the various prizes then produced,\nwhich consist of a grindstone as the head prize; a hone, or whetstone\nfor a razor, as the second; and whetstones of an inferior description\nfor those who can only reach a state of mediocrity in \u201cthe noble art of\nlying!\u201d The people are the judges. Each candidate in rotation commences\na story such as his fertile genius at the moment prompts, and the more\nmarvellous and improbable his story happens to be, so much the greater\nchance is there of his success. After being amused in this manner for a\nconsiderable length of time, and awarding the prizes to the most\ndeserving, the host of candidates, judges, and other attendants adjourn\nto the inns, where the sports of the day very often end in a few\nsplendid battles.--_Every Day Book_, vol ii. p. 599.\n\nIn this county it is the practice, every May-morning, to make folks\nMay-goslings,[58] a practice similar to that on the first of April. This\ncustom prevails till twelve o\u2019clock at noon, after which time none carry\non the sport. On this day, too, ploughmen and others decorate themselves\nwith garlands and flowers, and parade through different towns for their\nannual collection, which they spend in the evening with their\nsweethearts at the maypole.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1829, p. 176.\n\n  [58] See page 233.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nThe dance round the Maypole is kept up, says Cuthbert Bede (_N. & Q. 1st\nS._ vol. x. p. 92), at the village of Clent, near Hagley.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nAbout a fortnight previous to May-day the question among the lads and\nlasses is, \u201cWho will turn out to dance in the summer this year?\u201d From\nthat time the names of the performers are buzzed in the village, and\nrumour proclaims them throughout the surrounding neighbourhood. Nor is\nit asked with less interest, \u201cWho will carry the garland?\u201d and \u201cWho will\nbe the Cadi?\u201d About nine days or a week previous to the festival a\ncollection is made of the gayest ribbons that can be procured. During\nthis time, too, the chosen garland-bearer is busily employed.\nAccompanied by one from among the intended dancers who is best known\namong the farmers for good conduct, they go from house to house\nthroughout their parish, begging the loan of watches, silver spoons, and\nother utensils of this metal, and those who are satisfied with the\nparties, and have a regard for the celebration of this ancient day,\ncomply with their solicitation. When May-day morn arrives the group of\ndancers assemble at the village tavern. From thence (when permission can\nbe obtained from the clergyman of the parish) the procession sets forth,\naccompanied by the ringing of bells. The arrangement and march are\nsettled by the Cadi, who is always the most active person in the\ncompany, and is, by virtue of his office, the chief marshal, orator,\nbuffoon, and money-collector. He is always arrayed in comic attire,\ngenerally in a partial dress of both sexes, a coat and waistcoat being\nused for the upper part of the body, and for the lower petticoats\nsomewhat resembling Moll Flagon, in the \u201cLord of the Manor.\u201d His\ncountenance is also distinguished by a hideous mask, or is blackened\nentirely over, and then the lips, cheeks, and orbits of the eyes are\nsometimes painted red. The number of the rest of the party, including\nthe garland-bearer, is generally thirteen, and with the exception of the\nvaried taste in the decoration of their shirts with ribbons, their\ncostume is similar. It consists of clothing entirely new, made of a\nlight texture for dancing. White decorated shirts, are worn over the\nrest of their clothing; the remainder of the dress is black velveteen\nbreeches, with knee-ties depending halfway down to the ancles, in\ncontrast with yarn hose of a light grey. The ornaments of the hats are\nlarge rosettes of varied colours, with streamers depending from them;\nwreaths of ribbon encircle the crown, and each of the dancers carries in\nhis right hand a white pocket-handkerchief. The garland consists of a\nlong staff or pole, to which is affixed a triangular or square frame,\ncovered with strong white linen, on which the silver ornaments are\nfixed, and displayed with great taste. Silver spoons, &c. are placed in\nthe shape of stars, squares, and circles. Between these are rows of\nwatches, and at the top of the frame, opposite to the pole in its\ncentre, the whole collection is crowned with the largest and most costly\nof the ornaments, generally a large silver cup or tankard. This\ngarland, when completed on the eve of May-day, is left for the night at\nthat farm-house from whence the dancers have received the most liberal\nloan of silver and plate for its decoration, or with that farmer who is\ndistinguished in his neighbourhood as a good master, and liberal to the\npoor. Its deposit is a token of respect, and it is called for early on\nthe following morning. The whole party being assembled, they march,\nheaded by the Cadi. After him follows the garland-bearer, and then the\nfiddler, while the bells of the village merrily ring the signal of their\ndeparture. As the procession moves slowly along the Cadi varies his\nstation, hovers about his party, brandishes a ladle, and assails every\npassenger for a customary and expected donation. When they arrive at a\nfarm-house they take up their ground on the best station for dancing. In\nthe meantime the buffoonery of the Cadi is exhibited without\nintermission. He assails the inmates of the house for money, and when\nthis is obtained the procession moves off to the next farm-house. They\ndo not confine the ramble of the day to their own parish, but go from\none to another, and to any county town in the vicinity. When they return\nto their resident village in the evening, the bells, ringing merrily,\nannounce their arrival. The money collected during the day\u2019s excursion\nis appropriated to defray whatever expenses may have been incurred in\nthe necessary preparations, and the remainder is spent in jovial\nfestivity.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 562.\n\nAt Tenby, says Mason (_Tales and Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, p. 22), it\nwas customary for the possessors of a maypole to try and pull down those\nset up in other places. A watch was therefore set up round each.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nIn some parts of Scotland, says Pennant, there is a rural sacrifice on\nMay-day. A cross is cut on some sticks, each of which is dipped in\npottage, and the Thursday before Easter one of these is placed over the\nsheep-cote, the stable, or the cow-house. On the first of May they are\ncarried to the hill, where the rites are celebrated, all decked with\nwild flowers, and after the feast is over replaced over the spots they\nwere taken from. This was originally styled _Clonau-Beltein_, or the\nsplit branch of the fir of the rock.--_Tour in Scotland_, 1790, vol. i.\np. 206.\n\n\nCOUNTY OF EDINBURGH.\n\nAt Edinburgh about four o\u2019clock in the morning there is an unusual stir;\nand a hurrying of gay throngs through the King\u2019s Park to Arthur\u2019s Seat\nto collect the May-dew. In the course of half an hour the entire hill is\na moving mass of all sorts of people. At the summit may be seen a\ncompany of bakers and other craftsmen, dressed in kilts, dancing round a\nmaypole. On the more level part is usually an itinerant vendor of\nwhisky, or mountain (not May) dew. These proceedings commence with the\ndaybreak. About six o\u2019clock the appearance of the gentry, toiling up the\nascent, becomes the signal for servants to march home; for they know\nthat they must have the house clean and everything in order earlier than\nusual on May-morning. About eight o\u2019clock the fun is all over; and by\nnine or ten, were it not for the drunkards who are staggering towards\nthe \u201cgude town,\u201d no one would know that anything particular had taken\nplace.--See _Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 609.\n\nFergusson the Scottish poet thus describes this custom:--\n\n    \u201cOn May-day in a fairy ring\n    We\u2019ve seen them, round St. Anthon\u2019s spring,\n    Frae grass the caller dew-drops wring,\n            To wet their ein,\n    And water clear as crystal spring,\n            To synd them clean.\u201d\n\nFormerly the magistrates of Canongate, Edinburgh, used to walk in\nprocession to church upon the first Sunday after Beltane, carrying large\nnosegays. This observance was evidently a modified relic of the ancient\nfestival of the sun; and the original meaning of the custom must have\nbeen an expression of gratitude to that luminary, deified under the name\nof Baal, for the first-fruits of his genial influence.--_Household\nWords_, 1859, vol. xix. p. 558.\n\n\nTHE HIGHLANDS.\n\nOn the first of May the herdsmen of every village hold their Beltein, a\nrural sacrifice. They cut a square trench on the ground, leaving the\nturf in the middle; on that they make a fire of wood, on which they\ndress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk; and bring,\nbesides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of beer and whisky, for\neach of the company must contribute something. The rites begin with\nspilling some of the caudle on the ground, by way of libation; on that\nevery one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine square\nknobs, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver\nof their flocks and herds, or to some particular animal, the real\ndestroyer of them: each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks\noff a knob, and flinging it over his shoulder, says, This I give to\nthee, preserve thou my horses; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep; and\nso on. After that they use the same ceremony to the noxious animals.\nThis I give to thee, O fox! spare thou my lambs; this to thee, O\nhooded-crow! and this to thee, O eagle!\n\nWhen the ceremony is over they dine on the caudle, and, after the feast\nis finished, what is left is hid by two persons deputed for that\npurpose; but on the next Sunday they re-assemble, and finish the\nreliques of the first entertainment.--Pennant\u2019s _Tour in Scotland_,\n1790, vol. i. p. 112.\n\n\nPERTHSHIRE.\n\nIn Sinclair\u2019s _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_ (1794, vol. xi. p. 620) the\nMinister of Callander says:--Upon the first day of May all the boys in a\ntownship or hamlet meet on the moors. They cut a table in the green sod\nof a round figure, by casting a trench in the ground of such\ncircumference as to hold the whole company. They kindle a fire, and\ndress a repast of eggs and milk of the consistence of a custard. They\nknead a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted at the embers against a stone.\nAfter the custard is eaten up, they divide the cake into so many\nportions, as similar as possible to one another in size and shape, as\nthere are persons in the company. They daub one of these portions all\nover with charcoal until it is perfectly black. They put the pieces of\nthe cake into a bonnet. Every one blindfold draws out a portion; he who\nholds the bonnet is entitled to the last piece. Whoever draws the black\npiece is the devoted person who is to be sacrificed to Baal, whose\nfavour they mean to implore in rendering the year productive of the\nsustenance of man and beasts. There is little doubt of these inhuman\nsacrifices having been once offered in this country as well as in the\nEast, although they now omit the act of sacrificing, and only compel the\n_devoted_ person to leap three times through the flames: with which the\nceremonies of this festival are closed.--See _N. & Q. 1st. S._, vol.\nviii. p. 281.\n\nAt Logierait the 1st of May, old style, is chiefly celebrated by the\ncowherds, who assemble by scores in the fields to dress a dinner for\nthemselves of boiled milk and eggs. These dishes they eat with a sort of\ncakes baked for the occasion, and having small lumps raised all over the\nsurface.--_Ibid._ vol. v. p. 84.\n\n\nWESTERN ISLES OF SCOTLAND.\n\nMartin, in his _Account of the Western Islands of Scotland_ (1703, p.\n7), speaking of the Isle of Lewis, says that the natives in the village\nBarvas retain an ancient custom of sending a man very early to cross\nBarvas river every first day of May, to prevent any females crossing it\nfirst; for that they say would hinder the salmon from coming into the\nriver all the year round. They pretend to have learned this from a\nforeign sailor, who was shipwrecked upon that coast a long time ago.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nIn the south-eastern parts of Ireland (and no doubt all over the island)\na custom used to prevail--perhaps so still--on May-day, when the young\npeople of both sexes, and many old people too, collected in districts\nand localities, and selected the handsomest girl, of from eighteen to\ntwenty-one years of age, as queen of the district for twelve months. She\nwas then crowned with wild flowers; and feasting, dancing, and rural\nsports were closed by a grand procession in the evening. The duties of\nher majesty were by no means heavy, as she had only to preside over\nrural assemblies of young folks at dances and merrymakings, and had the\nutmost obedience paid to her by all classes of her subjects. If she got\nmarried before the next May-day her authority was at an end, but still\nshe held office until that day, when her successor to the throne was\nchosen. If not married during her reign of twelve months, she was\ncapable of being re-elected; but that seldom happened, as there was\nalways found some candidate put forward by the young men of the district\nto dispute the crown the next year.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. iv. p. 229.\n\nIn Ireland, says Mr. Crofton Croker, May-day is called _La na Beal\ntina_, and May-eve _neen na Baal tina_, that is, the day and eve of\nBaal\u2019s fire, from its having been in ancient times consecrated to the\ngod Beal, or Belus; whence also the month of May is termed in Irish _Mi\nna Beal tine_. May-day is the favourite festival of the mummers. They\nconsist of a number, varying according to circumstances, of the girls\nand young men of the village or neighborhood, usually selected for their\ngood looks, or their proficiency--the females in the dance, the youths\nin hurling and other athletic exercises. They march in procession, two\nabreast, and in three divisions: the young men in the van and the rear,\ndressed in white or other gay-coloured jackets or vests, and decorated\nwith ribbons on their hats and sleeves. The young women are dressed also\nin light-coloured garments, and two of them bear each a holly-bush, on\nwhich are hung several new hurling balls, the May-day present of the\ngirls to the youths of the village. The bush is decorated with a\nprofusion of long ribbons, or paper cut in imitation, which adds greatly\nto the gay and joyous, yet strictly rural, appearance of the whole. The\nprocession is always preceded by music, sometimes of the bagpipe, but\nmore commonly of a military fife, with the addition of a drum or\ntambourine. A clown is of course in attendance: he wears a frightful\nmask, and bears a long pole, with shreds of cloth nailed to the end of\nit, like a mop, which ever and anon he dips in a pool of water or\npuddle, and besprinkles such of the crowd as press upon his companions,\nmuch to the delight of the younger spectators. The mummers during the\nday parade the neighbouring villages, or go from one gentleman\u2019s seat to\nanother, dancing before the mansion house, and receiving money. The\nevening of course terminates with drinking.--_Fairy Legends and\nTraditions of the South of Ireland_, 1825.\n\n\nCOUNTY DOWN.\n\nOn the first of May from time immemorial, until the year 1798, a large\npole was planted in the market-place at Maghera, and a procession of May\nboys, leaded by a mock king and queen, paraded the neighbourhood,\ndressed in shirts over their clothes, and ornamented with ribbons of\nvarious colours. This practice was revived in 1813, and the May-boys\ncollected about \u00a317 at the different places where they called: this\ndefrayed the expense of a public dinner next day. Circumstances,\nhowever, occurred soon after which induced one of the neighbouring\nmagistrates to come into the town and cut down the pole, which had been\nplanted in the market-place.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_, 1814, vol.\ni. p. 593.\n\n\nCOUNTY DUBLIN.\n\nOn the first day of May in Dublin and its vicinity it is customary for\nyoung men and boys to go a few miles out of town in the morning, for the\npurpose of cutting a _May-bush_. This is generally a white-thorn, of\nabout four or five feet high, and they carry it to the street or place\nof their residence, in the centre of which they dig a hole, and having\nplanted the bush, they go round to every house and collect money. They\nthen buy a pound or more of candles, and fasten them to various parts of\nthe tree or bush in such a manner as to avoid burning it. Another\nportion of \u201cthe collection\u201d is expended in the purchase of a heap of\nturf sufficient for a large fire, and, if the funds will allow, an old\ntar-barrel. Formerly it was not considered complete without having a\nhorse\u2019s skull and other bones to burn in the fire. The dep\u00f4ts for these\nbones were the tanners\u2019 yards in a part of the suburbs, called\nKilmainham; and on May morning groups of boys drag loads of bones to\ntheir several destinations. This practice gave rise to a threat, yet\nmade use of--\u201cI will drag you like a horse\u2019s head to the bone-fire.\u201d\nAbout dusk, when no more money can be collected, the bush is trimmed,\nthe turf and bones are made ready to set on fire, the candles are all\nlighted, the bush fully illuminated, and the boys, giving three huzzas,\nbegin to dance and jump round it. After an hour or so the heap of turf\nand bones is set fire to, and when the candles are burnt out the bush is\ntaken up and thrown into the flames. They continue playing about until\nthe fire is burnt out, each then returns to his home, and so ends their\nMay-day.\n\nAbout two or three miles from Dublin on the great Northern road is a\nvillage called Finglass. A high pole is decorated with garlands, and\nvisitors come in from different parts of the country, and dance round it\nto whatever music chance may have conducted there. The best male and\nfemale dancers are chosen king and queen, and placed on chairs. When the\ndancing is over they are carried by some of the party to an adjacent\npublic-house, where they regale themselves with ham, beef, whisky-punch,\nale, cakes, and porter, after which they generally have a dance indoors,\nand then disperse. There is an old song relating to the above custom,\nbeginning\n\n    \u201cYe lads and lasses all, to-day,\n    To Finglass let us haste away,\n    With hearts so light and dresses gay,\n        To dance around the maypole.\u201d--\n\n  _Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 595.\n\nOn May-day also, or on the preceding night, women put a stocking filled\nwith yarrow under their pillow, and recite the following lines:--\n\n    \u201cGood morrow, good yarrow, good morrow to thee;\n    I hope \u2019gain [by] the morrow my lover to see,\n    And that he may be married to me;\n    The colour of his hair, and the clothes he does wear;\n    And if he be for me may his face be turned to me;\n    And if he be not, dark and surly he may be,\n    And his back be turned to me.\u201d--\n\n  _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. iv. p. 505.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 2.] ST. HELEN\u2019S DAY--ROWAN-TREE DAY.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nFrom the following passage in Atkinson\u2019s _Cleveland Glossary_ (p. 417),\nit would appear that this is known in that district as St. Helen\u2019s Day;\nalthough the feast, properly so called, is held on August 18th (which\nsee). The transfer seems to have originated in the fact that the\nInvention (or Discovery) of the Cross was due to St. Helen, who was thus\nconnected with the feast kept on May 3rd under that title.\n\nAt Cleveland, Yorkshire, the 2nd of May, St. Helen\u2019s Day, is Rowan-tree\nday, or Rowan-tree Witch-day, and on that day even yet with some the\nmethod of proceeding is for some member of the household or family to go\nthe first thing in the morning, with no thought of any particular\nrowan-tree--rather, I believe, it might be said, till some rowan-tree is\nfallen in with of which no previous knowledge had been possessed by the\nseeker. From this tree a supply of branches is taken, and (a different\npath homewards having been taken, by the strict observers, from that by\nwhich they went) on reaching home twigs are stuck over every door of\nevery house in the homestead, and scrupulously left there until they\nfall out of themselves. A piece is also always borne about by many in\ntheir pockets or purses, as a prophylactic against witching. Not so very\nlong since either the farmers used to have whipstocks of rowan-tree\nwood--rowan-tree-gads they were called,--and it was held that, thus\nsupplied, they were safe against having their draught fixed, or their\nhorses made restive by a witch. If ever a draught came to a\nstandstill--there being in such cases no rowan-tree-gad in the driver\u2019s\nhands, of course--then the nearest witchwood-tree was resorted to, and a\nstick cut to flog the horses on with, to the discomfiture of the\nmalevolent witch who had caused the stoppage.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nOn May 2nd, the eve of the Invention of the Holy Cross, it is customary\nin Aberdeenshire to form crosses of twigs of the rowan-tree and to place\nthem over the doors and windows as a protection against evil\nspirits.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. ii. p. 483.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 3.] THE HIGHLANDS.\n\n\nPennant, in his _Tour in Scotland_ (1790, vol. i. p. 111) says that a\nHighlander never begins anything of consequence on the day of the week\non which the 3rd of May falls, which he styles _La Sheachanna na\nbleanagh_, or the dismal day.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 8.] APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nThe most remarkable observance of antiquity remaining in this county is\nthe \u201cFurry festival\u201d which has been celebrated from time immemorial on\nthe 8th of May. At Helston the day used to be ushered in very early in\nthe morning by the music of drums and kettles, and other pleasant\nsounds, the accompaniments of a song:--\n\n    \u201cRobin Hood and Little John,\n      They both are gone to the fair, O;\n    And we will to the merry greenwood,\n      To see what they do there, O.\n    And for to chase, O,\n      To chase the buck and doe\n      With Hal-an-tow,\n      Jolly rumble, O.\n\n    And we were up as soon as any day, O\n      And for to fetch the summer home,\n    The summer and the may, O,\n      For the summer is a come, O,\n      And winter is a go, O.\n    Where are those Spaniards\n      That make so great a boast, O?\n    They shall eat the grey goose-feather,\n      And we will eat the roast, O.\n      In every land, O,\n    The land that ere we go,\n      With Hal-an-tow, &c.,\n      And we were up, &c.\n\n    As for St. George, O,\n      St. George he was a knight, O,\n    Of all the kings in Christendom,\n      King George is the right, O.\n      In every land, O,\n      The land that ere we go\n      With Hal-an-tow, &c.\n\n    God bless Aunt Mary Moses,\n      With all her power and might, O;\n    And send us peace in merry England,\n      Both day and night, O.\u201d\n\nIt was a general holiday: so strict, indeed, used the observance of this\njubilee to be held that if any person chanced to be found at work, he\nwas instantly seized, set astride on a pole, and hurried on men\u2019s\nshoulders to the river, where he was sentenced to leap over a wide\nspace, which if he failed in attempting he of course fell into the\nwater. There was always, however, a ready compromise of compounding for\na leap. About nine o\u2019clock the revellers appeared before the\ngrammar-school, and demanded a holiday for the school-boys, after which\nthey collected money from house to house. They then used to _fad\u00e9_ into\nthe country (_fad\u00e9_ being an old English word for to go), and about the\nmiddle of the day returned with flowers and oak-branches in their hats\nand caps, and spent the rest of the day until dusk in dancing through\nthe streets to the sound of the fiddle, playing a particular tune; and\nthreaded the houses as they chose--claiming a right to go through any\nperson\u2019s house, in at one door and out of the other. In the afternoon\nthe ladies and gentlemen visited some farmhouse in the neighbourhood;\nwhence, after regaling themselves with syllabubs, they returned, after\nthe fashion of the vulgar, to the town, dancing as briskly the\n_fad\u00e9-dance_, and entering the houses as unceremoniously. In later times\na select party only made their progress through the streets very late\nin the evening, and having quickly vanished from the scene, reappeared\nin the ballroom. Here meeting their friends, they went through the usual\nroutine of dancing till supper; after which they all _fadd\u00e9d_ it out of\nthe room, breaking off by degrees to their respective houses. At present\nthis custom is fast falling into disuse, and the day is only celebrated\nby a few of the lower classes.\n\nMurray, in his _Handbook for Cornwall_, 1865, p. 301, says that the\nfurry festival is in commemoration of the following curious legend:--A\nblock of granite, which for many years had lain in the yard of the Angel\nInn, was in the year 1783 broken up and used as a part of the building\nmaterials for the assembly-room. This stone, says the legend, was\noriginally placed at the mouth of hell, from which it was one day\ncarried away by the devil as he issued forth in a frolicsome mood on an\nexcursion into Cornwall. Here he traversed the country, playing with his\npebble; but it chanced that St. Michael (who figures conspicuously in\nthe town arms and is the patron saint of the town) crossed his path; a\ncombat immediately ensued, and the devil, being worsted, dropped the\n_Hell\u2019s stone_ in his flight; hence the name of the town.\n\nThere have been many opinions regarding the meaning and derivation of\nthe word _furry_. Polwhele says (_History of Cornwall_, 1826, vol. ii.\np. 41) that _furry_ is derived from _fer_, a fair: a derivation which\nseems probable from the expression in the _furry-song_. \u201c_They both are\ngone to the fair, O_.\u201d Some think that the word in question is derived\nfrom the Greek \u03c6\u03b5\u03c1\u03c9, to bear. The rites of the _furry_ correspond most\nintimately with the \u03b1\u03bd\u03b8\u03b5\u03c2 \u03c6\u03bf\u03c1\u03b5\u03b1, a Sicilian festival, so named \u03b1\u03c0\u03bf \u03c4\u03b5\n\u03c6\u03b5\u03c1\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd \u03b1\u03bd\u03b8\u03b5\u03b1, or from _carrying flowers_, in commemoration of the rape\nof Proserpine, whom Pluto stole as she was gathering flowers--\u201cherself a\nfairer flower!\u201d Others derive the word _furry_ from the Cornish\n_furrier_, a thief, from the green spoils they brought home from the\nwoods.--See Potter\u2019s _Antiquities_, vol. i., and _Gent. Mag._ vol. lx.\npp. 520, 873, 1100.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 10.] WHITSUNDAY.\n\n\nIn the Catholic times of England it was usual to dramatise the descent\nof the Holy Ghost, which this festival commemorates,--a custom we find\nalluded to in Barnaby Googe\u2019s translation of _Naogeorgus_:\n\n    \u201cOn Whit-sunday whyte pigeons tame in strings from heaven flie,\n    And one that framed is of wood still hangeth in the skie.\n    Thou seest how they with idols play, and teach the people too;\n    None otherwise than little gyrls with puppets used to do.\u201d\n\nIn an old _Computus_, anno 1509, of St. Patrick\u2019s, Dublin, we find\niv^{s.} vii^{d.} paid to those playing with the great and little angel\nand the dragon; iii^{s.} paid for little cords employed about the Holy\nGhost; iv^{s.} vi^{d.} for making the angel (_thurificantis_) censing,\nand ii^{s.} ii^{d.} for cords of it--all on the feast of\nPentecost.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 685.\n\nWhitsunday is observed as a _Scarlet Day_ in the Universities of Oxford\nand Cambridge.--_Kalendar of the English Church_, 1865, p. 73.\n\nThe origin of the term Whitsunday has been warmly contested by various\nwriters, and still seems to be an undecided question. For an interesting\narticle on this subject, see _N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. i. pp. 401-403.\nConsult also _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ii. p. 154; _3rd S._ vol. vii. p.\n479; _4th S._ vol. xi. p. 437. Dr. Neale\u2019s _Church Festivals and their\nHousehold Words._--_The Prayer Book Interleaved_ (Champion and\nBeaumont).\n\n\n_Whitsun Ale._--Ale was so prevalent a drink amongst us in old times, as\nto become a part of the name of various festal meetings, as Leet-ale,\nLamb-ale, Bride-ale (bridal), and, as we see, Whitsun-ale. It was the\ncustom of our ancestors to have parochial meetings every Whitsuntide,\nusually in some barn near the church, consisting of a kind of picnic, as\neach parishioner brought what victuals he could spare. The ale, which\nhad been brewed pretty strong for the occasion, was sold by the\nchurchwardens, and from its profits a fund arose for the repair of the\nchurch.--See _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 637; also Brand, _Pop. Antiq._\n1849, vol. i. pp. 276, 283.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nWhitsuntide is observed at Polperro by a custom of the young people\ngoing in droves into the country to partake of milk and cream.--_N. & Q.\n1st S._ vol. xii. p. 298.\n\nCarew in his _Survey of Cornwall_ (p. 68), speaking of the church ale,\nsays that \u201ctwo young men of the parish are yerely chosen by their last\nforegoers to be wardens, who, dividing the task, make collection among\nthe parishioners of whatsoever provision it pleaseth them voluntarily to\nbestow. This they employ in brewing, baking, and other acates\n[provisions] against Whitsuntide; upon which holy-days the neighbours\nmeet at the church-house, and there merrily feed on their owne victuals,\ncontributing some petty portion to the stock, which, by many smalls,\ngroweth to a meetly greatness; for there is entertayned a kind of\nemulation between these wardens, who, by his graciousness in gathering\nand good husbandry in expending, can best advance the churche\u2019s profit.\nBesides, the neighbour parishes at those times lovingly visit each one\nanother and this way frankly spend their money together. The afternoones\nare consumed in such exercises as olde and yong folke (having leisure)\ndoe accustomably weare out the time withall. When the feast is ended,\nthe wardens yeeld in their account to the parishioners, and such money\nas exceedeth the disbursement is layd up in store, to defray any\nextraordinary charges arising in the parish or imposed on them for the\ngood of the country or the prince\u2019s service, neither of which commonly\ngripe so much but that somewhat still remayneth to cover the purse\u2019s\nbottom.\u201d This custom is falling into desuetude, if it be not already\ndiscontinued.--See _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xii. 298.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nAt this season, and also at Martinmas, are held _hirings_ for farmers\u2019\nservants. Those who offer their services stand in a body in the\nmarket-place, and to distinguish themselves hold a bit of straw or green\nbranch in their mouths. When the market is over the girls begin to file\noff, and gently pace the streets with a view of gaining admirers, while\nthe young men, with similar designs, follow them, and, having eyed the\nlasses, each picks up a sweetheart, whom they conduct to a dancing-room,\nand treat with punch and cake. Here they spend their afternoon, and part\nof their half-year\u2019s wages, in drinking and dancing, unless, as it\nfrequently happens, a girl becomes the subject of contention, when the\nharmony of the meeting is interrupted, and the candidates for her\naffection settle the dispute by blows without further ceremony. Whoever\nwins the victory secures the maid for the present, but she is sometimes\nfinally won by the vanquished pugilist. When the diversions of the day\nare concluded, the servants generally return to their homes, where they\npass about a week before they enter on their respective\nservices.--Britton and Brayley, _Beauties of England and Wales_, 1803,\nvol. iii. p. 243.\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nHeybridge Church, near Maldon, was formerly strewn with rushes, and\nround the pews, in holes made apparently for the purpose, were placed\nsmall twigs just budding.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. i. p. 471.\n\n\nGLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\nAt St. Briavels, after divine service, formerly, pieces of bread and\ncheese were distributed to the congregation at church. To defray the\nexpenses, every householder in the parish paid a penny to the\nchurchwardens, and this was said to be for the liberty of cutting and\ntaking the wood in Hudnalls. According to tradition, the privilege was\nobtained of some Earl of Hereford, then lord of the Forest of Dean, at\nthe instance of his lady, upon the same hard terms that Lady Godiva\nobtained the privileges for the citizens of Coventry.--Rudder, _History\nof Gloucestershire_, 1779, p. 307. See _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. x. p. 184.\n\nA remnant of the old customs of Whitsuntide is retained at the noble old\nchurch of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, which is annually strewn with\nrushes in accordance with ancient practice.--See Edwards, _Old English\nCustoms and Charities_, pp. 216, 217.\n\nA custom existed at Wickham for the lord of the manor to give a certain\nquantity of malt to brew ale to be given away at Whitsuntide, and a\ncertain quantity of flour to make cakes. Every one who kept a cow sent\ncurd; others, plums, sugar and flour. A contribution of sixpence from\neach person was levied for furnishing an entertainment, to which every\npoor person of the parish who came was presented with a quart of ale, a\ncake, a piece of cheese, and a cheesecake.--Rudder, _History of\nGloucestershire_, 1779, p. 817.\n\n\nHAMPSHIRE.\n\nAt Monk Sherborne, near Basingstoke, both the Priory and parish churches\nwere decorated with birch on Whitsunday.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. ii. p.\n190.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nOn Whitsunday, says a correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_4th S._ vol. i. p.\n551), I was in the church of King\u2019s Pion, near Hereford, and was struck\nwith what seemed to me a novel style of church decoration. Every pew\ncorner and \u201cpoint of vantage\u201d was ornamented with a sprig of birch, the\nlight green leaves of which contrasted well with the sombreness of the\nwoodwork. No other flower or foliage was to be seen in the church.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nMiss Baker (_Glossary of Northamptonshire Words_, 1854, vol. ii. p. 433)\ndescribes the celebration of a Whitsun-ale early in the present century\nin a barn at King\u2019s Sutton, fitted up for the entertainment, in which\nthe lord, as the principal, carried a mace made of silk, finely plaited\nwith ribbons, and filled with spices and perfumes for such of the\ncompany to smell as desired it; six morris dancers were among the\nperformers.\n\nIn a Whitsun-ale, last kept at Greatworth in 1785, the fool, in a motley\ngarb, with a gridiron painted, or worked with a needle, on his back,\ncarried a stick with a bladder, and a calf\u2019s tail. Majordomo and his\nlady as Queen of May, and my lord\u2019s morris (six in number) were in this\nprocession. They danced round a garlanded maypole. A banquet was served\nin a barn, and all those who misconducted themselves were obliged to\nride a wooden horse, and if still more unruly were put into the stocks,\nwhich was termed being my lord\u2019s organist.--_Glossary, &c._, p. 434.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nAn unchartered Whitsun Tryste Fair is still held annually on Whitsunbank\nHill, near Wooler.--_N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. i. p. 402.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nA custom formerly prevailed amongst the people of Burford to hunt deer\nin Wychwood Forest. An original letter, in the possession of the\ncorporation, dated 1593, directs the inhabitants to forbear the hunting\nfor that year, on account of the plague that was then raging, and states\nan order that should be given to the keepers of the forest, to deliver\nto the bailiffs two bucks in lieu of the hunting; which privilege, was\nnot, however, to be prejudiced in future by its remittance on that\noccasion.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 284.\n\n\nSOMERSETSHIRE.\n\nCollinson, in his _History of Somersetshire_ (vol. iii. p. 620),\nspeaking of Yatton, says that, \u201cJohn Lane of this parish, gentleman,\nleft half an acre of ground, called the Groves, to the poor for ever,\nreserving a quantity of the grass for the strewing church on\nWhitsunday.\u201d\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe Irish kept the feast of Whitsuntide with milk food, as among the\nHebrews; and a breakfast composed of cake, bread, and a liquor made by\nhot water poured on wheaten bran.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 685.\n\nAt Holy Island, as regularly as the season of Whitsuntide comes, a\nconcourse of people is assembled to perform penance. They make two\nhundred and eighty rounds, the circumference of some being a mile,\nothers half a mile, till they are gradually diminished to a circuit of\nthe church of St. Mary. A detailed and probably much exaggerated account\nof the scene upon this occasion will be found in Hardy\u2019s _Holy Wells of\nIreland_, 1836, p. 29.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 11.] WHITSUN MONDAY.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nThe Whitsun Mysteries were acted at Chester, seven or eight on each day\nduring the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Whitsun week. The drapers,\nfor instance, exhibited the \u201cCreation;\u201d the tanners took the \u201cFall of\nLucifer;\u201d the water-carriers of the Dee reproduced the \u201cDeluge;\u201d the\ncooks had the \u201cHarrowing of Hell.\u201d The performers were carried from one\nstation to another by means of a movable scaffold, a huge and ponderous\nmachine mounted on wheels, gaily decorated with flags, and divided into\ntwo compartments, the upper of which formed the stage, and the lower,\ndefended from vulgar curiosity by coarse canvas draperies, answered the\npurposes of the green-room. The performers began at the Abbey gates,\nwhere they were witnessed by the high dignitaries of the Church; they\nthen proceeded to the High Cross, where the Mayor and the civic magnates\nwere assembled; and so on, through the city, until their motley history\nof God and His dealings with man had been played out. The production of\nthese pageants was costly; each mystery has been set down at fifteen or\ntwenty pounds, present money. The dresses were obtained from the\nchurches, until, this practice being denounced as scandalous, the guilds\nhad then to provide the costume and other properties.--See _Edinburgh\nEssays_, 1856; also _Book of Days_, vol. i. pp. 633-637.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nDerby having for many centuries been celebrated for its ale, which\nCamden says was made here in such perfection, that wine must be very\ngood to deserve a preference, and Fuller remarks, \u201cNever was the wine of\nFalernum better known to the Romans than the canary of Derby is to the\nEnglish,\u201d it is not a matter of surprise to find some remnants of the\nWhitsun-ales in the neighbourhood. In a manuscript in the Bodleian\nLibrary is a record of the Whitsun-ales at Elvaston and Ockbrook, from\nwhich it appears that they were formerly required to brew four ales of a\nquarter of malt each. Every inhabitant of Ockbrook was obliged to be\npresent at each ale; every husband and his wife to pay twopence, and\nevery cottager one penny; the inhabitants of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and\nAmbaston to receive all the profits and advantages arising from the ales\nto the use and behalf of the church at Elvaston. The inhabitants of\nElvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston to brew eight ales, each inhabitant\nto be present as before, or to send their money.--_Jour. of the Arch.\nAssoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 206.\n\n\nHAMPSHIRE.\n\nAt St. Mary\u2019s College, Winchester, the _Dulce Domum_ is sung on the\nevening preceding the Whitsun holidays; the masters, scholars, and\nchoristers, attended by a band of music, walk in procession round the\ncourts of the College, singing it.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i.\np. 452. See _Gent. Mag._, 1811, vol. lxxxi. p. 503.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nA correspondent of the _Gent. Mag._ (1783, vol. liii. p. 578) says there\nseems to be a trace of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the heads of the\nApostles in what passes at Whitsuntide Fair, in some parts of\nLancashire, where one person holds a stick over the head of another,\nwhilst a third, unperceived, strikes the stick, and thus gives a smart\nblow to the first.\n\n\nLEICESTERSHIRE.\n\nA fair used to be held on Whitsun Monday at Hinckley, when the millers\nfrom various parts of the country walked in procession dressed in\nribbons, with what they called the _King of the Millers_ at their head.\n\nA writer (in 1787) describing one of these fairs says: To the old\nceremony of riding millers, many improvements were made upon a more\nextensive and significant plan: several personages introduced that bore\nallusions to the manufacture, and were connected with the place. Old\nHugo Baron de Grentemaisnel, who made his first appearance in 1786,\narmed in light and easy pasteboard armour, was this second time armed\ncap-a-pie in heavy sinker plate, with pike and shield, on the latter the\narms of the town. The representative baron of Hinckley had the\nsatisfaction of being accompanied by his lady, the Baroness Adeliza,\nhabited in the true antique style, with steeple hat, ruff-points,\nmantle, &c., all in suitable colours; each riding on nimble white steeds\nproperly caparisoned; they were preceded by the town banner, and two red\nstreamers embroidered with their respective names. Several bands of\nmusic gave cheerful spirit to the pageant, but more particularly the\nmilitia band from Leicester. The frame-work knitters, wool-combers,\nbutchers, carpenters, &c., had each their plays, and rode in companies\nbearing devices or allusions to their different trades. Two characters,\nwell supported, were Bishop Blaise and his chaplain, who figured at the\nhead of the wool-combers. In their train, appeared a pretty innocent\nyoung pair, a gentle shepherd and shepherdess: the latter carrying a\nlamb, the emblem of her little self more than of the trade. Some other\nlittle folks, well dressed, were mounted on ponies, holding instruments,\nthe marks of their fathers\u2019 businesses, and ornamented with ribbons of\nall colours waving in the air.--See Nichols, _History of Hinckley_,\n1813, p. 678.\n\nThrosby, in his _History of Leicester_ (1791, vol. iii. p. 85), gives\nthe following account of a custom observed in his time at Ratby. He\nsays:--There shall be two persons chosen annually, by a majority, to be\ncalled caterers, which shall on every Whit Monday go to Leicester, to\nwhat inn they shall think proper, where a calf\u2019s head shall be provided\nfor their breakfast; and when the bones are picked clean, they are to be\nput into a dish and served up with the dinner. Likewise, the innkeeper\nis to provide two large rich pies, for the caterers to take home, that\ntheir families may partake of some of their festivity. Likewise, there\nshall be provided for every person a short silk lace, tagged at both\nends with silver, which, when so equipped, they shall all proceed to\nEnderby, and sell the grass of the Wether (a meadow so called) to the\nbest bidder; from thence they shall go to the meadow, and all dismount,\nand each person shall take a small piece of grass from the\nbefore-mentioned Wether, and tie it round with their tagged lace, and\nwear it in their hats, and ride in procession to the High Cross in\nLeicester, and there throw them among the populace; from thence proceed\nto their inn, and go in procession to St. Mary\u2019s Church, where a sermon\nshall be preached for the benefit of the hospital founded by Henry, Earl\nof Leicester. When service is over, a deed shall be read over by the\nclergyman, concerning the gift of the above Wether, and the church shall\nbe stuck with flowers. When the ceremony is over, they are to return to\ntheir inn to dinner, and close the day with mirth and festivity.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nAt Corby near Rockingham, every twentieth year, the inhabitants assemble\nat an early hour, and stop up all roads and bye-ways in the parish, and\ndemand a certain toll of every person, gentle or simple, who may have\noccasion to pass through the village on that day. In case of\nnon-compliance a stout pole is produced, and the nonconformist is placed\nthereon, in a riding attitude, carried through the village, and taken to\nthe parish stocks and imprisoned until the authorities choose to grant a\ndismissal. It appears that Queen Elizabeth granted to the inhabitants of\nCorby a charter to free them from town toll throughout England, Wales,\nand Scotland; and also to exempt them from serving on juries at\nNorthampton, and to free the knights of the shire from the militia law.\nThis custom of taking toll has been observed every twenty years in\ncommemoration of the granting of the charter.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. i.\np. 424.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nUntil within the last century, a custom prevailed in the parish of\nEnsham, by which the towns-people were allowed on Whitsun Monday to cut\ndown and carry away as much timber as could be drawn by men\u2019s hands into\nthe Abbey yard, the churchwardens previously marking out such timber by\ngiving the first chop; so much as they could carry out again,\nnotwithstanding the opposition of the servants of the Abbey to prevent\nit, they were to keep for the reparation of the church. By this service\nthey held their right of commonage at Lammas and Michaelmas, but about\nthe beginning of last century this practice was laid aside by mutual\nconsent.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 669.\n\n\nSHROPSHIRE.\n\nAn old custom, called the \u201cBoy\u2019s Bailiff,\u201d formerly prevailed at\nWenlock, in Whitsun week. It consisted of a man who wore a hair-cloth\ngown, and was called the bailiff, a recorder, justices, and other\nmunicipal officers. There were a large retinue of men and boys mounted\non horseback, begirt with wooden swords, which they carried on their\nright sides, so that they were obliged to draw their swords out with\ntheir left hands. They used to call at the gentlemen\u2019s houses in the\nfranchise, where they were regaled with refreshment; and they afterwards\nassembled at the Guildhall, where the town clerk read some sort of\nrigmarole which they called their charter, one part of which was--\n\n    \u201cWe go from Bickbury, and Badger, to Stoke on the Clee,\n    To Monkhopton, Round Acton, and so return we.\u201d\n\nThe first three named places are the extreme points of the franchise,\nand the other two are on the return to Much Wenlock. This custom is\nsupposed to have originated in going a bannering.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._,\n1849, vol. i. p. 284.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nThe Court of Array, or view of men and arms, was held on Whitsun Monday\nin the vicinity of Lichfield, called Greenhill, where every householder\nfailing to answer his name when called from the dozeners\u2019 list was fined\na penny. The origin of this singular ceremony is unknown; it existed\nlong before the charters of incorporation, and may perhaps be the\nremains of the commissions of array issued in the time of Henry V., who\nordered every man to keep in his possession arms and armour, according\nto his goods and station in life, whence the enrolment of a regular\narmour took place. These statutes of array were repealed. Something,\nhowever, like the old custom was continued, and a booth erected for this\npurpose, in which the magistrates received all the inhabitants who chose\nto visit them, and partake of a collation provided for that purpose.\n\nThe business of the day commenced about eight o\u2019clock in the morning,\nwhen the constables, attended by armed men wearing their colours of\ndistinction, with drums beating, preceded by morris dancers, with the\nMaid Marian, tabor and pipe, &c., conducted the bailiffs and sheriff,\nand other city officers, to the bower, where they were received with a\nsalute from the men at arms. The constable then returned to collect the\ndozeners with their standards or posies, who, with the inhabitants of\neach separate ward, were with like ceremonies conducted to the bower.\nThe posies were probably originally images of saints: they afterwards\nbecame emblems of trades, or in many instances mere puppets or garlands\nborne upon the heads of their ancient halberds; these were in every ward\nreceived with a volley from the men at arms, who also fired over every\nseparate house, for which they received money and liquor from the\ninhabitants. Greenhill was on these occasions crowned with shows,\nbooths, and stalls, and the day was regarded as a festival for the city\nand neighbourhood. About nine o\u2019clock in the evening, the whole of the\nposies being collected, a procession was formed to conduct them to what\nwas called the christening, and was in the following order:--\n\n  Tabor and pipe decorated with ribands.\n\n  Tom fool and Maid Marian.\n\n  Morrice dancers, dancing sarabands, clashing their staves.\n\n  Two captains of the armed men.\n\n  Twenty-four armed men with drums.\n\n  Twenty-one dozeners with standards or posies.\n\n  Two constables.\n\n  Gaoler.\n\n  Sheriff.\n\n  Serjeants at Mace and Town Crier.\n\n  Bailiffs, and Town Clerk.\n\n  Citizens, inhabitants, &c.\n\nOn arriving at the door of St. Mary\u2019s Church, after passing up Boar\nStreet, and down Sadler Street, an address was made by the town clerk,\nrecommending a peaceable demeanour, and watchful attendance to their\nduty; and a volley being fired over the posies the business of the day\nended. At one time the images were deposited in the belfry of the\nadjoining church, from which it may be concluded that the origin of this\nprocession was religious. This custom was abolished by the magistrates\nin 1805, at which time the expense was annually about \u00a370; but was\nafterwards in some degree continued by private subscription.--_Account\nof Lichfield_, 1818, 1819, p. 87.\n\nSouthey, in his _Common Place Book_ (1849, 2nd S. p. 336), gives the\nfollowing extract from Mrs. Fienne\u2019s MSS:--\n\n\u201cAt Lichfield they have a custom at Whitsuntide, ye Monday and Tuesday,\ncalled the Green Bower Feast, by which they hold their charter. The\nbailiff and sheriff assist at the ceremony of dressing up babies with\ngarlands of flowers and greens, and carry them in procession through all\nthe streets, and then assemble themselves at the market-place, and so go\nin a solemn procession through the great street to a hill beyond the\ntown, where is a large green bower made, in which they have their feast.\nMany smaller bowers are made around for company, and for booths to sell\nfruit, sweetmeats, ginger-bread,\u201d &c.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nAt Tenby a women\u2019s benefit club walked in procession to church with band\nand banners before them and bunches of flowers in their hands. After the\nservice they dined, and wound up the evening by dancing.--Mason\u2019s _Tales\nand Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, p. 23.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 12.] WHITSUN TUESDAY.\n\n\nBEDFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Biddenham there is an ancient customary donation of a quantity of\nmalt, made at Whitsuntide by the proprietor of Kempston Mill, near the\nparish. The malt is always delivered to the overseers of the poor for\nthe time being, and brewed by them into ale, which is distributed among\nall the poor inhabitants of Biddenham on Whit Tuesday.--_Old English\nCustoms and Charities_, 1842, p. 65.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nThe Eton Montem was a long celebrated and time-honoured ceremony\npeculiar to Eton, and said to have been coeval with the foundation of\nthe college, and was observed biennially but latterly triennially down\nto the year 1844, when it was totally abolished. It was a procession of\nthe scholars dressed either in military or fancy costume, to a small\nmount on the south side of the Bath Road (supposed to be a British or\nSaxon barrow), where they exacted money for salt, as the phrase was,\nfrom all persons present, and from travellers passing. The ceremony was\ncalled the _Montem_. The procession of boys, accompanied by bands of\nmusic, and carrying standards, was usually followed by many old\nEtonians, and even by members of the royal family--in some cases by the\nking and queen. Arrived at Salt-hill, the boys ascended the \u201cmons,\u201d or\nmount, the \u201ccaptain\u201d unfolded the grand standard, and delivered a speech\nin Latin, and the \u201csalt\u201d was collected. The principal \u201csalt-bearers\u201d\nwere superbly dressed, and carried embroidered bags for the money. The\ndonation of the king and queen was called the \u201croyal salt,\u201d and tickets\nwere given to those who had paid their salt.[59] Immense numbers of\npeople used to assemble to witness the procession, and the money\ncollected frequently exceeded \u00a31000. After deducting the necessary\nexpenses, the remainder was given to the senior scholar, who was elected\nto Cambridge, for his support at that University.\n\n  [59] The mottoes on the tickets varied in different years. In 1773,\n  the words were \u201cAd Montem;\u201d in 1781 and 1787 \u201cMos pro lege est;\u201d in\n  1790, 1796, 1808, 1812, \u201cPro more et monte;\u201d and in 1799 and 1805,\n  \u201cMos pro lege.\u201d--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 436.\n\nThe origin of this custom, notwithstanding much antiquarian research, is\nunknown. Some, however, are of opinion that it was identical with the\n_bairn_ or _boy_-bishop. It originally took place on the 6th of\nDecember, the festival of St. Nicholas (the patron of children; being\nthe day on which it was customary at Salisbury, and in other places\nwhere the ceremony was observed, to elect the _boy_-bishop, from among\nthe children belonging to the cathedral), but afterwards it was held on\nWhitsun Tuesday.--Sheahan, _History of Buckinghamshire_, 1862, p. 862;\nLysons\u2019 _Magna Britannia_, 1813, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 558; _Gent. Mag._,\n1820, vol. xc. p. 55; See _N. & Q. 1st S._, vol i. pp. 110, 322; _2nd\nS._ vol. ii. p. 146.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nThe ten principal estates in the parish of Hesket were formerly called\n_Red Spears_, from the titles of the owners, obtained from the curious\ntenure of riding through the town of Penrith on every Whitsun Tuesday,\nbrandishing their spears. These _Red-Spear Knights_ seem to have been\nregarded as sureties to the sheriff for the peaceable behaviour of the\ninhabitants.--Britton and Brayley, _Beauties of England and Wales_,\n1802, vol. iii. p. 171.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nOn the evening of Whitsun Tuesday, a sermon is annually preached in the\nancient church of St. James, Mitre Court, Aldgate, London, from a text\nhaving special reference to flowers. This is popularly called the\n\u201cFlower sermon.\u201d--_Kalendar of the English Church_, 1865, p. 74.\n\nOn this day is delivered in St. Leonard\u2019s Church, Shoreditch, a\n\u201cBotanical sermon\u201d--the Fairchild Lecture,--for which purpose funds were\nleft by Thomas Fairchild, who died in 1729. It was formerly the custom\nof the President and several Fellows of the Royal Society to hear this\nsermon preached.--Timbs\u2019 _Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 80.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nThe custom of \u201criding the marches\u201d existed at Lanark, and took place\nannually on the day after Whitsun Fair, by the magistrates and\nburgesses, known by the name of the Langemark or Landsmark Day, from the\nSaxon _langemark_.[60]--Sinclair\u2019s _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1795, vol.\nxv. p. 45.\n\n  [60] See _Riding the Marches_, p. 307.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 14.] COTESWOLD GAMES.\n\n\nThe vicinity of Chipping Campden was the theatre of the Coteswold Games,\nwhich, in the reign of James I. and his unfortunate successor, were\ncelebrated in this part of England. They were instituted by a\npublic-spirited attorney of Burton-on-the-Heath, in Warwickshire, named\nRobert Dover, and like the Olympic games of the ancients, consisted of\nmost kinds of manly exercises. The victors were rewarded by prizes,\ndistributed by the institutor, who, arrayed in a discarded habit of\nJames\u2019, superintended the games in person for many years. The meetings\nwere annually held on Whitsun Thursday, and were frequently attended by\nan immense number of people.\n\nBen Jonson, Drayton, and other poets[61] of that age, wrote verses on\nthis festivity, which, in 1636, were collected into one volume, and\npublished under the title of _Annalia Dubrensia_.\n\n  [61] Thomas Randolph, Thomas Heywood, Owen Feltham, and Shackerly\n  Marmyon.\n\nThese diversities were at length terminated by the breaking out of the\ncivil wars, but were revived at the Restoration; and the memory of their\nfounder is still preserved in the name Dover\u2019s Hill, applied to an\neminence of the Cotswold range, about a mile from the village of\nCampden.--Britton and Brayley, _Beauties of England and Wales_, 1803,\nvol. v. p. 655; see _Book of Days_, vol. i. 712.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 16.] NORFOLK.\n\n\nIn the parish of Rockland, annually on the 16th of May, a sort of\ncountry fair is held, called by the villagers the \u201cGuild,\u201d and which is\nevidently a relic of the Guild of St. John the Baptist, held here in St.\nPeter\u2019s Church before the Reformation. On this occasion a mayor of the\nGuild is elected, and he is chaired about the three parishes of\nRockland, and gathers largess, which is afterwards spent in a frolic.\nThere is another antique custom connected with the guild which yet\nobtains: the inhabitants of certain houses in the \u201cStreet\u201d have the\nprivilege of hanging oaken-boughs outside their doors (and their houses\nare thence called \u201cbough houses\u201d), and on the day of the guild they draw\nhome-brewed ale for all customers, and are not interfered with for so\ndoing, either by the village licensed publican or the excise\nauthorities.--_N. &. Q. 2nd S._ vol. vii. p. 450.\n\n\n\n\nEEL FAIR.\n\n\nSURREY.\n\nAbout the middle of May there is an annual migration of young eels up\nthe Thames at Kingston. They appear in shoals, giving to the margin of\nthe river an appearance not altogether agreeable; but their origin and\ndestination are alike matter of conjecture. It is reasonably supposed\nthat these swarms migrate from the lakes in Richmond Park, where immense\nnumbers are annually bred, and that they descend the rivers, stocking\nthe creeks and streams for some miles above the town. There is generally\na crowd of eager men, women, and children, provided with every possible\nvessel wherein to catch the slippery prey on the first intimation of\ntheir approach; and the animated scene has caused the occasion to be\ncalled Eel Fair.--Biden, _History of Kingston-upon-Thames_, 1852, p.\n128.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 17.] TRINITY SUNDAY.\n\n\nIts observance is said to have first been established by Archbishop\nBecket, soon after his consecration. \u201cHic post consecrationem suam\ninstituit festivitatem principalem S. Trinitatis annis singulis in\nperpetuam celebrandam, quo die primam missam suam celebravit.\u201d--Wharton,\nH., _Anglia Sacra_, 1691, fol. pt. i. p. 8.\n\nIt is still customary for the judges and great law-officers of the\nCrown, together with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, to\nattend Divine Service at St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral, and hear a sermon.\n\nOn Trinity Sunday, formerly, processions of children, with garlands of\nflowers and ribbons, were common.--Timbs\u2019 _Something for Everybody_,\n1861, p. 83.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nThe parish of Clee possesses a right of cutting rushes from a piece of\nland, called \u201cBescars,\u201d for the purpose of strewing the floor of the\nchurch every Trinity Sunday. A small quantity of grass is annually cut\nto preserve this right.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_,\np. 217.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nThe following extract is taken from the Newcastle _Daily Journal_ of\nJune 17th, 1867:--\n\nYesterday being Trinity Sunday, in pursuance of a time-honoured custom,\nthe Master, Deputy-Master, and Brethren of the Ancient and Honourable\nCorporation of the Trinity House attended officially in All Saints\u2019\nParish Church, Newcastle. A noteworthy relic of the past in connection\nwith the service was the performance on the organ (on the entrance and\nexit of the Master and Brethren) of the national air, \u2018Rule Britannia.\u2019\nThe rendering of a secular air--even as an evidence of respect--has been\nobjected to; but the organist cites the custom of half a century.\n\n\nWILTSHIRE.\n\nAubrey, in his _Miscellanies_ (1714, p. 49), speaking of Newnton, says:\n\u201cUpon every Trinity Sunday, the parishioners being come to the door of\nthe hayward\u2019s house, the door was struck thrice in honour of the Holy\nTrinity; they then entered. The bell was rung; after which, silence\nbeing ordered, they read their prayers aforesaid. Then was a ghirland of\nflowers (about the year 1660 one was killed striving to take away the\nghirland) made upon an hoop, brought forth by a maid of the town upon\nher neck, and a young man (a bachelor) of another parish first saluted\nher three times in honour of the Trinity, in respect of God the Father.\nThen she puts the ghirland upon his neck and kisses him three times in\nhonour of the Trinity, particularly God the Son. Then he puts the\nghirland on her neck again, and kisses her three times in honour of the\nHoly Trinity and particularly the Holy Ghost. Then he takes the ghirland\nfrom her neck, and, by the custom, must give her a penny at least,\nwhich, as fancy leads, is now exceeded, as 2_s._ 6_d._, &c. The method\nof giving this ghirland is from house to house annually, till it comes\nround. In the evening, every commoner sends his supper to this house,\nwhich is called the _Eale-house_; and having before laid in there\nequally a stock of malt, which was brewed in the house, they sup\ntogether, and what was left was given to the poor.\u201d\n\n\nWALES.\n\nA very ancient custom is observed on Trinity Sunday in Carnarvonshire:\nthe offerings of calves and lambs which happen to be born with the _Nod\nBeuno_, or mark of St. Beuno--a certain natural mark in the ear,--have\nnot yet entirely ceased. They are brought to church (but formerly to the\nmonastery[62]) of Clynnok Vaur on Trinity Sunday, and delivered to the\nchurchwardens, who sell and account for them, depositing the money in a\ngreat chest, called _Cyff St. Beuno_, made of one oak, and secured with\nthree locks. From this, the Welsh have a proverb for attempting any very\ndifficult thing. \u201cYou may as well try to break open St. Beuno\u2019s chest.\u201d\nThe little money resulting from the sacred beasts, or casual offerings,\nis applied either to the relief of the poor or in aid of repairs.--\nPennant, _Tour through North Wales_, 1781, vol. ii. p. 210.\n\n  [62] This monastery was founded A.D. 616, by Guithin of Gwydaint. It\n  was afterwards turned into a monastery of white monks, but these seem\n  soon to have been suppressed, for, at the time of Pope Nicholas IV.\u2019s\n  taxation it was a collegiate church, consisting of five Portionists or\n  Prebendaries, and continued so to the time of the\n  dissolution.--Leland, _Itin._ vol. v. p. 15; Dugdale, _Monast.\n  Anglic._ 1825, vol. v. p. 631.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 18.] TRINITY MONDAY.\n\n\nHAMPSHIRE.\n\nAn annual fair is held on Trinity Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at\nSouthampton. It is opened by the Mayor and bailiffs, with much ceremony,\non the preceding Saturday afternoon. The Mayor erects a pole with a\nlarge glove fixed to the top of it, near the miller\u2019s house; and the\nbailiff then takes possession of the fair, as chief magistrate in its\nprecinct during the fair, and invites the Mayor and his suite to a\ncollation in his tent. He appoints a guard of halberdiers who keep the\npeace by day, and watch the fair by night. During the fair no person can\nbe arrested for debt within its precincts. On the Wednesday at noon, the\nMayor dissolves the fair, by taking down the pole and glove, or rather\nordering it to be taken down; which at one time was done by the young\nmen of the town, who fired at it with single balls, till it was\ndestroyed, or they were tired of the sport.--Englefield, _Walk through\nSouthampton_, 1805, p. 75.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nDeptford Fair originated in trifling pastimes for persons who assembled\nto see the Master and Brethren of the Trinity House, on their annual\nvisit to the Trinity House, at Deptford. First there were juggling\nmatches; then came a booth or two; afterwards a few shows.--_Every Day\nBook_, vol. i. p. 724.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Kidlington, says Blount (_Jocular Tenures_, Beckwith\u2019s edition, p.\n281), the custom is that on Monday after Whitsun week there is a fat\nlive lamb provided; and the maids of the town, having their thumbs tied\nbehind them, run after it, and she that with her mouth takes and holds\nthe lamb, is declared _Lady of the Lamb_, which being dressed, with the\nskin hanging on, is carried on a long pole before the lady and her\ncompanions to the green, attended with music, and a Morisco dance of\nmen, and another of women, where the rest of the day is spent in\ndancing, mirth, and merry glee. The next day the lamb is part baked,\nboiled, and roasted, for the lady\u2019s feast, where she sits majestically\nat the upper end of the table, and her companions with her, with music\nand other attendants, which ends the solemnity.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 20.] CORPUS CHRISTI EVE.\n\n\nIn North Wales, at Llanasaph, there is a custom of strewing green herbs\nand flowers at the doors of houses on Corpus Christi Eve.--Pennant\u2019s\n_Manuscript_ quoted by Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 297.\n\nAt Caerwis on Thursday after Trinity Sunday, which they call _Dudd Son\nDuw_, or _Dydd Gwyl Duw_, on the Eve before, they strew a sort of fern\nbefore their doors, called _red yn mair_--Pennant\u2019s MS.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 21.] CORPUS CHRISTI DAY.\n\n\nCorpus Christi Day is held on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, to\ncelebrate, as the name indicates, the doctrine of Transubstantiation,\nand was instituted in the year 1264 by Pope Urban IV.\n\nIn olden times the Skinners\u2019 fraternity of Corpus Christi made their\nprocession on this day, having \u201cborne before them more than two hundred\ntorches of wax, costly garnished, burning bright\u201d (or painted and gilded\nwith various devices); and \u201cabove two hundred clerks and priests, in\nsurplices and copes, singing,\u201d after which came the officers; \u201cthe mayor\nand aldermen in scarlet, and then the skinners in their best liveries.\u201d\nA temporary revival of these imposing shows took place in Mary\u2019s days\npreviously to their discontinuance.--Timbs\u2019 _Something for Everybody_,\n1861, p. 84.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nAt one time on Corpus Christi Day the crafts or companies of Norwich\nwalked in procession from the common hall, by Cutter Row, and round the\nmarket to the hall again. Each company had its banner, on which was\npainted its patron or guardian saint.--See _History of Norwich_, 1768,\nvol. i. p. 175.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nThe earliest mention of the religious ceremony of Corpus Christi play\nand procession in Newcastle-upon-Tyne occurs in the Ordinary of the\nCoopers\u2019 Company, dated January 20th, 1426; though the great popularity\nof these exhibitions at York and other places must have induced the\nclergy, merchants, and incorporated traders of that town, to adopt them\nlong before this time. There can be but little doubt that the several\ntrades strove to outvie each other in the splendour of their\nexhibitions. The Company of Merchant Adventurers were concerned in the\nrepresentation of five plays. The hoastmen, drapers, mercers, and\nboothmen had probably each one.\n\n\u201cHoggmaygowyk\u201d was the title of one of their plays, the representing of\nwhich, in 1554, cost 4_l._ 2_s._ This Company, in 1480, made an act for\nsettling the order of their procession on Corpus Christi Day. In 1586\nthe offering of Abraham and Isaac was exhibited by the slaters.\n\nBy the Ordinary of the goldsmiths, plumbers, glaziers, pewterers, and\npainters, dated 1436, they were commanded to play at their feast the\nthree Kings of Coleyn. In the books of the fullers and dyers, one of the\ncharges for the play of 1564 is: \u201cItem, for 3 yards of lyn cloth for\nGod\u2019s coat, 3_s._ 2_d._ ob.\u201d About the year 1578, the Corpus Christi\nplays seem to have been on the decline; for the Ordinary of the millers,\ndated that year, says, \u201cWhensoever the general plaies of the town shall\nbe commanded by the mayor, &c.,\u201d they are to play, \u201cthe Antient playe\nof, &c.\u201d Similar expressions are used in the Ordinary of the house\ncarpenters in 1579, in that of the masons in 1581, and also in that of\nthe joiners in 1589. Weaver, in his _Funeral Monuments_, says that these\nplays were finally suppressed in all towns of the kingdom, about the\nbeginning of the reign of James I. The only vestige that remains of the\nNewcastle Mysteries was preserved by Bourne. It is entitled \u201cNoah\u2019s Ark;\nor, the Shipwright\u2019s Ancient Play or Dirge,\u201d wherein God, an Angel, Noah\nand his wife, and the Devil are the characters. Mackenzie, _History of\nNewcastle_, 1827, vol. ii. p. 708; Hone\u2019s _Ancient Mysteries Described_,\n1823, p. 213.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nThe play of Corpus Christi was acted in the City of York till the\ntwenty-sixth year of Queen Elizabeth\u2019s reign, 1584.\n\nIt consisted of a solemn procession, in remembrance of the Sacrament of\nthe Body of Christ; the symbolic representation being borne in a shrine.\nEvery trade in the city was obliged to furnish a pageant at its own\nexpense, and join the procession, and each individual had to personify\nsome particular passage in the Old or New Testament, and to repeat some\npoetry on the occasion. The whole was preceded by a great number of\nlighted torches, and a multitude of priests in their proper habits;\nafter which followed the mayor and citizens, surrounded by an immense\nconcourse of spectators. Commencing at the great gate of the priory of\nthe Holy Trinity, they proceeded to the Cathedral Church and thence to\nSt. Leonard\u2019s Hospital, where they left the sacrament. There are several\npublic orders yet remaining in the old register of the city relative to\nthe regulation of this ceremony; and indulgences were granted from the\nPope to those who contributed to the relief of the fraternity, or who\nobserved the annual ceremony in the most devout manner, particularly if\nthey personally attended from the country.--Drake\u2019s _Eboracum_, 1736;\nHargrove, _History of York_, 1818, vol. ii. p. 494.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nCorpus Christi Day was formerly celebrated at Dublin with high\nveneration. In the Chain-book of the City of Dublin are several entries\nto that purpose. We are told that there was a grand procession, in which\nthe glovers were to represent Adam and Eve, with an angel bearing a\nsword before them.\n\nThe corrisees (perhaps curriers) were to represent Cain and Abel, with\nan altar and their offering.\n\nMariners and vintners, Noah and the persons in his Ark, apparelled in\nthe habit of carpenters and salmon-takers.\n\nThe weavers personated Abraham and Isaac, with their offering and altar.\n\nThe smiths represented Pharaoh, with his host.\n\nThe skinners, the camell with the children of Israel, &c.--See Harris,\n_History of Dublin_, 1766, p. 147.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 22.] COVENTRY SHOW FAIR.\n\n\nThis celebrated fair, says Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 286),\ncommences upon Friday in Trinity week, and lasts for eight days. The\ncharter for it was granted by Henry III. in 1218, at the instigation of\nRandle, Earl of Chester. For many years it was one of the chief marts in\nthe kingdom, and was celebrated for the show designated the Procession\nof Lady Godiva, of which Brand has given a long account.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 25.] THE SHREWSBURY SHOW.\n\n\nIn the _Book of Days_ (vol. i. pp. 704-708) will be found an interesting\nand amusing account of the Shrewsbury Show, which appears, from the\nrecords of the reign of Henry VI., to have been held time out of mind on\nthe second Monday after Trinity Sunday.\n\n\nFLITTING DAY.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nThe 25th of May, as the Whitsunday term (old style), is a great day in\nScotland, being that on which, for the most part, people change their\nresidences. The Scotch generally lease their houses by the year, and are\nthus at every twelve-month\u2019s end able to shift their place of abode.\nAccordingly, every Candlemas a Scotch family gets an opportunity of\nconsidering whether it will, in the language of the country, sit or\nflit. The landlord or his agent calls to learn the decision on this\npoint; and if \u201cflit\u201d is the resolution, he takes measures by advertising\nto obtain a new tenant. The two or three days following upon the\nPurification, therefore, become distinguished by a feathering of the\nstreets with boards projected from the windows, intimating \u201cA House to\nLet.\u201d--See _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 679.\n\n\n\n\nMAY 29.] RESTORATION OR ROYAL OAK DAY.\n\n\nIn the _Diary_ of John Evelyn (1859, vol. i. p. 373), under the date of\nMay 29th, 1665, is the following statement:--\n\nThis was the first anniversary appointed by Act of Parliament to be\nobserved as a day of General Thanksgiving for the miraculous restoration\nof His Majesty: our vicar preaching on Psalm cxviii., 24, requiring us\nto be thankful and rejoice, as indeed we had cause.[63]\n\n  [63] The special form of prayer in commemoration of the Restoration of\n  Charles II., was removed from the Prayer Book by Act of Parliament (22\n  Vict. c. 2. March 25, 1859).\n\nOn this day the chaplain of the House of Commons preached in St.\nMargaret\u2019s Church, Westminster, before \u201cthe House,\u201d usually represented\nby the Speaker, the Sergeant-at-arms, the clerks, and other officers,\nand some half-dozen members. This observance has been discontinued since\n1858.--Timbs\u2019 _Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 74.\n\nIt is customary, especially in the North of England, for the common\npeople to wear in their hats the leaves of the oak, which are sometimes\ncovered with gold leaf.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 273.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nAt Looe, as well as in other districts of East Cornwall, the usage of\nwearing an oaken leaf on the 29th of May was enforced by spitting at, or\n\u201ccobbing,\u201d the offender.--_Once a Week_, September 24th, 1870.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nOn the 29th of May branches of young oak are gathered and put up over\nthe doors of many houses, and a small sprig of the same tree is commonly\nworn in the button-hole.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._, 1852, vol. viii. p.\n206.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nIn the vicinity of Starcross the children celebrate this anniversary by\ncarrying about what they call May babies, i.e., little dolls, carefully\nand neatly dressed, decked with flowers, and laid in boxes somewhat\nresembling coffins, though such resemblance is not, apparently, the\nintention of the artists.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ii. p. 405.\n\nIn the _Every Day Book_ (1826, vol. i. p. 718) occurs the following:--\n\nAt Tiverton, on the 29th of May, it is customary for a number of young\nmen, dressed in the style of the seventeenth century, and armed with\nswords, to parade the streets, and gather contributions from the\ninhabitants. At the head of the procession walks a man called \u201cOliver,\u201d\ndressed in black, with his face and hands smeared over with soot and\ngrease, and his body bound by a strong cord, the end of which is held by\none of the men to prevent his running too far. After these come another\ntroop, dressed in the same style, each man bearing a large branch of\noak; four others, carrying a kind of throne made of oaken boughs, on\nwhich a child is seated, bring up the rear. A great deal of merriment is\nexcited among the boys at the pranks of \u201cMaster Oliver,\u201d who capers\nabout in a most ludicrous manner. Some of them amuse themselves by\ncasting dirt, whilst others, more mischievously inclined, throw stones\nat him: but woe betide the young urchin who is caught; his face assumes\na most awful appearance from the soot and grease with which \u201cOliver\u201d\nbegrimes it, whilst his companions, who have been lucky enough to escape\nhis clutches, testify their pleasure by loud shouts. In the evening the\nwhole party have a feast, the expenses of which are defrayed by the\ncollection made in the morning.\n\n\nDURHAM.\n\nMr. Cuthbert Carlton, of Durham, gives in the _Durham Chronicle_, of\nNovember 29th, 1872, the following account of a curious custom called\n\u201cPush Penny.\u201d He says: \u201cThis custom, which has been discontinued nearly\na quarter of a century, is thus referred to in the _Derbyshire Times_ of\nSaturday last:--\u2018There is a custom which has been upheld from time\nimmemorial by the Dean and Chapter of Durham on three days in the\nyear--30th of January, 29th of May, and 5th of November, the anniversary\nof King Charles\u2019 Martyrdom, Royal Oak Day, and Gunpowder Plot, which is\nknown among Durham lads as \u201cpush-penny.\u201d On these days the Chapter\ncauses twenty shillings in copper to be scrambled for in the college\nyard by the juveniles, who never fail to be present.\u2019 The practice\nobserved every 29th of May, and 5th of November, was to throw away\nwithin the college thirty shillings in penny pieces. Whether the custom\ndates from time immemorial, it is difficult to say, but the two last\ndates would seem only to point to the origin of the custom at the end of\nthe seventeenth, or beginning of the eighteenth centuries, to testify\nthe loyalty of the Dean and Chapter to the Throne, and their\nappreciation of the happy restoration of the \u2018Merry Monarch,\u2019 and the\nescape of the King and his Parliament on the 5th of November. There was\nsome such custom, however, during the monastic period, when pennies were\nthrown away to the citizens who were wont to assemble in the vicinity of\nthe Prior\u2019s mansion. At Bishop Auckland the bishop was accustomed to\nthrow away silver pennies at certain times of the year, and it is even\nsaid that so much as a peck of copper was in earlier times scattered\nbroad-cast among the people. The Reformation, however, swept these and\nmany other old customs away, but after the Restoration of Charles II.,\nthe Dean and Chapter no doubt considered the 29th of May and the 5th of\nNovember ought to be kept as days of rejoicing, and as one means of\ndoing so caused one of their officials to throw a bag full of pennies to\nthe people who met in the college. The duty was entrusted to the senior\nverger of the cathedral. For many years it was the practice for the\nchildren of the Blue Coat Schools to attend Divine service in the\ncathedral, who were drawn up in rank and file in the nave, for the\ninspection of the prebends, who minutely examined the new scholastic\ngarments of the Blue Coat scholars. This being done they were ushered\ninto the choir, and at the end of the service a regular pell-mell rush\nwas made for the cloister doors, in order to be present at \u2018push-penny.\u2019\nThe scenes on these occasions were almost beyond description. For a few\nyears the custom thus continued, the attendants at \u2018push-penny\u2019\ngradually diminishing; for twenty-five years, however, it has been\ndiscontinued, nor is it likely to be revived.\u201d\n\nAt Durham also on the 29th of May, the choir ascend the large tower of\nthe cathedral, and sing anthems from the three sides of it. This is done\nin remembrance of the monks chanting masses from it in behalf of Queen\nPhilippa, when engaged in the sanguinary battle of Redhills with the\nScotch King, David I., 1346. The battle is commonly called the battle of\nNeville\u2019s Cross, from the beautiful cross erected on the field of\nvictory by the powerful Baron of that name, a fragment of which still\nremains. The reason given why anthems are only sung from three sides of\nthe tower, not from the fourth, is that a chorister once overbalanced\nhimself, and falling from it was killed.--_Times_, May 6th, 1875.\n\n\nHAMPSHIRE.\n\nThe working men of Basingstoke and other towns in Hampshire arise early\non the 29th of May to gather slips of oak with the galls on; these they\nput in their hats or anywhere about their persons. They also hang pieces\nto the knockers, latches, or other parts of the house-doors of the\nwealthy, who take them in to place in their halls, &c. After breakfast\nthese men go round to such houses for beer, &c. Should they not receive\nanything the following verses should be said:\n\n    \u201cShig-shag, penny a rag\n    [Bang his head in Croommell\u2019s bag],\n    All up in a bundle.\u201d--\n\nbut fear often prevents them. However, the lads have no fear, and use it\nfreely to any one without an oak-apple or oak leaf on some part of his\nperson, and visible--ill-treating him for his want of loyalty. After\nnoon the loyalty ceases and then if any one be charged with having\n_shig-shag_, the following verses are said:\n\n    \u201cShig-shag\u2019s gone past,\n    You\u2019re the biggest fool at last;\n    When shig-shag comes again,\n    You\u2019ll be the biggest fool then.\u201d\n\nAnd the one who charges the other with the oak-leaf receives the\nill-treatment.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xii. p. 100.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nIt was the custom, some years ago, to decorate the monument of Richard\nPenderell (in the churchyard of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, London), on the\n29th of May, with oak branches; but in proportion to the decay of\npopularity in kings, this practice has declined.--Canfield, _Portraits,\nMemoirs, and Characters of Remarkable Persons_, 1794, p. 186.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nFormerly all the principal families in the town of Northampton placed a\nlarge branch of oak over the door of their houses, or in their\nbalconies, in remembrance of the restoration of Charles II. The\noak-boughs are gradually disappearing, but the corporate body still goes\nin procession to All Saints Church, accompanied by the boys and girls of\nthe different charity schools, each of them having a sprig of oak, with\na gilt _oak-apple_ placed in the front of their dress; and should the\nseason be unpropitious, and oak-apples be scarce, small gilded potatoes\nare substituted. The commemoration of this day has probably been more\ngenerally and loyally observed in this town than in many other places,\nfrom a feeling of gratitude to that monarch, who munificently\ncontributed 1000 tons of timber out of Whittlewood Forest and remitted\nthe duty of chimney-money in Northampton for seven years, towards the\nrebuilding of the town after the destructive fire of 1675. The statue of\nthe king, which is placed in the centre of the balustrade on the portico\nof All Saints\u2019 Church, is always enveloped in oak-boughs on this\nday.--_Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and Phrases_, vol. ii. p. 68.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nAt one time the boys at Newcastle-upon-Tyne had a taunting rhyme, with\nwhich they used to insult such persons as they met on this day who had\nnot oak-leaves in their hats:\n\n    \u201cRoyal oak,\n    The Whigs to provoke.\u201d\n\nThere was a retort courteous by others, who contemptuously wore\nplane-tree leaves:\n\n    \u201cPlane-tree leaves;\n    The Church folk are thieves.\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 274.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nOn Royal Oak Day branches of that tree are carried in procession, and\ndecorate many of the signs of public houses in Nottingham and\nelsewhere.--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._, 1853, vol. viii. p. 234.\n\nOn this day the Notts juveniles not only wear the usual piece of\noak-twig, but each young loyalist is armed with a nettle, with which\ninstrument of torture are coerced those unfortunates who are unprovided\nwith \u201croyal oak,\u201d as it is called. Some who are unable to procure it\nendeavour to avoid the penalty by wearing \u201cdog oak\u201d (maple), but the\npunishment is always more severe on discovery of the imposition.--_N. &\nQ. 1st S._ vol. viii. p. 490.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nIn some parts of this county a garland, similar to the May-day one, is\ntaken about on the 29th of May.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. x. p. 92.\n\nAt Upton-upon-Severn oak-apple day is anxiously looked forward to by old\nand young. Early in the morning ropes are stretched across the street,\nupon which are hung garlands, composed of all such flowers as are in\nbloom. The garlands are also ornamented with coloured ribbons and\nhandkerchiefs, and all the tea-spoons which can be collected are hung in\nthe middle. Maypoles, though less common, and large boughs of oak are\npressed into service. Many are the penn\u2019orths of gold leaf sold the day\nbefore, with which to gild the oak-apple for the button-hole. A benefit\nclub meets on this day, and walks in procession with band and flags to\nchurch, after which they make a progress through the town, with music\nplaying and colours flying, finishing up with a dinner.--_Illustrated\nLondon News_, May 30th, 1857, p. 515.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\n\n_Riding the Marches._--The practice of Riding the Marches, says a writer\nin the _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_ (1845, vol. iii. p. 399), is observed in\nthe parish of Hawick, Roxburghshire. This ancient ceremonial takes place\non the last Friday of May (old style), and is considered one of the most\nimportant days of the year. The honour of carrying the standard of the\ntown devolves upon the cornet, a young man previously elected for the\npurpose; and he and the magistrates of the town on horseback, and a\nlarge body of the inhabitants and the burgesses, set out in procession\nfor the purpose of riding round the property of the town, and making\nformal demonstration of their legal rights.\n\nThe following are a few stanzas from an ancient song, which is sung by\nthe cornet and his attendants from the roof of an old tenement belonging\nto the town, and loudly joined in by the surrounding multitudes:--\n\n    \u201cWe\u2019ll a\u2019 hie to the muir a riding,\n    Drumlanrig gave it for providing\n    Our ancestors of martial order\n    To drive the English off our border.\n\n    At Flodden field our fathers fought it,\n    And honour gained, though dear they bought it;\n    By Teviot side they took this colour,\n    A dear memorial of their valour.\n\n    Though twice of old our town was burned,\n    Yet twice the foemen back we turned,\n    And ever should our rights be trod on,\n    We\u2019ll face the foe to Tirioden.[64]\n\n    Up wi\u2019 Hawick its rights and common!\n    Up wi\u2019 a\u2019 the border bowmen!\n    Tiribus and Tirioden.\n    We are up to guard the common.\u201d\n\n  [64] The slogan or war-cry of the burgh was \u201cTiribus and Tirioden,\u201d a\n  phrase probably derived from the Saxons or Danes. The first word may\n  be understood as making tolerably good Anglo-Saxon. Tyr h\u0153bbe us; May\n  Tyr have us in his keeping. Whilst the other conjoins the names of Tyr\n  and Odin, whose united aid is supposed to be invoked.\n\n  Mr. Wilson, author of _Annals and Old Memories of Hawick_, thinks that\n  the meaning of the phrase, in our sense, is, \u201cGods of thunder and war,\n  protect us;\u201d in another sense, \u201cTo battle, sons of the gods.\u201d\n\nThe ancient feudal system of \u201cthe Riding of the Marches\u201d by the\nburgesses still exists also at Inveresk, once within the fifty years.\nThey appear mounted on horseback, and armed with swords. The seven\nincorporated trades, each headed by its captain, follow in the train of\nthe magistrates and town-council, the whole cavalcade being preceded by\nthe town officers, with their ancient Brabant spears, and a champion\narmed cap-a-pie. A gratuity is also allowed to a minstrel, who attends\nat the succeeding feast, and recites in verse the glories of the\npageantry.[65]--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1845, vol. i. p. 268.\n\n  [65] Until about the year 1830, on the annual payment of their rent to\n  the agent of the Duke of Buccleuch, an entertainment was given by the\n  magistrates, under the title of \u201cthe Hen Feast.\u201d It derived this title\n  from the consideration that \u201cthe kain fowls\u201d due by the lessees of the\n  burgh mills were served up on this occasion.--_Ibid._, p. 269.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE.] PAIGNTON FAIR.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_1st S._ vol. viii. p. 66) quotes from an\nold newspaper (June 7th, 1809) the following account of Paignton Fair,\nheld at Exeter. At this fair, says the writer, the ancient custom of\ndrawing through the town a plum-pudding of immense size, and afterwards\nof distributing it to the populace, was revived on Tuesday last. The\ningredients which composed this enormous pudding were--four hundred\npounds of flour, one hundred and seventy pounds of beef suet, one\nhundred and forty pounds of raisins, and two hundred and forty eggs. It\nwas kept constantly boiling in a brewer\u2019s copper from Saturday morning\nto the Tuesday following, when it was placed on a car, decorated with\nribbons, evergreens, &c., and drawn along the streets by eight oxen.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nA solemn festival in the Scotch Metropolis is ordained by the _Statutes_\nof George Heriot\u2019s Hospital (cap. ii.) in the following words: \u201cBut\nespecially upon the first Monday in June, every year, shall be kept a\nsolemn commemoration and thanksgiving unto God, in this form which\nfolloweth: In the morning, about eight of the clock of that day, the\nlord provost, all the ministers, magistrates, and ordinary Council of\nthe city of Edinburgh, shall assemble themselves in the\nCommittee-chamber of the said hospital; from thence, all the scholars\nand officers of the said hospital going before them two-by-two, they\nshall go, with all the solemnity that may be, to the Grey-Friars\u2019 Church\nof the said city, where they shall hear a sermon preached by one of the\nsaid ministers, every one yearly in their courses, according to the\nantiquity of their ministry in the said city.\u201d On this occasion the\nstatue of the founder is fancifully decorated with flowers. Each of the\nboys receives a new suit of clothes; their relations and friends\nassemble, and the citizens, old and young, being admitted to view the\nhospital, the gaiety of the scene is highly gratifying.--_Every Day\nBook_, vol. ii. p. 747.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE 1.] WILTSHIRE.\n\n\nLord Viscount Palmerston, in 1734, by deed, gave for thrashers of\nCharlton about an acre of land in Rushall Field, the rent whereof was\nto be applied annually to give them a dinner wherewith to commemorate\nStephen Duck the poet, who was originally a thrasher of Charlton. The\nparish of Rushall was afterwards inclosed, and by the award date, 12th\nJanuary, 1804, a piece of arable land, measuring one acre and fifteen\npoles, was awarded in a different part of Rushall Field. The land is now\ncalled Duck\u2019s Acre, and let at a rent of \u00a32 9_s._ 9_d._ per annum. The\nland tax, amounting to 3_s._ per annum, was reduced by a subscription\nraised in the parish.\n\nThe rent is paid for a dinner, which is annually given on the 1st June,\nto the thrashers of this parish.--_Old English Customs and Charities_,\np. 169.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE 9.] IRELAND.\n\n\nCLONMANY, CO. DONEGAL.\n\nThe titular saint of this parish is Columbkill. The 9th of June is his\nfestival day, and formerly on this day many of the inhabitants drove\ndown their cattle to the beach, and swam them in that part of the sea\ninto which runs the water of St. Columb\u2019s Well--_Mason\u2019s Stat. Acc. of\nIreland_, 1814, vol. i. p. 185.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE 11.] ST. BARNABAS\u2019 DAY.\n\n\nOn the feast of St. Barnabas it seems to have been usual to decorate\nsome churches with garlands of flowers. Brand (1849, vol. i. 293) quotes\nthe following disbursements from the Churchwardens\u2019, Accounts of St.\nMary-at-Hill, London, in the reigns of Edward IV. and Henry VII.:--\n\n\u201cFor Rose garlondis and Woodrove garlondis on St Barnabe\u2019s Daye, xj^{d.}\n\n\u201cItem, for two doss\u2019 (dozen?) di bocse (box) garlands for prestes and\nclerkes on St. Barnabe Daye, j^{s.} x^{d.}\u201d\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nHesket, an extensive parish in this county, is noted for the singular\ncircumstance of the Court of Inglewood Forest (in the precincts of\nwhich it is wholly included) being held in it annually, on St. Barnabas\u2019\nDay, in the open air. The suitors assemble by the highway-side, at a\nplace only marked by an ancient thorn, where the annual dues to the lord\nof the forest, compositions for improvements, &c., are paid; and a jury\nfor the whole jurisdiction chosen from among the inhabitants of twenty\nmesne manors who attended on this spot.--Britton and Brayley, _Beauties\nof England and Wales_, 1802, vol. iii. p. 171.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE 15.] ST. VITUS\u2019 DAY.\n\n\nOn St. Vitus\u2019 Day, says Hazlitt (Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1870, vol. i. p.\n166), the Skinners\u2019 Company, accompanied by girls strewing herbs in\ntheir path, and by Bluecoat boys placed by their patronage on the\nfoundation of Christ\u2019s Hospital, march in procession from Dowgate Hill,\nwhere their hall is, to St. Antholin\u2019s Church, in Watling Street, to\nhear service.[66] The sermon, says Hampson (in his _Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._\nvol. i. p. 296), for which the chaplain (who is usually a member of the\ncompany, educated at Christ\u2019s Hospital or Tunbridge) receives two\nguineas, has probably arisen out of a pious bequest for the purpose.\n\n  [66] In Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, this custom is said to take place\n  on Corpus Christi Day.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE 23.] MIDSUMMER EVE--ST. JOHN\u2019S EVE.\n\n\nOn this eve people were in former times accustomed to go into the woods,\nand break down branches of the trees, which they brought to their homes,\nand planted over their doors, amidst great demonstrations of joy, to\nmake good the scripture prophecy respecting the Baptist, that many\nshould rejoice in his birth. This custom was at one time universal in\nEngland.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 815.\n\nIt was a popular superstition that if any unmarried woman fasted on\nMidsummer Eve, and at midnight laid a clean cloth with bread, cheese,\nand ale, and then sat down as if going to eat, the street door being\nleft open, the person whom she was afterwards to marry would come into\nthe room and drink to her by bowing; and after filling the glass would\nleave it on the table, and, making another bow, retire.--_Grose._\n\nThe same writer also tells us that any person fasting on Midsummer Eve,\nand sitting in the church porch, will at midnight see the spirits of the\npersons of that parish who will die that year come and knock at the\nchurch door, in the order and succession in which they will die.\n\nThe _fern_ was a most important object of popular superstition at this\nseason. It was supposed at one time to have neither flower nor seed, the\nseed which lay on the back of the leaf being so small as to escape the\nsight of the hasty observer. Hence, probably, proceeding on the\nfantastic doctrine of signatures, our ancestors derived the notion that\nthose who could obtain and wear this invisible seed would be themselves\ninvisible, a belief of which innumerable instances may be found in our\nold dramatists.--Soane\u2019s _Book of the Months_.--See Brand\u2019s _Pop.\nAntiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 314.\n\nPeople also gathered on this night the rose, St. John\u2019s wort, vervain,\ntrefoil, and rue, all of which were thought to have magical properties.\nThey set the orpine in clay upon pieces of slate or potsherd in their\nhouses, calling it a Midsummer-man. As the stalk was found next morning\nto incline to the right or left, the anxious maiden knew whether her\nlover would prove true to her or not. Young men sought also for pieces\nof coal, but in reality certain hard, black, dead roots, often found\nunder the living mugwort, designing to place these under their pillows,\nthat they might dream of themselves.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 816.\n\nIn addition to the superstitious customs already mentioned there was the\nDumb Cake:[67]\n\n    Two make it,\n    Two bake it,\n    Two break it;\n\nand the third must put it under each of their pillows, but not a word\nmust be spoken all the time. This being done, the diviners are sure to\ndream of the man they love. There was the divination by hemp-seed,[68]\nwhich consisted of a person sowing hemp-seed, saying at the same time,\n\n    Hemp-seed I sow,\n    Hemp-seed I hoe.\n    And he that is my true love,\n    Come after me and mow.\n\nThe lover was sure then to make his appearance.--Soane\u2019s _Book of the\nMonths_.\n\n  [67] See page 199.\n\n  [68] See page 100.\n\nTowards night, materials for a fire were collected in a public place and\nkindled. To this the name of bonfire was given, a term of which the most\nrational explanation seems to be that it was composed of contributions\ncollected as _boons_ or gifts of social and charitable feeling. Around\nthis fire the people danced with almost frantic mirth, the men and boys\noccasionally jumping through it, not to show their agility, but as a\ncompliance with ancient custom.[69]--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 86.\n\n  [69] Fuller (_Mixt Contemplations in Better Times_, 1858, p. 25) says\n  he has met with \u201ctwo etymologies of bone-fires. Some deduce it from\n  fires made of bones, relating it to the burning of martyrs, first made\n  fashionable in England in the reign of King Henry the Fourth; but\n  others derive the word from _boon_, that is, good, and fires.\u201d The\n  more probable explanation seems to be that of Dr. Hickes, and which\n  has been adopted by Lye in the _Etymologicon of Junius_, namely, that\n  it was derived from the Anglo-Saxon _b\u00e6lfyr_, a burning pile, by the\n  change of a single letter only, baal in the Islandic signifying a\n  conflagration.\n\nIn the reign of Henry VII. these fires were patronised by the Court, and\nnumerous entries appear in the \u201cPrivy purse Expenses\u201d of that monarch,\nby which he either defrayed the charges, or rewarded the firemen. A few\nare subjoined, as examples of the whole:\n\n  \u201cJune 23 (1493). To making of the bonefuyr on Midsomer Eve, 10^{s}.\n\n  \u201cJune 28 (1495). For making the king\u2019s bonefuyr, 10^{s}.\n\n  \u201cJune 24 (1497). Midsomer Day, for making of the bone-fuyr, 10^{s}.\n\n  \u201cJune 30 (1498). The making of the bone-fuyr, \u00a32.\u201d\n\n  _Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._, 1841, vol. i. p. 303.\n\nIn the months of June and July, says Stow, on the vigils of festival\ndays, and on the same festival days in the evening after the sun\nsetting, there were usually made bonfires in the streets, every man\nbestowing wood or labour towards them; the wealthier sort also, before\ntheir doors near to the said bonfires, would set out tables on the\nvigils, furnished with sweet bread and good drink, and on the festival\ndays with meats and drinks plentifully, whereunto they would invite\ntheir neighbours and passengers also to sit and be merry with them in\ngreat familiarity, praising God for His benefit bestowed on them. On\nthese occasions it appears that it was customary to bind an old wheel\nround about with straw and tow, to take it to the top of some hill at\nnight, to set fire to the combustibles, and then roll it down the\ndeclivity.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nThe _Status Schol\u00e6 Etonensis_, A.D. 1560 (MS. Addit. Brit. Mus. 4843),\nsays:--\u201cIn hac vigilia moris erat (quamdiu stetit) pueris, ornare lectos\nvariis rerum variarum picturis, et carmina de vita rebusque gestis\nJoannis Baptist\u00e6 et pr\u00e6cursoris componere: et pulchre exscripta affigere\nclinopodiis lectorum, eruditis legenda.\u201d\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nThe annual setting of the watch on St. John\u2019s Eve, in the city of\nChester, was an affair of great moment. By an ordinance of the mayor,\naldermen, and common councilmen, of that corporation, dated in the year\n1564, and preserved among the _Harleian_ MSS. in the British Museum, a\npageant which is expressly said to be \u201caccording to ancient custom,\u201d is\nordained to consist of four giants, one unicorn, one dromedary, one\ncamel, one luce, one dragon, and six hobby-horses, with other figures.\nBy another MS. in the same library, it is said that Henry Hardware,\nEsq., the mayor in 1599, caused the giants in the Midsummer show to be\nbroken, \u201cand not to goe the devil in his feathers;\u201d and it appears that\nhe caused a man in complete armour to go in their stead; but in the year\n1601, John Ratclyffe, being mayor, set out the giants and Midsummer show\nas of old it was wont to be kept. In the time of the Commonwealth the\nshow was discontinued, and the giants with the beasts were destroyed. At\nthe Restoration of Charles II. the citizens of Chester replaced their\npageant, and caused all things to be made new, because the old models\nwere broken.--See _Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 834.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nIn Cornwall the festival fires, called bonfires, are kindled on the eve\nof St. John the Baptist and St. Peter\u2019s Day; and Midsummer is thence in\nthe Cornish tongue called \u201cGoluan,\u201d which signifies both light and\nrejoicing. At these fires the Cornish attend with lighted torches,\ntarred and pitched at the end, and make their perambulations round their\nfires, and go from village to village, carrying their torches before\nthem; and this is certainly the remains of the Druid superstition, for\n\u201cfaces pr\u00e6ferre,\u201d to carry lighted torches, was reckoned a kind of\nGentilism and as such particularly prohibited by the Gallick Councils:\nthey were in the eye of the law \u201caccensores facularum,\u201d and thought to\nsacrifice to the devil, and to deserve capital punishment.--Borlase,\n_Antiquities of Cornwall_, 1754, p. 130.\n\nOn Whiteborough (a large tumulus with a fosse round it), on St.\nStephen\u2019s Down, near Launceston, there was formerly a great bonfire on\nMidsummer Eve: a large summer pole was fixed in the centre, round which\nthe fuel was heaped. It had a large bush on the top of it.[70] Round\nthis were parties of wrestlers contending for small prizes.--Brand,\n_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 318.\n\n  [70] The boundary of each tin-mine in Cornwall is marked by a long\n  pole with a bush at the top of it. These on St. John\u2019s Day are crowned\n  with flowers.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 318.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nHutchinson (_Hist. of Cumberland_, vol. i. p. 177), speaking of the\nparish of Cumwhitton, says: They hold the wake on the Eve of St. John,\nwith lighting fires, dancing, &c.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nThe custom of making large fires on the Eve of St. John\u2019s Day is\nannually observed by numbers of the Irish people in Liverpool.\nContributions in either fuel or money to purchase it with are collected\nfrom house to house. The fuel consists of coal, wood, or in fact\nanything that will burn: the fire-places are then built up and lighted\nafter dark.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. xii. p. 42.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nFormerly the inhabitants lighted fires to the windward side of every\nfield, so that the smoke might pass over the corn; they folded their\ncattle and carried blazing furze or gorse around them several times;\nthey gathered _bawan fealoin_ or mugwort as a preventive against the\ninfluence of witchcraft; and it was on this occasion they bore green\nmeadow grass up to the top of Barule in payment of rent to\nMannan-beg-mac-y-heir.--Train, _History of Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii.\np. 120.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nThe date of the first establishment of a regular watch or guard for the\nCity of London is uncertain. Stow assures us it has been instituted\n\u201ctime out of mind;\u201d and we have, as early as the 39th Henry VI., the\nfollowing entries:\n\n\u201cPayde to iiij men to wacche w^{t} the Mayre and to goo w^{t} him a\nnyghtes, xvj^{d.}\u201d\n\n\u201cPayde in expenses for goyng about w^{t} the Mayre in the town in the\nwacche, iiij^{d.}\u201d\n\nThe watch for the ensuing year was always appointed with much pomp and\nceremony on the vigil of St. John, or Midsummer\u2019s Eve; hence the\nappellation of the Midsummer Watch. On this night, as we learn from\nStow, the standing watches in every ward and street of the city and\nsuburbs were habited in bright harness. There was also a marching watch\nconsisting of as many as 2000 persons, most of them old soldiers, who\nappeared in appropriate habits, armed, and many of them, especially the\nmusicians and standard-bearers, rode on horseback. The watch was\nattended by men bearing cresset-lights,[71] which were provided partly\nby the companies, and partly by the City Chamber. Every cresset-bearer\nwas presented with a \u201cstrawen hat and a painted badge, beside the\ndonation of his breakfast next morning.\u201d The constables, one half of\nwhom went out on the Eve of St. John, and the other half on the Eve of\nSt. Peter, were dressed in \u201cbright harnesse, some over gilt, and every\none had a jornett of scarlet thereupon, and a chain of gold, his\nhenchman following him, and his minstrels before him, and his cresset\nlight at his side. The Mayor himself came after them, well mounted, with\nhis sword-bearer before him, in fair armour on horseback, preceded by\nthe waits, or city minstrels, and the Mayor\u2019s officers in liveries of\nwoosted, or sea-jackets party-coloured. The sheriff\u2019s watches came one\nafter the other in like order, but not so numerous; for the Mayor had,\nbeside his giant, three pageants; whereas the sheriff had only two\nbesides their giants, each with their morris-dancer and one henchman.\u201d\n\n  [71] _Cresset-light._--A kind of fire-basket let into an iron frame at\n  the end of a long pole, and so contrived that the basket remained in a\n  horizontal position, whichever way the pole was carried. These poles\n  were usually borne on men\u2019s shoulders. Cresset-lights were also used\n  as beacons and served instead of lighthouses for signals along the\n  coast. The badge of the Admiralty was anciently a cresset.--Shakspeare\n  makes Glendower say, in \u201cHenry IV.\u201d (Act iii. s. 1):\n\n                    \u201cAt my nativity,\n    The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,\n    Of burning cressets.\u201d\n\n  Douce, in his _Illustrations of Shakspeare_, imagines the word to have\n  been derived from the French word _croiset_--a cruet, or earthen pot.\n\nStow says that King Henry VIII., in the first year of his reign, came\nprivately into Westcheap to view the setting of this watch, \u201cbeing\nclothed in one of the coates of his guard,\u201d and at the next muster,\nwhich was on St. Peter\u2019s night, \u201cthe king and queene came roially riding\nto the signe of the King\u2019s Head in Cheape, and there beheld the watche\nof the citie, which watche was set out with divers goodly shewes, as had\nbeen accustomed.\u201d In the 31st year of this reign (1539), however, the\nMidsummer Watch was discontinued; but it was revived, for one year only,\nby Sir Thomas Gresham, then Lord Mayor, in the second year of Edward\nthe Sixth\u2019s reign.--Stow\u2019s _Survey of London_; Jupp, _History of the\nCarpenter\u2019s Company_, 1848, pp. 40-44.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nIn the ordinary of the Company of Cooks at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1575,\nquoted by Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 318), is the following\nclause:--\u201cAnd alsoe that the said fellowship of Cookes, shall yearelie\nof theire owne cost and charge mainteigne and keep the bonefires,\naccording to the auntient custome of the said towne on the Sand-hill;\nthat is to say, one bone-fire on the even of the Feast of the Nativitie\nof St. John Baptist, commonly called Midsomer Even, and the other on the\neven of the Feast of St. Peter the Apostle, if it shall please the Maior\nand Aldermen of the said towne for the time being to have the same\nbone-fires.\u201d\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nDeering, in his _Nottinghamia Vetus et Nova_ (1751, p. 123), quoting\nfrom an old authority, gives the following curious account of the watch\nonce held at Nottingham. He says: \u201cEvery inhabitant of any ability sets\nforth a man, as well voluntaries as those who are charged with arms,\nwith such munition as they have; some pikes, some muskets, calivers, or\nother guns; some partisans, or halberts; and such as have armour send\ntheir servants in their armour. The number of these are yearly about two\nhundred, who at sun-setting meet on the Row, the most open part of the\ntown, where the Mayor\u2019s serjeant-at-mace gives them an oath, the tenor\nwherof followeth in these words: \u2018You shall well and truly keep this\ntown till to-morrow at the sun-rising; you shall come into no house\nwithout license or cause reasonable. Of all manner of casualties, of\nfire, of crying of children, you shall due warning make to the parties,\nas the case shall require. You shall due search make of all manner of\naffrays, bloudsheds, outcrys, and all other things that be suspected,\u2019\n&c. Which done, they all march in orderly array through the principal\nstreets of the town, and then they are sorted into several companies,\nand designed to several parts of the town, where they are to keep the\nwatch until the sun dismisses them in the morning. In this business the\nfashion is for every watchman to wear a garland, made in the fashion of\na crown imperial, bedecked with flowers of various kinds, some natural,\nsome artificial, bought and kept for that purpose, as also ribbands,\njewels; and for the better garnishing whereof, the townsmen use the day\nbefore to ransack the gardens of all the gentlemen within six or seven\nmiles round Nottingham, besides what the town itself affords them: their\ngreatest ambition being to outdo one another in the bravery of their\ngarlands.\u201d This custom was kept up till the reign of Charles I.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nAbout the year 750, says Plott, a battle was fought near Burford,\nperhaps on the place still called Battle-Edge, west of the town, towards\nUpton, between Cuthred or Cuthbert, a tributary king of the West Saxons,\nand Ethelbald, king of Mercia, whose insupportable exactions the former\nking not being able to endure, he came into the field against Ethelbald,\nmet and overthrew him there, winning his banner, whereon was depicted a\ngolden dragon; in memory of which victory, the custom of making a dragon\nyearly, and carrying it up and down the town in great jollity on\nMidsummer Eve, to which they added the picture of a giant, was in all\nlikelihood first instituted.--Plott, _Natural History of Oxfordshire_,\n1705, p. 356.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nA very curious practice is observed on Midsummer Eve at Kidderminster,\narising from the testamentary dispositions of two individuals once\nresident there. A farthing loaf is given to every person born in Church\nStreet, Kidderminster, who chooses to claim it. The bequest is of very\nancient standing, and the farthing loaf, at the time of its date, was\nfar different to what it is now-a-days. The day is called Farthing Loaf\nDay, and the bakers\u2019 shops are amply provided with these diminutives, as\nit is the practice of the inhabitants throughout the town to purchase\nthem. Superadded to this bequest is another. About the year 1788 an old\nbachelor left a sum for the purchase of a twopenny cake for every\nunmarried resident in Church Street, to be given on Farthing Loaf Day,\nand also the sum of two guineas to be paid to a household in the said\nstreet, as remuneration for providing a supper of bread and cheese and\nale, to which every householder in the street should be invited. The\nhouseholders each take their turn in being host, but with a promise,\nthat none except the occupiers of front houses should enjoy this\ndignity. The toast directed to be drunk after supper is, \u201cPeace and good\nneighbourhood.\u201d The money required arises from a sum which is lent at\ninterest, annually, to any competent inhabitant of this favoured street,\nupon his producing two good sureties for the repayment at the end of the\nyear.--Hone\u2019s _Year Book_, 1838, p. 745; _Old English Customs and\nCharities_, p. 241.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nOn Midsummer Eve, at Ripon, in former days, every housekeeper, who in\nthe course of the year had changed his residence into a new\nneighbourhood, spread a table before his door in the street with bread,\ncheese, and ale for those who chose to resort to it. The guests, after\nstaying awhile, if the master was liberally disposed, were invited to\nsupper, and the evening was concluded with mirth and good\nhumour.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 866.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nBingley, in his _Tour Round North Wales_ (1800, vol. ii. p. 237), says:\nOn the Eve of St. John the Baptist they fix sprigs of the plant called\nSt. John\u2019s-wort over their doors, and sometimes over their windows, in\norder to purify their houses, and by that means drive away all fiends\nand evil spirits.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nThe Eve of St. John is a great day among the mason-lodges of Scotland.\nWhat happens with them at Melrose may be considered as a fair example of\nthe whole.\n\nImmediately after the election of office-bearers for the year ensuing,\nthe brethren walk in procession three times round the Cross, and\nafterwards dine together under the presidency of the newly-elected grand\nmaster. About six in the evening the members again turn out, and form\ninto line two abreast, each bearing a lighted flambeau, and decorated\nwith their peculiar emblems and insignia. Headed by the heraldic banners\nof the lodge, the procession follows the same route, three times round\nthe Cross, and then proceeds to the abbey. On these occasions the\ncrowded streets present a scene of the most animated description. The\njoyous strains of a well-conducted band, the waving torches, and\nincessant showers of fire-works make the scene a carnival. But at this\ntime the venerable abbey is the chief point of attraction and resort,\nand as the torch-bearers thread their way through its mouldering aisles,\nand round its massive pillars, the outlines of its gorgeous ruins become\nsingularly illuminated, and brought into bold and striking relief. The\nwhole extent of the abbey is, with \u201cmeasured step and slow,\u201d gone three\ntimes round. But when near the _finale_, the whole masonic body gather\nto the chancel, and forming one grand semicircle around it, where the\nheart of King Robert Bruce lies deposited near the high altar, the band\nstrikes up the patriotic air, \u201cScots wha hae wi\u2019 Wallace bled,\u201d and the\neffect thus produced is overpowering. Midst showers of rockets and the\nglare of blue lights the scene closes.--Wade\u2019s _History of Melrose\nAbbey_, 1861, p. 146.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe following extract is taken from the _Liverpool Mercury_, June 29th,\n1867:--\n\nThe old pagan fire-worship still survives in Ireland, though nominally\nin honour of St. John. On Sunday night bonfires were observed throughout\nnearly every county in the province of Leinster. In Kilkenny, fires\nblazed on every hillside at intervals of about a mile. There were very\nmany in the Queen\u2019s county, also in Kildare and Wexford. The effect in\nthe rich sunset appeared to travellers very grand. The people assemble,\nand dance round the fires, the children jump through the flames, and in\nformer times live coals were carried into the corn fields to prevent\nblight: of course, people are not conscious that this Midsummer\ncelebration is a remnant of the worship of Baal. It is believed by many\nthat the round towers were intended for signal fires in connection with\nthis worship.--See _Gent. Mag._ 1795, vol. lxv. pt. ii. p. 124; see Sir\nHenry Piers\u2019s _Description of Westmeath_, 1682; and _The Comical\nPilgrim\u2019s Pilgrimage into Ireland_, 1723 p. 92.\n\nCroker, in his _Researches in the South of Ireland_ (1824, p. 233),\nmentions a custom observed on the eve of St. John\u2019s Day, and some other\nfestivals, of dressing up a broomstick as a figure, and carrying it\nabout in the twilight from one cabin to the other, and suddenly pushing\nit in at the door. The alarm or surprise occasioned by this feat\nproduced some mirth. The figure thus dressed up was called a _Bredogue_.\n\nAt Stoole, near Downpatrick, there is a ceremony commencing at twelve\no\u2019clock at night on Midsummer Eve. Its sacred mount is consecrated to\nSt. Patrick; the plain contains three wells, to which the most\nextraordinary virtues are attributed. Here and there are heaps of\nstones, around some of which appear great numbers of people, running\nwith as much speed as possible; around others crowds of worshippers\nkneel with bare legs and feet as an indispensable part of the penance.\nThe men, without coats, with handkerchiefs on their heads instead of\nhats, having gone seven times round each heap, kiss the ground, cross\nthemselves, and proceed to the hill; here they ascend, on their bare\nknees, by a path so steep and rugged that it would be difficult to walk\nup. Many hold their hands clasped at the back of their necks, and\nseveral carry large stones on their heads. Having repeated this ceremony\nseven times, they go to what is called St. Patrick\u2019s Chair, which are\ntwo great flat stones fixed upright in the hill; here they cross and\nbless themselves as they step in between these stones, and, while\nrepeating prayers, an old man, seated for the purpose, turns them round\non their feet three times, for which he is paid; the devotee then goes\nto conclude his penance at a pile of stones, named the Altar. While this\nbusy scene is continued by the multitude, the wells and streams issuing\nfrom them are thronged by crowds of halt, maimed, and blind, pressing to\nwash away their infirmities with water consecrated by their patron\nsaint, and so powerful is the impression of its efficacy on their minds,\nthat many of those who go to be healed, and who are not totally blind,\nor altogether crippled, really believe for a time that they are by means\nof its miraculous virtues perfectly restored.--_Hibernian Magazine_,\nJuly 1817.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE 24.] MIDSUMMER DAY--ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThe general customs connected with this season commenced on the\npreceding evening.--_See_ Midsummer Eve.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nThe _Status Schol\u00e6 Etonensis_, A.D. 1560 (MS. Addit. Brit. Mus. 4813),\nsays: \u201c_Mense Junii_, in Festo Natalis D. Johannis post matutinas\npreces, dum consuetudo floruit accedebant omnes scholastici ad rogum\nextructum in orientali regione templi, ubi reverenter a symphoniacis\ncantatis tribus Antiphonis, et pueris in ordine stantibus venitur ad\nmerendam.\u201d\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nOn a common called Midsummer Green, in the parish of Barnwell, an annual\nfair is held, commencing on Midsummer Day, and continuing for a\nfortnight. This fair is supposed to have originated with the assemblages\nof children at this place on the eve of St. John the Baptist\u2019s Day,\nwhose yearly gatherings being attended by a considerable concourse of\npeople, attracted the notice of some pedlars, who began to dispose of\ntheir merchandise on this spot as early as the reign of Henry I. The\narticles brought for sale are chiefly earthen-wares, whence the festival\nhas attained the name of _Pot fair_. The fair is proclaimed on the eve\nof Midsummer Day by the heads of the University, first in the middle of\nthe village, and afterwards on the green where it is celebrated. It\nappears to have assumed its legal form in the reign of Henry\nIII.--Brayley and Britton, _Beauties of England and Wales_, 1809, vol.\nii. p. 110.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nIn former times there was a privilege of licensing the minstrels,\npeculiar to the ancient family of Dutton. The original grant came from\nEarl Randal Blundeville to Roger Lacy, constable of Chester; and his\nson, John Lacy, assigned the privilege to the family of Dutton. The\nanniversary of this solemnity was constantly celebrated on the festival\nof St. John the Baptist by a regular procession of all the minstrels to\nthe church of this tutelary saint in the city of Chester. But after\nhaving been constantly observed for at least 550 years, it seems to have\nbeen discontinued in 1758; and, as an instance how sacred these\nexclusive privileges were esteemed by legislative wisdom, the Act of the\n29th of Elizabeth, which declares all _itinerant minstrels_ to be\nvagabonds, particularly excepts the minstrel-jurisdiction of John\nDutton, of Dutton in Cheshire, Esq.--Gower, _Materials for a History of\nCheshire_, 1771, p. 67.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nHitchins, in his _History of Cornwall_ (1824, vol. i. p. 717), says:\nMidsummer Day is considered as a high holiday, on which either a pole is\nerected, decorated with garlands, or some flags displayed, to denote the\nsanctity of the time. This custom has prevailed from time immemorial, of\nwhich it is scarcely possible to trace the origin.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nLynton revel begins on the first Sunday after Midsummer Day. It formerly\nlasted a week. As in the days before the Reformation, revels until\nlately began on a Sunday in Lynton and Lynmouth, a barrel of beer having\nbeen placed near the church gate in readiness for the people coming out\nof church, who partook of a glass and a cake, called revel cake, made\nwith dark flour, currants, and carraway seeds. Wrestling formed a chief\nfeature in the amusements, and large sums were raised by subscription to\npurchase prizes. However odd it may appear, it is not more than twenty\nyears since the silver spoons, bought as prizes to be wrestled for, were\nexhibited hung in front of the gallery in Countisbury Church during\ndivine service on Revel Sunday. Of late years, however, owing to the\nprevalence of drunkenness, especially on the Sunday afternoon, the\nrespectable inhabitants have set their faces against these revels, which\nhave now dwindled into insignificance. The collusion which sprang up\namong the wrestlers to share the prizes, without their being won by a\nreal trial of skill and strength, hastened also greatly to abate the\nenthusiasm of the subscribers, so that of late the prizes have not been\nbeyond a few shillings collected from the people on the ground. This of\nitself has given a death-blow to the revel.--Cooper, _Guide to Lynton\nand Lynmouth_, 1853, p. 38.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nOn this day a tent is erected on the summit of the Tynwald Hill (called\nalso Cronk-y-Keeillown, i.e., St. John\u2019s Church Hill, a mound said to\nhave been originally brought from each of the seventeen parishes of the\nisland), and preparations are made for the reception of the officers of\nstate, according to ancient custom. Early in the morning the Governor\nproceeds from Castletown under a military escort to St. John\u2019s Chapel,\nsituated a few hundred yards to the eastward of the Tynwald Hill. Here\nhe is received by the Bishop, the Council, the clergy, and the keys, and\nall attend Divine service in the chapel, the Government chaplain\nofficiating. This ended, they march in a procession from the chapel to\nthe mount, the military formed in line on each side of the green turf\nwalk. The clergy take the lead, next comes the Vicar-General, and the\ntwo Deemsters, then the bearer of the sword of state in front of the\nGovernor, who is succeeded by the Clerk of the Rolls, the twenty-four\nkeys, and the captains of the different parishes.\n\nThe ceremony of the Tynwald Hill is thus stated in the _Lex Scripta_ of\nthe Isle of Man, as given for law to Sir John Stanley, in 1417:\n\n\u201cThis is the constitution of old time, how yee should be governed on the\nTinwald day. First you shall come thither in your royal array, as a king\nought to do by the prerogatives and royalties of the land of Mann, and\nupon the hill of Tinwald sitt in a chair covered with a royal cloath and\nquishions, and your visage in the east, and your sword before you,\nholden with the point upward. Your Barrons in the third degree sitting\nbeside you, and your beneficed men and your Deemsters before you\nsitting, and your clarke, your knight, esquires, and yeomen about you in\nthe third degree, and the worthiest men in your land to be called in\nbefore your Deemsters, if you will ask anything of them, and to hear the\ngovernment of your land and your will; and the Commons to stand without\nthe circle of the hill, with three clearkes in their surplices, and your\nDeemsters shall call the coroner of Glanfaba, and he shall call in all\nthe coroners of Man, and their yardes in their hands, with their weapons\nupon them, either sword or axe; and the moares, that is to witt of every\nsheading; then the chief coroner, that is, the coroner of Glanfaba,\nshall make affence upon pain of life or lyme, that no man make a\ndisturbance or stirr in the time Tinwald, or any murmur, or rising in\nthe King\u2019s presence, upon pain of hanging and drawing; and then to\nproceed in your matters whatsoever you have to doe, in felonie or\ntreason, or other matters that touch the government of your land of\nManne.\u201d--Cumming\u2019s _History of the Isle of Man_, 1848, pp. 185, 186.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\n\u201cThere is this solemn and charitable custom in y^{e} Ch. of St.\nMary-Hill, London. On the next Sunday after Midsummer Day, every year,\nthe fellowship of the Porters of y^{e} City of London, time out of mind,\ncome to this church in y^{e} morning, and whilst the Psalms are reading,\nthey group two and two towards the rails of y^{e} Communion table, where\nare set two basons; and there they make their offering, and so return to\nthe body of y^{e} Church again. After then the inhabitants of y^{e}\nparish and their wives, and others also then at church, make their\noffering likewise; and the money so offered is given to the poor\ndecrepit Porters of the said fellowship for their better\nsubsistence.\u201d--Newcomb\u2019s _MS. Collect._, cited by Bishop Kennett.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nIt was the custom to strew the church of Middleton Chenduit, in summer,\nwith hay gathered from six or seven swaths in Ash Meadow, which were\ngiven for this purpose. In the winter the rector found straw.--Bridges\u2019s\n_History of Northamptonshire_, 1791, vol. i. p. 187.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nIt is customary on this day to dress out stools with a cushion of\nflowers. A layer of clay is placed on the stool, and therein is stuck,\nwith great regularity, an arrangement of all kinds of flowers, so close\nas to form a beautiful cushion. These are exhibited at the doors of\nhouses in the villages, and at the ends of streets and cross lanes of\nlarger towns, where the attendants beg money from passengers to enable\nthem to have an evening _f\u00eate_ and dancing.\n\nThis custom is evidently derived from the \u201cLudi Compitalii\u201d of the\nRomans; this appellation was taken from the _compita_, or cross lanes,\nwhere they were instituted and celebrated by the multitude\nassembled before the building of Rome. It was the feast of the\n_lares_, or household gods, who presided as well over houses as\nstreets.--Hutchinson\u2019s _History of Northumberland_.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nThe following notice of a curious custom, formerly observed at Magdalen\nCollege, Oxford, is taken from the _Life of Bishop Horne_, by the Rev.\nWilliam Jones (Works, vol. xii. p. 131):--\u201cA letter of July the 25th,\n1755, informed me that Mr. Horne, according to an established custom at\nMagdalen College, in Oxford, had begun to preach before the University,\non the day of St. John the Baptist. For the preaching of this annual\nsermon, a permanent pulpit of stone is inserted into a corner of the\nfirst quadrangle; and so long as the stone pulpit was in use (of which I\nhave been a witness), the quadrangle was furnished round the sides with\na large fence of green boughs, that the preaching might more nearly\nresemble that of John the Baptist in the wilderness; and a pleasant\nsight it was: but for many years the custom has been discontinued, and\nthe assembly have thought it safer to take shelter under the roof of the\nchapel.\u201d\n\nAt the mowing of _Revel-mede_, a meadow between Bicester and Wendlebury,\nmost of the different kinds of rural sports were usually practised; and\nin such repute was the holiday, that booths and stalls were erected as\nif it had been a fair. The origin of the custom is unknown; but as the\namusements took place at the time when the meadow became subject to\ncommonage, some have supposed it originated in the rejoicings of the\nvillagers on that account. These sports entirely ceased on the enclosure\nof Chesterton field.--Dunkin, _History of Bicester_, 1816, p. 269.\n\n\nSOMERSETSHIRE.\n\nCollinson, in his _History of the County of Somerset_ (1791, vol. iii.\np. 586), gives an account of a custom that was celebrated on the\nSaturday before old Midsummer Day in the parishes of Congresbury and\nPuxton, at two large pieces of common land, called East and West\nDolemoors. These, he says, were divided into single acres, each bearing\na peculiar and different mark cut on the turf, such as a horn, four oxen\nand a mare, two oxen and a mare, pole-axe, cross, dung-fork, oven,\nduck\u2019s nest, hand reel, and hare\u2019s tail. On the Saturday before old\nMidsummer Day, several proprietors of estates in the parishes of\nCongresbury, Puxton, and Week St. Lawrence, or their tenants, assembled\non the commons. A number of apples were previously prepared, marked in\nthe same manner with the before-mentioned acres, which were distributed\nby a young lad to each of the commoners from a bag or hat. At the close\nof the distribution, each person repaired to his allotment as his apple\ndirected him, and took possession for the ensuing year. An adjournment\nthen took place to the house of the overseer of Dolemoors (an officer\nannually elected from the tenants), where four acres, reserved for the\npurpose of paying expenses, were let by inch of candle, and the\nremainder of the day was spent in sociability and hearty mirth.\n\n\nWILTSHIRE.\n\nAt Chiltern there is a sport widely practised by the boys, which they\ncall \u201cegg-hopping.\u201d At the commencement of summer the lads forage the\nwoods in quest of birds\u2019 eggs. These, when found, they place on the road\nat distances apart in proportion to the rarity or abundance of the\nspecies of egg. The hopper is then blindfolded, and he endeavours to\nbreak as many as he can in a certain number of jumps. The universality\nof the game, and the existence of various superstitions, combined with\ntheir refusal to part with the eggs for money, would warrant a\nsupposition that some superstition is connected with it.--_N. & Q. 3rd.\nS._ vol. iv. p. 492.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nOld Midsummer Day, says Cole (_History of Scalby_, 1829, p. 44), is, at\nScalby, a kind of gala time, when the sports, as they are termed, take\nplace, consisting of the most rustic description of amusements, such as\ndonkey-racing, &c., and when booths are erected for the accommodation of\nthe several visitors, and the village presents a motley fair-like\nappearance.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\n\nCO. CORK.\n\nA pilgrimage to the source of the River Lee is one frequently performed\nby two very different classes of persons--the superstitious and the\ncurious; the first led by a traditional sanctity attached to the place,\nthe latter by the reputed sublimity of its scenery, and a desire of\nwitnessing the religious assemblies and ceremonies of the peasantry. The\nscenery of Gougaun lake is bold and rugged, surrounded by rocky and\nbarren mountains; in its centre is a small and solitary island,\nconnected with the shore by a narrow artificial causeway, constructed to\nfacilitate the rites of religious devotees, who annually flock thither\non the 24th June (St. John\u2019s Day), and the celebration of a pious\nfestival. The principal building on the island is a rudely formed\ncircular wall of considerable solidity, in the thickness of which are\nnine arched recesses or cells, called chapels, severally dedicated to\nparticular saints, with a plain flag-stone set up in each as an altar.\n\nOn the celebration of the religious meeting these cells are filled with\nmen and women in various acts of devotion, almost all of them on their\nknees. Croker, in his _Researches in the South of Ireland_ (1824, p.\n275), describing one of these pilgrimages, says: To a piece of rusty\niron considerable importance seems to have been attached; it passed from\none devotee to another with much ceremony. The form consisted in placing\nit three times, with a short prayer[72] across the head of the nearest\nperson to whom it was then handed, and who went through the same\nceremony with the next to him, and thus it circulated from one to the\nother. The banks of the lake were the scenes of merry-making. Almost\nevery tent had its piper, two or three young men and women dancing the\njig.\n\n  [72] \u201cCopy of the prayer to be said at the well of St. John.--\u2018O\n  Almighty God, as I have undertaken this journey by way of pilgrimage\n  in and through a penitential spirit, in the first place I hope to\n  render myself worthy of the favour I mean to ask, to avoid drunkenness\n  and licentiousness, and hope to find favour in thy sight; I therefore\n  pay this tribute and fulfil the promise I have made; I ask you\n  therefore, through the intercession of St. John, to grant me the\n  following favour (here mention your ailment, the particular favour you\n  stand in need of). I know how unworthy I am of being heard, but I\n  resolve, with thy gracious assistance, henceforward to render myself\n  worthy of your favour. I implore this gift through the intercession of\n  St. John, and the sufferings of Christ our Lord. Amen.\u2019\n\n  \u201cN.B. You must be careful to avoid all excess in drinking, dancing in\n  tents, for it is impossible characters can find favour in the sight of\n  God, such as these. Fasting going there had formerly been the custom.\u201d\n\n\nCO. LIMERICK.\n\nAt one time, the tradesmen of Limerick marched, on Midsummer Day,\narranged under their respective leaders, decorated with sashes, ribbons,\nand flowers, and accompanied with a band of musicians, and the shouts of\nthe delighted populace, through the principal streets of the city, while\ntheir merry-men played a thousand antic tricks, and the day generally\nended in a terrible fight between the Garryowen and Thomond-gate boys\n(the tradesmen of the north and south suburbs).--Fitzgerald and\nMacgregor\u2019s _History of Limerick_, 1827, p. 540.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE 25.] YORKSHIRE.\n\n\nIn the village of Micklefield, about ten miles east of Leeds, it is the\ncustom on the second day of the feast, (June 25th) for about twelve of\nthe villagers,[73] dressed, in their best garb, and wearing a white\napron _\u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9picier_, to carry a large basket (generally a\nclothes-basket) to each farm-house in the village, the occupier of which\nseems to consider it his bounden duty to give them a good supply of\nconfectionery of some kind to take away with them, and ale _ad libitum_\nto drink in his house.--_N. &. Q. 3rd S._ vol. iii. p. 263.\n\n  [73] These villagers call themselves \u201c_Joss Weddingers_.\u201d (?)\n\n\n\n\nJUNE 29.] ST. PETER\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nOn this day many of the rites peculiar to the festival of St. John the\nBaptist were repeated.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIt appears from the _Status Schol\u00e6 Etonensis_ (A.D. 1560) that the Eton\nboys had a great bonfire annually on the east side of the church on St.\nPeter\u2019s Day, as well as on that of St. John Baptist.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nThe stranger who chances to attend Divine service in Farnborough parish\nchurch on the Sunday next after the feast of St. Peter, has his\nattention arrested by the floor of the porch being strewed with reeds.\nBy an abstract of the will of George Dalton, Gent., of Farnborough,\ndated December 3rd, 1556, set forth on a mural tablet in the interior of\nthe church, he learns that this gentleman settled a perpetual annuity of\n13_s._ 4_d._ chargeable upon his lands at Tuppendence: 10_s._ to the\npreacher of a sermon on the Sunday next after the feast of St. Peter,\nand 3_s._ 4_d._ to the poor. Local traditional lore affirms that Mr.\nDalton was saved from drowning by reeds, and that the annual sermon and\nodd manner of decorating the porch are commemorative of the event. This\nday is called by the inhabitants of the village, Reed Day or Flag\nDay.--_Maidstone Gazette_, 1859.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nCole, in his _History of Weston Favell_ (1829, p. 58), says:--The feast\nfollows St. Peter\u2019s Day. The amusements and sports of the week consist\nof dinner and tea parties formed from the adjacent towns, which meetings\nare frequently concluded with a ball, indeed a dance at the inns on the\nfew first days of the feast is indispensable. Games at bowls and quoits\nare pursued with great dexterity and interest by the more athletic\nvisitants, and in the evening the place presents a motley, fair-like\nappearance; but this continues for no longer period than the second or\nthird day in the feast week.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nFormerly, says Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 337), on the\nevening of St. Peter\u2019s Day, the inhabitants of this county carried\nfirebrands about the fields of their respective parishes. They made\nencroachments on these occasions upon the bonfires of the neighbouring\ntowns, of which they took away some of the ashes by force; this they\ncalled \u201ccarrying off the flower (probably the flour) of the wake.\u201d\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nIn an old account of Gisborough, in Cleveland, and the adjoining coast,\nprinted in the _Antiquarian Repertory_ (1808, vol. iii. p. 304) from an\nancient MS. in the Cotton Library (marked Julius F. C., fol. 455),\nspeaking of the fishermen, it is stated that \u201cUpon St. Peter\u2019s Daye they\ninvite their friends and kinsfolk to a festyvall kept after their\nfashion with a free hearte, and noe shew of niggardnesse; that daye\ntheir boates are dressed curiously for the shewe, their mastes are\npainted, and certain rytes observed amongst them, with sprinkling their\nprowes with good liquor, sold with them at a groate the quarte, which\ncustom or superstition, suckt from their auncestors, even contynueth\ndown unto this present tyme.\u201d\n\nThe feast day of Nun-Monkton is kept on St. Peter\u2019s Day, and is followed\nby the \u201cLittle Feast Day,\u201d and a merry time extending over a week. On\nthe Saturday evening preceding the 29th a company of the villagers,\nheaded by all the fiddlers and players on other instruments that could\nbe mustered at one time went in procession across the great common to\n\u201cMay-pole Hill,\u201d where there is an old sycamore (the pole being near it)\nfor the purpose of \u201crising Peter,\u201d who had been buried under the tree.\nThis effigy of St. Peter, a rude one of wood, carved--no one professed\nto know when--and in these later times clothed in a ridiculous fashion,\nwas removed in its box-coffin to the neighbourhood of the public-house,\nthere to be exposed to view, and, with as little delay as possible,\nconveyed to some out-building, where it was stowed away and thought no\nmore about till the first Saturday after the feast day (or the second if\nthe 29th had occurred at the back end of a week), when it was taken back\nin procession again, and re-interred with all honour which concluding\nceremony was called \u201cBuryin\u2019 Peter.\u201d In this way did St. Peter preside\nover his own feast. On the evening of the first day of the feast, two\nyoung men went round the village with large baskets for the purpose of\ncollecting tarts, cheese-cakes, and eggs for mulled ale--all being\nconsumed after the two ceremonies above indicated. This last good\ncustom is not done away with yet, suppers and, afterwards, dancing in a\nbarn being the order while the feast lasts.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. i. p.\n361.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nIn Sinclair\u2019s _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_ (1792, vol. iii. p. 105) we are\ntold that at Loudoun, in Ayrshire, the custom still retains among the\nherds and young people to kindle fires in the high grounds, in honour of\nBeltan. Beltan was anciently the time of this solemnity. It is kept on\nSt. Peter\u2019s day.\n\n\n\n\nJULY.] COMMENCEMENT DAY.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nIn the University of Cambridge, the first Tuesday in July is usually the\nCommencement Day. The Commencement Sunday is the Sunday immediately\nbefore the Commencement Day. It is a commemoration day.\n\nOn Commencement Sunday, the Vice-Chancellor invites to dinner all\nnoblemen, the three Regius Professors, and their sons and the public\norator.--Adam Wall, _Ceremonies observed in the Senate House of the\nUniversity of Cambridge_, 1798, p. 76.\n\n\nHUNTINGDONSHIRE.\n\nAt Old Weston a piece of green sward belongs by custom to the parish\nclerk for the time being, subject to the condition of the land being\nmown immediately before Weston feast, which occurs in July, and the\ncutting thereof being strewed on the church floor previously to Divine\nservice on the feast Sunday, and continuing there during Divine\nservice.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 220.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nAt Altcar the parish church is dedicated to St. Michael, and, in\naccordance with a very old custom, a rush-bearing takes place in\nJuly.--See _Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 341.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nIn the _History of Alnwick_ (1822, pp. 241-244) the following account is\ngiven of an ancient custom celebrated on the proclamation of the fair\nheld in July. On the Sunday evening preceding the fair, the\nrepresentatives of the adjacent townships that owe suit and service to\nhis Grace the Duke of Northumberland, and the constables of Alnwick,\nwith several of the freeholders and tradesmen, attend at the castle,\nwhere they are freely regaled. The steward of the Court, and the bailiff\nwith their attendants, then proceed from the castle to the cross in the\nmarket-place, where the bailiff proclaims the fair in the name of the\nDuke and Duchess of Northumberland, and calls over the names of the\nvarious townships that owe suit and service; viz. the townships of\nChatton and Chillingham, four men, Coldmarton and Fowbury, four men;\nHetton and Hezebrigge, four men; Fawdon and Clinch, four men; Alnham and\nAlnham Moor, two men; Tughall and Swinhoe, two men; Longhoughton and\nDenwick, four men; Lesbury and Bilton, two men; Lyham and Lyham-hall,\none man; with the principal inhabitants of the borough of Alnwick. The\nrepresentatives who attend for the several townships in service are\nobliged to keep watch at different parts of the town the night before\nthe fair, which has been a custom from time immemorial. On the fair-day\nthe tenants of the Duke within the barony of Alnwick attend at the\ncastle, when the steward and bailiff proceed from thence to the market,\nand proclaim the fair as before. They then go to Clayport Street, where\nthe fair is again proclaimed, and from thence to the castle. The above\ntownships, by their attendance, are exempt from paying toll in the\nborough for twelve months, but if they do not attend, they must pay the\nsame till the next year.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\n\nCOUNTY OF EDINBURGH.\n\nThe Leith Races take place either in the month of July or August. As\nthey were under the patronage of the magistrates of Edinburgh, it was\nusual for one of the city officers to walk in procession every morning\nduring the week from the Council Chamber down to Leith, bearing aloft a\nsilk purse, gaily decorated with ribbons, styled the City Purse, on the\nend of a pole, accompanied by the town-guard drummer, who, being\nstationed in the rear of this dignitary, continued beating a tattoo at\nhis heels all the way to the race-ground.\n\nThe procession which at the onset consisted only of the officer and the\ndrummer, and sometimes a file or two of the town-guard, gathered\nstrength as it moved along the line of march, from a constant accession\nof boys, who were every morning on the look out for this procession, and\nwho preferred, according to their own phrase, \u201cgaun down wi\u2019 the purse,\u201d\nto any other way. Such a dense mass of these finally surrounded the\nofficer and his attendant drummer that, long before the procession\nreached Leith, both had wholly disappeared. Nothing of the former\nremained visible but the purse, and the top of the pole on which it was\nborne. These, however, projecting above the heads of the crowd, still\npointed out the spot where he might be found: of the drummer, no vestige\nremained; but he was known to exist by the faint and intermittent sounds\nof his drum. The town-guard also came in for a share of the honours and\nthe business of this festive week. These were marched down to Leith\nevery day in full costume. Having arrived upon the sands, the greater\npart, along with the drummer, took their station at the starting-point,\nwhere the remainder surrounded the heights. The march of these veterans\nto Leith is thus humorously described by Ferguson:--\n\n    \u201cCome, hafe a care (the captain cries),\n      On guns your bagnets thraw:\n    Now mind your manual exercise,\n      And march down row by row.\n    And as they march he\u2019ll glour about,\n      Tent a\u2019 ther cuts an\u2019 scars;\n    Mang these full many a gausy snout\n      Has gusht in birth-day wars\n                          Wi\u2019 blude that day.\u201d\n\n  Campbell, _History of Leith_, 1827, p. 187.\n\n\nRENFREWSHIRE.\n\nA very curious custom existed at Greenock, and in the neighbouring town\nof Port Glasgow, at the fair held on the first Monday in July, and the\nfourth Tuesday in November. The whole trades of the town, in the dresses\nof their guilds, with flags and music, each man armed, made a grand\nrendezvous at the place where the fair was to be held, and with drawn\nswords and array of guns and pistols, surrounded the booths, and greeted\nthe baillie\u2019s announcement by tuck of drum, \u201cthat Greenock Fair was\nopen,\u201d by a tremendous shout, and a struggling fire from every\nserviceable barrel in the crowd.--_N. &. Q. 1st S._, vol. ix. p. 242.\n\n\nROXBURGHSHIRE.\n\nHaig, in his _History of Kelso_ (1825, p. 107), tells us that in his\ntime the Society of Gardeners, on the second Tuesday in July, the day of\ntheir annual general meeting, paraded the streets, accompanied by a band\nof music, and carrying an elegant device composed of the most beautiful\nflowers, which, on the company reaching the inn where they dined, was\nthrown from the window to the crowd, who soon demolished it in a\nscramble for the flowers.\n\nFuller, too, in his _History of Berwick-upon-Tweed_ (1799, p. 447), says\nthe association of gardeners, which took place in 1796, had in his time\na procession through the streets yearly. It was accompanied with music;\nand, in the middle of the procession, a number of men carried a large\nwreath of flowers. The different officers belonging to this institution\nwore their respective insignia, and the whole society dined together.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 1.] IRELAND.\n\n\nMason, in his _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_ (1814, vol. ii. p. 528), says that\nthe great holiday in Seagoe is on the first of July (Old Style), being\nthe anniversary of the battle of the Boyne. A procession takes place,\nthe whole population wear orange lilies, and the day is spent in\nfestivity.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 5.] LEICESTERSHIRE.\n\n\nAt Glenfield, the parish clerk, in accordance with an old custom, strews\nthe church with new hay on the first Sunday after the 5th of\nJuly.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 219.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 7.] ST. THOMAS \u00c0 BECKET\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nThe festival called Bodmin Riding was kept on Sunday and Monday after\nSt. Thomas \u00e0 Becket\u2019s Day (July 7th). A puncheon of beer having been\nbrewed in the preceding October, and bottled in anticipation of the\ntime, two or more young men who were entrusted with the chief management\nof the affair, and who represented the \u201cwardens,\u201d went round the town\nattended by a band of drums and fifes, or other instruments. The crier\nsaluted each house with, \u201cTo the people of this house a prosperous\nmorning, long life, and a merry riding!\u201d The musicians then struck up\nthe riding tune, and the householder was solicited to taste the riding\nale, which was carried round in baskets. A bottle was usually taken in,\nand it was acknowledged by such a sum as the means or humour of the\ntownsman permitted, to be spent on the public festivities of the season.\nNext morning a procession was formed: all who could afford to ride\nmounted on horse or ass, which proceeded first to the Priory, to receive\ntwo large garlands of flowers fixed on staves, and then through the\nprincipal streets to the Town End, where the games were formally opened.\nThe sports, which lasted two days, consisted of wrestling, foot-racing,\njumping in sacks, &c. It should be remarked that a second or inferior\nbrewing, from the same wort, was drunk at a minor merry-making at\nWhitsuntide. In an order, dated November 15th, 1583, regulating the\nbusiness of the shoemakers, a class of tradesmen which seems for ages to\nhave been more than usually numerous in Bodmin, it is directed by the\nmayor and the masters of the occupation, \u201cthat at the _Rydyng_ every\nmaster and journeyman shall give their attendance to the steward, and\nlikewise bring him to church, upon pain of 12_d._ for every master, and\n6_d._ for every journeyman, for every such default, to the discretion of\nthe master of the occupation.\u201d\n\nAt this festival there was held a curious kind of mock trial. A Lord of\nMisrule was appointed, before whom any unpopular person, so unlucky as\nto be captured, was dragged to answer a charge of felony; the imputed\ncrime being such as his appearance might suggest, a negligence in his\nattire, or a breach of manners. With ludicrous gravity a mock trial was\nthen commenced, and judgment was gravely pronounced, when the culprit\nwas hurried off to receive his punishment. In this his apparel was\ngenerally a greater sufferer than his person, as it commonly terminated\nin his being thrown into the water or the mire.[74] \u201cTake him before the\nmayor of Halgaver;\u201d \u201cPresent him in Halgaver Court,\u201d are old Cornish\nproverbs.--_Parochial History of Cornwall_, 1868, vol i. p. 104. Murray,\n_Handbook for Cornwall_, 1865, p. 244.\n\n  [74] Carew, in his _Survey of Cornwall_ (1811, p. 296), speaking of\n  this custom, says: \u201cThe youthlier sort of Bodmin townsmen use\n  sometimes to sport themselves by playing the box with strangers whom\n  they summon to Halgaver. The name signifieth the goat\u2019s moor, and such\n  a place it is, lying a little without the town, and very full of\n  quagmires. When these mates with any raw serving man, or other young\n  master, who may serve and deserve to make pastime, they cause him to\n  be solemnly arrested, for his appearance before the mayor of Halgaver,\n  where he is charged with wearing one spur, in going untrussed or\n  wanting a girdle, or some such like felony; and after he hath been\n  arraigned and tried, with all requisite circumstances, judgment is\n  given in formal terms, and executed in some ungracious prank or other,\n  more to the scorn than hurt of the party condemned. Now and then they\n  extend their merriment with the largest, to the prejudice of\n  over-credulous people, persuading them to fight with a dragon lurking\n  in Halgaver, or to see some strange matter there; which concludeth at\n  least with a training them into the mire.\u201d\n\n\nKENT.\n\nBecket\u2019s Fair, says Hasted in his _History of Canterbury_ (1801, vol. i.\np. 104), was held on the feast of St. Thomas \u00e0 Becket, and was so called\nfrom this day being the anniversary of the Archbishop\u2019s translation\nfrom his tomb to his shrine, and as such was fixed for this purpose, as\na means of gathering together a greater multitude for the celebration of\nthis solemn day.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nIn some parts of this county the Sunday after St. Thomas \u00e0 Becket\u2019s Day\ngoes by the name of Relic Sunday.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1822, p. 192.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 9.] STAFFORDSHIRE.\n\n\nThere existed at one time, at Wolverhampton, an annual procession, on\nJuly 9th (the eve of the great fair), of men in antique armour, preceded\nby musicians playing the \u201cfair tune,\u201d and followed by the steward of the\nDeanery Manor, the peace-officers, and many of the principal\ninhabitants. Tradition says the ceremony originated at the time when\nWolverhampton was a great emporium of wool, and resorted to by merchants\nof the staple from all parts of England. The necessity of an annual\nforce to keep peace and order during the fair (which is said to have\nlasted fourteen days, but the charter says only eight) is not\nimprobable. It was finally discontinued by Sir William Pulteney, who was\nthe lessee of the Deanery Manor, to the great dissatisfaction of the\npeople of Wolverhampton. These processions were the remains of the\nCorpus Christi pageantry, which were always celebrated at the annual\nfairs, and attended by men armed and equipped as if for war.--Shaw,\n_History of Staffordshire_, 1798-1801, p. 165; Oliver, _Historical\nAccount of the Collegiate Church of Wolverhampton_, 1836, p. 44.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 12.] IRELAND.\n\n\nAt Maghera, County Down, on the 12th of July, the anniversary of the\nbattle of Aughrim, the Orangemen assemble, walk in their insignia, and\ndine together.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_, 1844, vol. i. p. 594.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 15.] ST. SWITHIN\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nSt. Swithin was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the time of King\nEthelbert, and the great patron saint of the cathedral and city of\nWinchester. In some church-books there are entries of gatherings of\n\u201cSaint Swithine\u2019s farthyngs\u201d on this day. There is an old proverb which\nsays:\n\n    \u201cSt. Swithin\u2019s Day, if thou dost rain,\n    For forty days it will remain:\n    St. Swithin\u2019s Day, if thou be fair,\n    For forty days \u2019twill rain na mair.\u201d\n\nThere is also a quaint saying, that when it rains on St. Swithin\u2019s Day,\nit is the saint christening the apples.--See Timbs\u2019 _Things not\nGenerally Known_, 1856, p. 153.\n\n\nSURREY.\n\nIn the Churchwardens\u2019 accounts of the parish of Horley, under the years\n1505-6, is the following entry, which implies a gathering on this\nsaint\u2019s day:--\n\n\u201cItm. Saintt Swithine farthyngs the said 2 yeres, 30_s._ 8_d._\u201d\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nSports were at one time annually celebrated at Cloughton on Saturday\nevening after the 15th July.--Cole, _Historical Sketches of Scalby,\nBurniston, and Cloughton_, 1829, p. 63.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 17.] ST. KENELM\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nAt Clent, in the parish of Hales Owen, a fair was formerly held in a\nfield in which St. Kenelm\u2019s Chapel is situated. It is, says Brand, of\nvery ancient date, and probably arose from the gathering together of\npersons to visit the shrine of St. Kenelm on the feast of the saint,\n17th of July. On the Sunday after this fair, St. Kenelm\u2019s wake was held,\nat which a curious custom was practised, called \u201cCrabbing the Parson,\u201d\nthe origin of which is said to have arisen on this wise:--\u201cLong, long\nago, an incumbent of Frankley, to which St. Kenelm\u2019s is attached, was\naccustomed, through horrid, deep-rutted, miry roads, occasionally to\nwend his way to the sequestered depository of the remains of the\nmurdered saint-king, to perform Divine service. It was his wont to carry\nsome provisions with him, with which he refreshed himself at a\nfarm-house near the scene of his pastoral duties. On one occasion,\nhowever, having eaten up his store of provisions, he was tempted (after\nhe had donned his sacerdotal habit, and in the absence of the good dame)\nto pry into the secrets of a huge pot, in which was simmering the\nsavoury dish the lady had provided for her household; among the rest\ndumplings formed no inconsiderable portion of the contents. The story\nruns that the parson poached sundry of them, hissing hot, from the\ncauldron, and, hearing the footsteps of his hostess, he, with great\ndexterity, deposited them in the sleeves of his surplice. She, however,\nwas conscious of her loss, and, closely following the parson to the\nchurch, by her presence prevented him from disposing of them, and, to\navoid her accusation, he forthwith entered the reading-desk, and began\nto read the service, the clerk beneath making the responses. Erelong, a\ndumpling slipped out of the parson\u2019s sleeve, and fell on the clerk\u2019s\nhead; he looked up with astonishment, but taking the matter in good\npart, proceeded with the service. Presently, however, another dumpling\nfell on his head, at which he, with upturned eyes and ready tongue,\nresponded, \u201cTwo can play at that, master,\u201d and, suiting the action to\nthe word, he immediately began pelting the parson with crabs, a store of\nwhich he had gathered, intending to take them home in his pocket to\nfoment the sprained leg of his horse, and so well did he play his part,\nthat the parson soon decamped, amid the jeers of the old dame, and the\nlaughter of the few persons who were in attendance.\u201d--Brand, _Pop.\nAntiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 344.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 20.] ST. MARGARET\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nOn the feast of St. Margaret in 1511, the Miracle Play of the Holy\nMartyr St. George was acted on a stage in an open field at Bassingborne\nin Cambridgeshire, at which there were a minstrel and three waits hired\nfrom Cambridge, with a property-man and a painter. The following extract\nfrom an old churchwarden\u2019s book belonging to the parish of Bassingborne,\ngives the various subscriptions and expenses connected with it:--\n\nMemorandum:--Received at the play held on St. Margaret\u2019s day, A.D.\nMDXI., in Basingborn of the holy martyr St. George.\n\nReceived of the Township of Royston xii^{s}. Tharfield vi^{s} viii^{d},\nMelton v^{s} iiii^{d}, Lillington x^{s} vi^{d}, Whaddon iv^{s} iiii^{d},\nSteeplemenden iiii^{s}, Barly iv^{s} i^{d}, Ashwell iiii^{s}, Abingdon\niii^{s} iv^{d}, Orwell iii^{s}, Wendy ii^{s} ix^{d}, Wimpole ii^{s}\nvii^{d}, Meldreth ii^{s} iv^{d}, Arrington ii^{s} iv^{d}, Shepreth\nii^{s} iv^{d}, Kelsey ii^{s} v^{d}, Willington i^{s} x^{d}, Fulmer i^{s}\nviii^{d}, Gilden Morden i^{s}, Tadlow i^{s}, Croydon i^{s} i^{d}, Hattey\nx^{d}, Wratlingworth ix^{d}, Hastingfield ix^{d}, Barkney viii^{d},\nFoxten iv^{d}, Kneesnorth vi^{d}.\n\nItem received of the town of Bassingborn on the Monday and Friday after\nthe play, together with other comers on the Monday, xiv^{s} v^{d}.\n\nItem received on the Wednesday after the play, with a pot of ale at\nKneesnorth, all costs deducted, i^{s} vii^{d}.\n\n_Expenses of the said Play._\n\nFirst paid to the garnement man for garnements and propyrts and\nplaybooks, xx^{s}.\n\nTo a minstrel and three waits of Cambridge for the Wednesday, Saturday,\nand Monday. Two of them the first day, and three the other days, v^{s}\nxi^{d}.\n\nItem in expences on the Players, when the play was shewed, in bread and\nale and for other vittails at Royston for those players, iii^{s} ii^{d}.\n\nItem in expences on the play day for the bodies of vi. sheep, xxii^{d}\neach, ix^{s} ii^{d}.\n\nItem for three calves and half a lamb, viii^{s} ii^{d}.\n\nItem paid five days board of one Pyke Propyrte, making for himself and\nhis servant one day, and for his horses pasture vi. days, i^{s} iv^{d}.\n\nItem paid to turners of spits and for salt, ix^{d}.\n\nItem for iv chickens for the gentlemen, iv^{d.}\n\nItem for fish and bread and setting up the stages, iv^{d}.\n\nItem to John Beecher for painting of three Fanchoms and four Tormentors.\n\nItem to Giles Ashwell for easement of his croft to play in, i^{s}.\n\nItem to John Hobarde, Brotherhood Priest, for the play book, ii^{s}\nviii^{d}.\n\n  _Antiquarian Repertory_, 1808, vol. iii. p. 320.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nTo the west of Wereham Church, Norfolk, a well, called St. Margaret\u2019s,\nwas much frequented in the times of Popery. Here, on St. Margaret\u2019s Day,\nthe people regaled themselves with ale and cakes, music and dancing.\nAlms were given, and offerings and vows made, at sainted wells of this\nkind.--_Excursions in the County of Norfolk_, 1829, vol. ii. p. 145.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 22.] ST. BRIDGET\u2019S EVE.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nOn St. Bridget\u2019s Eve every farmer\u2019s wife in Ireland makes a cake, called\n_Bairinbreac_; the neighbours are invited, the madder of ale and the\npipe go round, and the evening concludes with mirth and festivity.--Col.\nVallancey, _Essay on the Antiquity of the Irish Language_, 1772, p. 21;\nsee Fosbroke\u2019s _Encyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities_, 1840, p. 657.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 25.] ST. JAMES\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nIt is customary in London to begin eating oysters on St. James\u2019s Day,\nand in the course of the few days following upon their introduction,\nthe children of the humbler class employ themselves diligently in\ncollecting the shells which have been cast out from taverns and\nfish-shops, and of these they make piles in various rude forms. By the\ntime that old St. James\u2019s Day (August 5th) has come about, they have\nthese little fabrics in nice order, with a candle stuck in the top, to\nbe lighted at night. As the stranger occasionally comes in contact with\nthese structures, he is suddenly surrounded by a group of boys,\nexclaiming, \u201cPray, remember the grotto!\u201d by which is meant a demand for\na penny wherewith professedly to keep up the candle. Mr. Thoms considers\nthat in the grotto thus made, we have a memorial of the world-renowned\nshrine of St. James at Compostella, which may have been formerly erected\non the anniversary of St. James by poor persons, as an invitation to the\npious, who could not visit Compostella to show their reverence to the\nsaint by alms giving to their needy brethren.--_Book of Days_, vol. ii.\np. 122; _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. i. p. 6.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nThe rector of Cliff distributes at his parsonage-house, on St. James\u2019s\nday, annually, a mutton pie and a loaf to as many as choose to demand\nit; the expense amounts to about \u00a315 per annum.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nIt was customary at one time for the Corporation of Liverpool to give an\nannual public dinner, in the Exchange, to two or three hundred of the\nprincipal inhabitants, on the 25th July and 11th November, the days of\nthe commencement of the Liverpool fairs, which were considered as days\nof festivity by all ranks of the community. On these days the mayor,\nbailiffs, and burgesses, in their gowns, went in procession with a band\nof music, from the Exchange to the middle of Dale Street, where they\npassed round a large stone, whitewashed for the occasion, and thence\nproceeded to another stone in the centre of Castle Street, and back to\nthe Exchange, where they dined. This ancient custom was discontinued\nabout the year 1760.--Corry, _History of Liverpool_, 1810, p. 94.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 26.] MACE MONDAY.\n\n\nBERKSHIRE.\n\nThe first Monday after St. Anne\u2019s Day, July 26th, a feast is held at\nNewbury, the principal dishes being bacon and beans. In the course of\nthe day a procession takes place; a cabbage is stuck on a pole, and\ncarried instead of a mace, accompanied by similar substitutes for other\nemblems of civic dignity.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 1045.\n\n\n\n\nJULY 29.] ST. OLAVE\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nStrype in his _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. pt. ii. p.\n11), says: \u201cOn the 29th July, 1557, being St. Olave\u2019s Day, was the\nchurch holiday in Silver Street, the parish church whereof was dedicated\nto that saint. And at eight of the clock at night began a stage play of\na goodly matter (relating, it is like, to that saint), that continued\nunto twelve at midnight, and then they made an end with good song.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST.] SWAN-UPPING.\n\n\nFormerly the members of the Corporation of London, in gaily-decorated\nbarges, went up the Thames annually in August, for the purpose of\n_nicking_ or marking, and counting their swans. They used to land off\nBarnes Elms, and partake of a collation. This yearly progress was\ncommonly but incorrectly called \u201cswan-hopping:\u201d the correct designation\nis shown by the ancient statutes to be \u201cswan-upping,\u201d the swans being\ntaken up and nicked, or marked. A \u201cswan-with-two-nicks\u201d indicated, by\nhis second nick, that he had been taken up twice.[75]\n\n  [75] Among the Loseley MSS. is an original roll of swan-marks, showing\n  the beaks of the swans to have been notched with stars, chevrons,\n  crosses, the initials of the owners\u2019 names, or other devices.--See _N.\n  & Q. 2nd S._ vol. x. p. 393.\n\nIn the accounts of the Vintner\u2019s Company (Egerton MS. 1143, fol. 2,) is\nthe following entry:--\n\n  \u201cMoney payd for expense } Item.--Payd in the grete ffroste to\n    for uppyng of         }   James the under swanyerd for\n    Swanes                }   upping of the Maister Swannes    iiij_s._\n                          } It--For bote hyr at the same tyme  iiij_d._\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST 1.] LAMMAS DAY.\n\n\nGule of August, or Lammas Day, is variously explained. _Gule_, from the\nCeltic or British _Wyl_ or _Gule_, signifies a festival or holiday, and\nexplains Gule of August to mean the holiday of St. Peter _ad vincula_ in\nthis month, when the people of England, in Roman Catholic times, paid\ntheir Peter-pence. _Lammas_ is, by some, derived from lamb-masse,\nbecause on that day the tenants who held lands of the cathedral church\nin York, which is dedicated to St. Peter _ad vincula_, were bound by\ntheir tenure to bring a live lamb into the church at high mass. Others\nderive it from the Saxon word Hlafmaesse, signifying _loaf-mass_ or\n_bread-mass_, because on this day our forefathers made an offering of\nbread from new wheat. Blount says, \u201cLammas Day, the 1st of August,\notherwise called the _Gule_ or _Yule_ of August, which may be a\ncorruption of the British word _Gwul Awst_, signifying the 1st of\nAugust.\u201d Blount further says, \u201cthat Lammas is called _Alaf-Mass_, that\nis, loaf or bread mass, which signifies a feast of thanksgiving for the\nfirst fruits of the corn. It was observed with bread of new wheat; and\nin some places tenants were bound to bring new wheat to their lord on or\nbefore the 1st of August. New wheat is called Lammas wheat.\u201d Vallancey\nfurther affirms that this day was dedicated to the fruits of the soil;\nthat _Laeith_ was the day of the obligation of grain, particularly of\nwheat, and that _Mas_ signifies fruits of all kinds, especially the\nacorn, whence the word \u201cmast.\u201d\n\nLammas is one of the four cross-quarter days of the year, as they are\nnow denominated. Whitsuntide was formerly the first, Lammas the second,\nMartinmas the third, and Candlemas the last. Some rents are yet payable\nat these ancient quarter-days in England, and they continue general in\nScotland.--Timbs, _Things not Generally Known_, 1856, p. 154; see\nSoane\u2019s _New Curiosities of Literature_, vol ii. p. 123; Brand\u2019s _Pop.\nAntiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 347.\n\nIt was once customary in England to give money to servants on Lammas\nDay, to buy gloves; hence the term _glove-silver_. It is mentioned among\nthe ancient customs of the Abbey of St. Edmund, in which the clerk of\nthe cellarer had 2_d._, the cellarer\u2019s squire, 11_d._, the granger,\n11_d._, and the cowherd a penny.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 334.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nThe charter for Exeter Lammas Fair is perpetuated by a glove of immense\nsize, stuffed and carried through the city on a very long pole,\ndecorated with ribbons, flowers, &c., and attended with music, parish\nbeadles, and the nobility. It is afterwards placed on the top of the\nGuildhall, and then the fair commences; on the taking down of the glove\nthe fair terminates.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 1059.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nThe first Sunday in August is called, by the Manks peasantry, _yn chied\ndoonaght a ouyr_. On that day they crowd in great numbers to the tops of\nthe highest hills, in the north to the summit of Snafeld, and in the\nsouth to the top of Barule. Others visit the sanative wells of the\nisland, which are held in the highest estimation. The veneration with\nwhich the Pagan deities were regarded having been transferred along with\ntheir fanes and fountains to Christian saints, sanctified and sanative\nwells became the resort of the pious pilgrim, and by the credulous\ninvalid libations and devotions were, according to ancient practice,\nperformed at these holy springs, which were believed to be guarded by\npresiding powers to whom offerings were left by the visitants. Many a\nwonderful cure is said to have been effected by the waters of St.\nCatherine\u2019s Well at Port Erin; by the Chibbyr Parick, or well of St.\nPatrick, on the west end of the hill of _Lhargey-graue_; by Lord Henry\u2019s\nWell on the south beach of Laxey, and by the well at Peel, also\ndedicated to St. Patrick, which, says the tradition, just sprang forth\nwhere St. Patrick was prompted by Divine instinct to impress the sign of\nthe cross on the ground. Many extraordinary properties were ascribed to\nthe Nunnery Well, but the most celebrated in modern times for its\nmedicinal virtues is the fine spring which issues from the rocks of the\nbold promontory called Maughold Head, and which is dedicated to the\nsaint of the name, who, it appears, had blessed the well and endowed it\nwith certain healing virtues. On this account it is yet resorted to, as\nwas the pool of Siloam of old, by every invalid who believes in its\nefficacy.\n\nOn the first Sunday in August the natives, according to ancient custom,\nstill make a pilgrimage to drink its waters; and it is held to be of the\ngreatest importance to certain females to enjoy the beverage when seated\nin a place called the _saint\u2019s chair_, which the saint, for the\naccommodation of succeeding generations, obligingly placed immediately\ncontiguous.--Bennet, _Sketches of the Isle of Man_, 1829, p. 65;\nWaldron, _Description of Isle of Man_, p. 151; Train, _History of the\nIsle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 121.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nLammas Day is noted in London for an annual rowing match on the Thames,\ninstituted by Thomas Doggett,[76] an actor of celebrity, in honour of\nthe accession of George I. to the throne of England. Doggett was so\nwarmly attached to the Brunswick family that Sir Richard Steele termed\nhim \u201ca Whig up to the head and ears.\u201d In the year after George I. came\nto the throne, Doggett gave a waterman\u2019s coat and silver badge, to be\nrowed for by six watermen on the 1st of August. This he not only\ncontinued till his death, but he bequeathed a certain sum of money, the\ninterest of which was to be appropriated annually, for ever, to the\npurchase of a like coat and badge, by six young watermen, whose\napprenticeships had expired the year before. This ceremony is performed\nevery year, the competitors setting out, at a signal given, at that\ntime of the tide when the current is strongest against them, and\nrowing from the old Swan, near London Bridge, to the White Swan at\nChelsea.--_Sports, Pastimes, and Customs of London_, 1847, p. 35.\n\n  [76] He first appeared on the Dublin stage, and afterwards, with\n  Colley Cibber and Robert Wilkes, became joint manager of Drury Lane\n  Theatre. He died in 1721.--Faulkner, _History of Chelsea_, 1829, p.\n  188.\n\nIn the parish of St. Luke, Chelsea, were formerly \u201cThe Lotts,\u201d Lammas\nland, for ages appurtenant to the manor of Chelsea. The lord of the\nmanor possessed the right of letting the land on lease for the spring\nand summer quarters, beginning with March and ending in August, and the\ninhabitants at large enjoyed the privilege of turning in their cattle\nfrom August till February, being the autumn and winter quarters. This\nstate of appropriation continued till the year 1825 or 1826, when the\ndirectors of the Kensington Canal Company took possession of them for\ntheir own use immediately upon the completion of the canal; they have\ndetained them ever since, and have let them successively to several\npersons, and received rent for the same. The Chelsea Lammas lands had\nhitherto been opened on the 12th of August, being the first of the month\naccording to the old style. The graziers, butchers, and others with\ntheir cattle, used formerly to assemble in the lane leading to \u201cThe\nLotts,\u201d on the eve of Lammas, and when the clock had struck twelve they\nentered the meadow.--Timbs, _Things not Generally Known_, 1856, p. 154.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nThe following curious custom once existed at Eastbourne. On the three\nfirst Sundays in August a public breakfast, says Royer (_History of\nEastbourne_, 1787, p. 126), is given at the parsonage-house by the\ntenants of the great tythes to the farmers and their servants, each\nfarmer being entitled to send two servants for every waggon that he\nkeeps. So that if a farmer have five waggons to do his necessary\nbusiness he may send ten servants, and so on in proportion for a less or\ngreater number. The farmers are entertained in the parlour with a\nsirloin of hot roast beef, cold ham, Sussex cheese, strong ale, and\nGeneva; the men are entertained in the barn with everything the same as\ntheir masters except the beef. It is presumed that this custom had its\norigin from the time the tythes were first taken in kind in this parish,\nin order to keep all parties in good humour.\n\nA petition to Parliament for the abolition of this custom was presented\nas far back as 1640, and, in 1649, an ordinance was enacted that 20_l._\nper annum should be paid for the relief of the poor in lieu of the\nfeast. In 1687 the custom was revived; more recently an annual payment\nof 20_l._ for the education of poor children was substituted, and this\namount now figures year by year in the accounts of St. Mary\u2019s schools as\npaid by the Duke of Devonshire.--Chambers\u2019 _Handbook of Eastbourne_,\n1872, p. 35.\n\n\n\n\nST. WILFRID\u2019S FEAST.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nHutton in his _Trip to Coatham_ (1810, p. 63), says the great annual\nfeast at Coatham in his time was celebrated on the first Sunday after\nLammas Day, old style, and called St. Wilfrid\u2019s Feast, kept in\ncommemoration of the prelate\u2019s return from exile. On the evening before\nthe feast commenced, the effigy of this favourite of the people, having\nbeen previously conveyed some miles out of the town, made his public\nentry as returning after a long absence, being met by crowds of people,\nwho, with shouts and acclamations, welcomed the return of the prelate\nand patron. The same custom seems also to have been observed at\nRipon.--See _Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 1059.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nWhat appears as a relic of the ancient Pagan festival of the Gule of\nAugust, was practised in Lothian till about the middle of the eighteenth\ncentury. The herdsmen within a certain district, towards the beginning\nof summer, associated themselves into bands, sometimes to the number of\na hundred or more. Each of these communities agreed to build a tower in\nsome conspicuous place, near the centre of their district, which was to\nserve as the place of their rendezvous on Lammas Day. This tower was\nusually built of sods, for the most part square, about four feet in\ndiameter at the bottom and tapering to a point at the top, which was\nseldom above seven or eight feet from the ground. In building it, a hole\nwas left in the centre for a flagstaff, on which to display their\ncolours.\n\nFrom the moment the foundation of the tower was laid, it became an\nobject of care and attention to the whole community; for it was reckoned\na disgrace to suffer it to be defaced; so that they resisted, with all\ntheir power, any attempts that should be made to demolish it, either by\nforce or fraud; and, as the honour that was acquired by the demolition\nof a tower, if effected by those belonging to another, was in proportion\nto the disgrace of suffering it to be demolished, each party endeavoured\nto circumvent the other as much as possible, and laid plans to steal\nupon the tower unperceived, in the night time, and level it with the\nground. Great was the honour that such a successful exploit conveyed to\nthe undertakers; and, though the tower was easily rebuilt, yet the news\nwas quickly spread by the successful adventurers, through the whole\ndistrict, which filled it with shouts of joy and exultation, while their\nunfortunate neighbours were covered with shame. To ward off this\ndisgrace, a constant nightly guard was kept at each tower, which was\nmade stronger and stronger, as the tower advanced; so that frequent\nnightly skirmishes ensued at these attacks, but were seldom of much\nconsequence, as the assailants seldom came in force to make an attack in\nthis way, but merely to succeed by surprise; as soon, therefore, as they\nsaw they were discovered, they made off in the best manner they could.\n\nTo give the alarm on these and other occasions, every person was armed\nwith a \u201ctooting horn,\u201d that is, a horn perforated in the small end,\nthrough which wind can be forcibly blown from the mouth, so as to\noccasion a loud noise; and as every one wished to acquire as great\ndexterity as possible in the use of the \u201ctooting horn,\u201d they practised\nupon it during the summer while keeping their beasts; and towards Lammas\nthey were so incessantly employed at this business, answering to, and\nvieing with each other, that the whole country rang continually with the\nsounds.\n\nAs Lammas Day approached each community chose one from among themselves\nfor their captain, and they prepared a stand of colours to be ready to\nbe then displayed. For this purpose they borrowed a fine table-napkin of\nthe largest size from one of the farmers\u2019 wives within the district, and\nornamented it with ribbons. Things being thus prepared, they marched\nforth early in the morning on Lammas Day, dressed in their best apparel,\neach armed with a stout cudgel, and, repairing to their tower, there\ndisplayed their colours in triumph, blowing horns, and making merry in\nthe best manner they could: about nine o\u2019clock they sat down upon the\ngreen and had their breakfast.\n\nIn the meantime scouts were sent out towards every quarter to bring them\nnotice if any hostile party approached, for it frequently happened,\nthat, on that day, the herdsman of one district went to attack those of\nanother district, and to bring them under subjection to them by main\nforce. If news were brought that a hostile party approached, the horns\nsounded to arms, and they immediately arranged themselves in the best\norder they could devise; the stoutest and boldest in front, and those of\ninferior prowess behind. Seldom did they await the approach of the\nenemy, but usually went forth to meet them with a bold countenance, the\ncaptain of each company carrying the colours, and leading the van. When\nthey met they mutually desired each other to lower their colours in sign\nof subjection. If there appeared to be a great disproportion in the\nstrength of the parties, the weakest usually submitted to this ceremony\nwithout much difficulty, thinking their honour was saved by the evident\ndisproportion of the match; but, if they were nearly equal in strength,\nneither of them would yield, and it ended in blows, and sometimes\nbloodshed. It is related that, in a battle of this kind, four were\nactually killed, and many disabled from work for weeks. If no opponent\nappeared, or if they themselves had no intention of making an attack, at\nabout mid-day they took down their colours, and marched, with horns\nsounding, towards the most considerable village in their district; where\nthe lasses and all the people came out to meet them, and partake of\ntheir diversions. Boundaries were immediately appointed, and a\nproclamation made, that all who intended to compete in the race should\nappear. A bonnet ornamented with ribbons was displayed upon a pole as a\nprize to the victor; and sometimes five or six started for it, and ran\nwith as great eagerness as if they had been to gain a kingdom; the prize\nof the second race was a pair of garters, and the third a knife. They\nthen amused themselves for some time with such rural sports as suited\ntheir taste, and dispersed quietly to their respective homes before\nsunset.\n\nWhen two parties met, and one of them yielded to the other, they marched\ntogether for some time in two separate bodies, the subjected body behind\nthe other, and then they parted good friends, each performing their\nraces at their own appointed place. Next day, after the ceremony was\nover, the ribbons and napkin that formed the colours were carefully\nreturned to their respective owners, the tower was no longer a matter of\nconsequence, and the country returned to its usual state of\ntranquillity.--_Trans. Soc. Antiq. of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 194.\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 2.] BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\n\nHunting the ram was a very ancient custom observed at Eton, but is now\nabolished. Lipscomb, in his _History of Buckinghamshire_ (1847, vol. iv.\np. 467), thus describes it:--\n\nThe college had an ancient claim upon its butcher to provide a ram on\nthe Election Saturday, to be hunted by the scholars; but the animal\nhaving upon one occasion been so pressed as to swim across the Thames,\nit ran into Windsor Market, with the boys after it, and much mischief\nwas caused by this unexpected accident. The health of the scholars had\nalso occasionally suffered from the length of the chase, or the heat of\nthe season. The character of the sport was therefore changed about 1740,\nwhen the ram was ham-strung, and, after the speech, was knocked on the\nhead with large twisted clubs, which are reported to have been\nconsidered as Etonian curiosities. But the barbarity of the amusement\ncaused it to be altogether laid aside at the election in 1747, and the\nflesh of the ram was given to be prepared in pasties. The dish still\ncontinues nominally to grace the Election Monday, though the meat no\nlonger boasts its original toughness, being in fact the flesh of\nexcellent wethers.\n\nBrowne Willis (quoted by Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 441)\nwould derive this custom from what was used in the manor of East\nWrotham, Norfolk, where the lord of the manor, after the harvest, gave\nhalf an acre of barley and a ram to the tenants thereof; the which ram,\nif they caught it was their own; if not, it was for the lord again.\n\nIn the _Gent. Mag._ (Aug. 1731, vol. i. p. 351) is the following:--\n\n\u201cMonday, August 2nd, was the election at Eton College, when the\nscholars, according to custom, hunted a ram, by which the provost and\nfellows hold a manor.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 4.] APPRENTICES\u2019 FEAST.\n\n\nThe City apprentices, about the time of Charles II., had an annual\nfeast. On one occasion Charles II. sent them a brace of bucks for dinner\nat Saddlers\u2019 Hall, where several of his courtiers dined with them, and\nhis natural son, the duke of Grafton, officiated as one of the\nstewards.--Noorthouck, _History of London_, 1773, p. 248.\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 5.] ST. OSWALD\u2019S DAY\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nDr. Whitaker (_History of Richmond_, vol. ii. p. 293) quotes a\nmanuscript description of a rush-bearing observed at Warton, on St.\nOswald\u2019s Day, or the Sunday nearest to it--he being the patron of the\nchurch. \u201cThe vain custom,\u201d says the writer, \u201cof dancing, excessive\ndrinking, &c., having been many years laid aside, the inhabitants and\nstrangers spend that day in duly attending the service of the church\nand making good cheer, within the rules of sobriety, in private houses;\nand the next in several kinds of diversions, the chiefest of which is\nusually a rush-bearing, which is on this manner:--They cut hard rushes\nfrom the marsh, which they make up into long bundles, and then dress\nthem in fine linen, silk ribbons, flowers, &c.; afterwards, the young\nwomen of the village which perform the ceremony that year, take up the\nburdens erect, and begin the procession (precedence being always given\nto the churchwardens\u2019 burden), which is attended not only with\nmultitudes of people, but with music, drums, ringing of bells, and all\nother demonstrations of joy they are able to express. When they arrive\nat the church they go in at the west end, and setting down their burdens\nin the church, strip them of their ornaments, leaving the heads or\ncrowns of them decked with flowers, cut paper, &c., in some part of the\nchurch, generally over the cancelli. Then the company return to the town\nand partake of a plentiful collation provided for that purpose, and\nspend the remaining part of the day, and frequently a great part of the\nnight also, in dancing, if the weather permits, about a Maypole, adorned\nwith greens and flowers, or else in some other convenient place.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 5.] RAVENGLASS FAIR.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nOn the first day of a fair held annually in Muncaster, called Ravenglass\nFair, the lord\u2019s steward was attended by the serjeant of the borough of\nEgremont with the insignia called the Bow of Egremont, the foresters\nwith their bows and horns, and all the tenants of the forest of\nCopeland, whose special service was to attend the lord and his\nrepresentatives at Ravenglass Fair, and abide there during its\ncontinuance. On the third day, at noon, the officers and tenants of the\nforest departed, after proclamation made; Lord Muncaster and his tenants\ntook a formal re-possession of the place, and the day was concluded with\nhorse races and rural diversions. Afterwards the fair was held for one\nday.--Lysons, _Magna Britannia_, 1816, vol. iv. p. 141.\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 5.] MIDDLESEX.\n\n\nFormerly a silver arrow used annually to be shot for by the scholars of\nthe Free School at Harrow. The following extract is taken from the\n_Gent. Mag._, 1731, vol. i., p. 351:--\n\nThursday, August 5th, according to an ancient custom, a silver arrow,\nvalue \u00a33, was shot for at the butts on Harrow-on-the-Hill, by six youths\nof the Free School, in archery habits, and won by a son of Captain\nBrown, commander of an East Indiaman. This diversion was the gift of\nJohn Lyon, Esq., founder of the said school.\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 6.] BLACK-CHERRY FAIR.\n\n\nSURREY.\n\nHenry VI., in the eighteenth year of his reign (1440), granted to John\nde Harmondesnorth, Abbot of Chertsey, the right to hold a fair on St.\nAnne\u2019s Day, July 26th, old style; but this is now held in the town on\nthe 6th of August, and called \u201cBlack Cherry Fair,\u201d from the abundance of\nthat fruit sold there.--Brayley, _History of Surrey_, 1841, vol. ii. p.\n191.\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 15.] ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY.\n\n\nThis was formerly a great festival; and it was customary to implore\nblessings upon herbs, plants, roots, and fruits, bundles of which were\ntaken to the church and consecrated against hurtful things.--Timbs\u2019\n_Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 98.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nThe following abridged account of the Minstrels\u2019 Festival at Tutbury,\ncelebrated at this season, is taken from _The Book of Days_, vol. i. p.\n224:--\n\nDuring the time of the Dukes of Lancaster the little town of Tutbury was\nso enlivened by the noble hospitality they kept up, and the great\nconcourse of people who gathered there, that some regulations became\nnecessary for keeping them in order; more especially those disorderly\nfavourites of both the high and low, the wandering jugglers or\nminstrels, who displayed their talents at all festive boards, weddings,\nand tournaments. A court was, therefore, appointed by John of Gaunt, to\nbe held every year on the day after the festival of the Assumption of\nthe Virgin, to elect a king of the minstrels, try those who had been\nguilty of misdemeanours during the year, and grant licences for the\nfuture year, all which were accompanied by many curious observances.\n\nThe wood-master and ranger of Needwood Forest began the festivities by\nmeeting at Berkley Lodge, in the forest, to arrange for the dinner which\nwas given them at this time at Tutbury Castle, and where the buck they\nwere allowed for it should be killed, as also another, which was their\nyearly present to the prior of Tutbury for his dinner. These animals\nhaving received their death blow, the master, keepers, and deputies met\non the Day of Assumption, and rode in gay procession two and two, into\nthe town to the High Cross, each carrying a green bough in his hand, and\none bearing the buck\u2019s head, cut off behind the ears, garnished with a\nrye of pease and a piece of fat fastened to each of the antlers. The\nminstrels went on foot, two and two, before them, and when they reached\nthe cross, the keeper blew on his horn the various hunting signals,\nwhich were answered by the others; all passed on to the churchyard,\nwhere, alighting from their horses, they went into the church, the\nminstrels playing on their instruments during the time of the offering\nof the buck\u2019s head, and whilst each keeper paid one penny as an\noffering to the church. Mass was then celebrated, and all adjourned to\nthe good dinner which was prepared for them in the castle, towards the\nexpenses of which the prior gave them thirty shillings.\n\nOn the following day the minstrels met at the bailiff\u2019s house in\nTutbury, where the steward of the court, and the bailiff of the manor,\nwith the wood-master, met them. A procession was formed to go to church,\nthe trumpeters walking first, and then the musicians on stringed\ninstruments all playing; their king, whose office ended on that day, had\nthe privilege of walking between the steward and bailiff; after them\ncame the four stewards of music, each carrying a white wand, followed by\nthe rest of the company. The psalms and lessons were chosen in\naccordance with the occasion, and each minstrel paid a penny as a due to\nthe vicar of Tutbury.\n\nOn their return to the castle-hall one of the minstrels cried out,\n\u201cOyez, oyez, oyez! all minstrels within this honour, residing in the\ncounties of Stafford, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, and Warwick, come in\nand do your suit and service or you will be amerced.\u201d All were then\nsworn to keep the king of music\u2019s counsel, their fellows\u2019, and their\nown; and a lengthy charge from the steward followed, in which he\nexpatiated on the antiquity and excellence of their noble science. After\nthis the jurors proceeded to choose a new king, who was taken\nalternately from the minstrels of Staffordshire and Derbyshire, as well\nas four stewards, and retired to consider the offences which were\nalleged against any minstrel, and fine him if necessary. In the meantime\nthe old stewards brought into the court a treat of wine, ale, and cakes,\nand the minstrels diverted themselves and the company by playing their\nmerriest airs. The new king entered, and was presented by the jurors,\nthe old one rising from his place, and giving the white wand to his\nsuccessor, pledging him in a cup of wine; the old stewards followed his\nexample, and at noon all partook of a dinner prepared for them by the\nold king.\n\nIn the afternoon they all met at the abbey gate, where a bull was given\nby the prior. The poor beast, after having had the tips of his horns\nsawed off, his ears and tail cut off, his body smeared with soap, and\nhis nose filled with pepper, was let loose, and if the surrounding\nminstrels could succeed in cutting off a piece of his skin before he\ncrossed the river Dove into Derbyshire, he became the property of the\nking of music, but if not he was returned to the prior again. After\nbecoming the king\u2019s own, he was brought to the High Street, and there\nbaited with dogs three times. It has been supposed that John of Gaunt,\nwho assumed the title of King of Castile and Leon, introduced this sport\nin imitation of the Spanish bull-fights. In course of time, however, the\npursuit of the bull, which had been confined to the minstrels, became\ngeneral, and the multitude promiscuously joined in the barbarous sport,\nwhich sometimes terminated in broken heads. In 1778 the custom was\nabolished by the Duke of Devonshire, after lasting four hundred\nyears.--See Pitt\u2019s _History of Staffordshire_, 1817, p. 49;\n_Arch\u00e6ologia_, vol. ii. p. 86; Plot, _Natural History of Staffordshire_,\n1686, p. 439; Shauff, _History of Staffordshire_, vol. i. p. 52.\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 16.] ST. ROCHE\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThis day was anciently kept like a wake, or general harvest-home, with\ndances in the churchyard in the evening.--Fosbrooke, _Dict. Antiq._\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 18.] ST. HELEN\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThis saint gives name to numerous wells in the north of England. Dr.\nKuerden, in the middle of the seventeenth century, describing one in the\nparish of Brindle, says: \u201cTo it the vulgar neighbouring people of the\nRed Letter do much resort with pretended devotion, on each year upon St.\nEllin\u2019s Day, where and when, out of a foolish ceremony, they offer, or\nthrow into the well, pins, which, there being left, may be seen a long\ntime after by any visitor of that fountain.\u201d A similar custom was\nobserved some years ago by the visitors of St. Helen\u2019s well in Sefton,\nbut more in accordance with an ancient practice than from any devotion\nto the saint.--Baines, _History of County of Lancaster_, 1836, vol. iii.\np. 497; _Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. pp. 336, 337.\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 24.] ST. BARTHOLOMEW\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nBartholomew Fair--The origin of Bartholomew Fair was a grant from Henry\nI., in 1133, to a monk named Rayer, or Rahere, who had been his jester,\nand had founded the Priory of St. Bartholomew, in later times\ntransformed into a hospital. The fair was annually held at the festival\nof St. Bartholomew, and, like all other ancient fairs, was originally\nconnected with the Church, under whose auspices miracle-plays, founded\non the legends of saints, were represented, which gave place to\nmysteries, and these again to moralities; afterwards, profane stories\nwere introduced, the origin of the modern English drama. It was\ndiscontinued after 1855, having flourished for seven centuries and a\nhalf. Established originally for useful trading purposes, it had long\nsurvived its claim to tolerance, but, as London increased, became a\ngreat public nuisance, with its scenes of riot and obstruction in the\nvery heart of the city. After the opening of the fair, it was customary\nanciently for wrestlers to exercise their art, of which Paul Hentzner, a\nGerman tutor, travelling in the year 1598 through England has given an\naccount. He says, \u201cthat every year upon St. Bartholomew\u2019s day, when the\nfair is held, it is usual for the mayor, attended by the twelve\nprincipal aldermen, to walk in a neighbouring field, dressed in his\nscarlet gown, and about his neck a golden chain to which is hung a\ngolden fleece, and, besides, that particular ornament which\ndistinguishes the most noble Order of the Garter. When the mayor goes\nout of the precincts of the city a sceptre and sword and a cap are borne\nbefore him, and he is followed by the principal aldermen in scarlet\ngowns with gold chains, himself and they on horseback. Upon their\narrival at a place appointed for that purpose, where a tent is pitched,\nthe mob begin to wrestle before them, two at a time; the conquerors\nreceiving rewards from the magistrates. After this is over, a parcel of\nlive rabbits are turned loose among the crowd, which are pursued by a\nnumber of boys, who endeavour to catch them, with all the noise they can\nmake.\u201d In a proclamation, made in 1608, we find the following command\nlaid down in reference to the wrestling: \u201cSo many aldermen as dine with\nmy Lord Mayor and the sheriffs, be apparelled in their scarlet gowns\nlined, and after dinner their horses be brought to them where they dine,\nand those aldermen which dine with the sheriffs, ride with them to my\nlord\u2019s house, to accompany him to the wrestling. Then when the wrestling\nis done, they take their horses, and ride back again through the fair,\nand so in at Aldersgate, and so home again to the said Lord Mayor\u2019s\nhouse.\u201d Mr. Samuel Pepys (1663) alludes to this wrestling in his diary.\n\nThe scholars from the different London schools met at the Priory for\ndisputations on grammar and logic, and wrangled together in verse. John\nStow says: \u201cI myself, in my youth, have yearly seen on the eve of St.\nBartholomew the Apostle, the scholars of divers grammar schools repair\nunto the churchyard of St. Bartholomew, the Priory in Smithfield, where\nupon a bank boarded about under a tree, some one scholar hath stepped\nup, and there hath opposed and answered till he were by some better\nscholar overcome and put down; and then the overcomer taking his place\ndid like as the first. And in the end, the best opposers and answerers\nhad rewards, which I observed not but it made both good schoolmasters\nand also good scholars, diligently against such times to prepare\nthemselves for the obtaining of this garland. I remember there repaired\nto these exercises, amongst others, the masters and scholars of the free\nschools of St. Paul\u2019s in London, of St. Peter\u2019s at Westminster, of St.\nThomas Acon\u2019s Hospital, and of St. Anthonie\u2019s Hospital; whereof the last\nnamed commonly presented the best scholars, and had the prize in those\ndays. This Priory of St. Bartholomew being surrendered to Henry VIII.,\nthose disputations of scholars in that place surceased; and was again,\nonly for a year or twain, revived in the cloister of Christ\u2019s Hospital,\nwhere the best scholars, then still of St. Anthonie\u2019s School, howsoever\nthe same be now fallen both in number and estimation, were rewarded with\nbows and arrows of silver, given to them by Sir Martin Bower, goldsmith.\nNevertheless, however, the encouragement failed; the scholars of St.\nPaul\u2019s, meeting with them of St. Anthonie\u2019s, would call them Anthonie\u2019s\nPigs, and they again would call the other Pigeons of Paul\u2019s, because\nmany pigeons were bred in St. Paul\u2019s Church, and St. Anthonie was always\nfigured with a pig following him; and mindful of the former usage, did\nfor a long season disorderly provoke one another in the open street with\n_Salve tu quoque, placet mecum disputare? Placet!_ And so proceeding\nfrom this to questions in grammar, they usually fell from words to\nblows, with their satchels full of books, many times in great heaps that\nthey troubled the streets and passengers; so that finally they were\nrestrained with the decay of St. Anthonie\u2019s School.\u201d\n\nIn the first centuries of its existence Bartholomew Fair was one of the\ngreat annual markets of the nation and the chief cloth fair of the\nkingdom. It was the great gathering in the metropolis of England, for\nthe sale of that produce upon which England especially relied for her\nprosperity. Two centuries after the Conquest our wealth depended upon\nwool, which was manufactured in the time of Henry II., in whose days\nthere arose guilds of weavers. In King John\u2019s reign there was\nprohibition of the export of wool and of the import of cloth. A\nmetropolitan cloth fair was therefore a commercial institution, high in\ndignity and national importance. There was a trade also at Bartholomew\nFair in live stock, in leather, pewter, and in other articles of\ncommerce, but cloth ranked first among the products of our industry. The\nclothiers of England, and the drapers of London, had their standings\nduring the fair in the Priory churchyard. In the reign of Queen\nElizabeth, however, Bartholomew Fair ceased to be a cloth fair of any\nimportance; but its name and fame is still preserved in the lane running\nparallel to Bartholomew Close, termed \u201cCloth Fair,\u201d which was generally\ninhabited by drapers and mercers in the days of Strype.\n\nA Pedlars\u2019 Court of Piepowder was held within the Priory gates, for\ndebts and contracts, before a jury of traders formed on the spot, at\nwhich the prior, as lord of the fair, presided by his representative. It\nremained always by its original site, being held in Cloth Fair to the\nlast. There is no record to be found of any ordinance by which the court\nof Piepowder was first established in this country. There never had been\nknown a fair in Europe to which such a court was not by usage attached.\nSuch courts were held in the markets of the Romans, which some writers\nregard as fairs, and in which they find the origin of modern fairs. The\ncourt of Piepowder in Bartholomew Fair, or the corresponding court in\nany other fair in England, had jurisdiction only in commercial\nquestions. It could entertain a case of slander if it was slander of\nwares, not slander of person: not even the king, if he should sit in a\ncourt of Piepowder, could extend its powers. In 1445 four persons were\nappointed by the court of aldermen as keepers of the fair and of the\ncourt of Piepowder, the city being thus in that case represented as\njoint lord of the fair with the prior. As the fair prospered it was\nrendered attractive by a variety of popular amusements. All manner of\nexhibitions, theatrical booths, &c., thronged the fair, and tumblers,\nacrobats, stilt-walkers, mummers, and mountebanks, resorted to it in\ngreat numbers. Shows were exhibited for the exhibition of puppet-plays,\nsometimes constructed on religious history, such as \u201cThe Fall of\nNineveh,\u201d others were constructed on classic story, as \u201cThe Siege of\nTroy.\u201d Shows of other kinds abounded, and zoology was always in high\nfavour. In 1593 the keeping of the fair was for the first time\nsuspended, by the raging of the plague. The same thing happened in 1603,\nin 1625, in 1630, in 1665, and in 1666. The licence of the Restoration\nmainly arising from the low personal character of the king, but greatly\npromoted by the natural tendency to reaction after the excess of\nseverity used by the Puritans in suppressing what was not to be\nsuppressed, at once extended Bartholomew Fair from a three days\u2019 market\nto a fortnight\u2019s--if not even at one time to a six weeks\u2019--riot of\namusement. In 1678 the civil authorities had already taken formal notice\nof the \u201cIrregularities and Disorders\u201d of Bartholomew and Lady Fairs, and\nreferred it to a committee \u201cto consider how the same might be\nprevented, and what damages would occur to the city by laying down the\nsame.\u201d This is the first hint of suppression that arises in the history\nof the fair, and its arising is almost simultaneous with the decay of\nthe great annual gathering as a necessary seat of trade. In 1685 the\nfair was leased by the city to the sword bearer for three years at a\nclear rent of \u00a3100 per year. At the expiration of two years a committee\nhaving reported that the net annual profit for those years had amounted\nto not more than \u00a368, the city fair, then lasting fourteen days, was, on\nhis application, leased to the same sword-bearer for twenty-one years at\nthe same rent. As time went on, however, the Corporation of London was\nstill setting daily against the evil that was in the fair. In 1691, and\nagain in 1694, a reduction to the old term of three days was ordered, as\na check to vice, and in order that the pleasures of the fair might not\nchoke up the avenues of the traffic. In 1697, the Lord Mayor, on St.\nBartholomew\u2019s Day, published an ordinance recorded in the _Postman_ \u201cfor\nthe suppression of vicious practices in Bartholomew Fair, as obscene,\nlascivious, and scandalous plays, comedies and farces, unlawful games\nand interludes, drunkenness, etc., strictly charging all constables and\nother officers to use their utmost diligence in persecuting the same.\u201d\nBut there was no suppression of the puppet-theatres. _Jephthah\u2019s Rash\nVow_ was performed that year at Blake\u2019s Booth, as in the following years\nat Blake and Pinkethman\u2019s. Again on the 18th of June, 1700, stage-plays\nand interludes at the fair were for that year prohibited: they were\nagain prohibited by the mayor who ruled in the year 1702. In 1698, a\nFrenchman, Monsieur Sorbi\u00e8re, visiting London, says, \u201cI was at\nBartholomew Fair. It consists most of toy-shops, also fiacres and\npictures, ribbon shops, no books; many shops of confectioners, where any\nwoman may be commodiously treated. Knavery is here in perfection,\ndextrous cut-purses and pickpockets. I went to see the dancing on the\nropes, which was admirable. Coming out, I met a man that would have took\noff my hat, but I secured it, and was going to draw my sword, crying out\n\u201cBegar! damn\u2019d rogue! morbleu!\u201d &c., when on a sudden I had a hundred\npeople about me, crying, \u201cHere, monsieur, see _Jephthah\u2019s Rash Vow_;\u201d\n\u201cHere, monsieur, see _The Tall Dutchwoman_;\u201d \u201cSee _The Tiger_,\u201d says\nanother; \u201cSee _The Horse and No Horse_, whose tail stands where his head\nshould do;\u201d \u201cSee the _German Artist_, monsieur;\u201d \u201cSee _The Siege of\nNamur_, monsieur;\u201d so that betwixt rudeness and civility I was forced to\nget into a fiacre, and, with an air of haste and a full trot, got home\nto my lodgings.\u201d\n\nIn 1701 Bartholomew Fair was presented as a nuisance by the Grand Jury\nof London, and in 1750 it was reduced to its original three days. By the\nalteration of the calendar in 1752, the fair, in the following year,\nwas, for the first time, proclaimed on September 3rd.\n\nOn the 3rd of December, 1760, the London Court of Common Council\nreferred to its City Lands Committee to consider the tenures of the City\nfair, with a view to their abolition. The subject was then carefully\ndiscussed, and a final report sent in, with the opinion of counsel, upon\nwhich the court came to a resolution, that, owing to the interest of\nLord Kensington in Bartholomew Fair, that was a nuisance which they\ncould endeavour only by a firm practice of restriction to abate. In 1769\nplays, puppet-shows, and gambling were suppressed. In 1798, when the\nquestion of abolishing the fair was discussed, a proposal to restrict it\nto one day was made and set aside, because the measure might produce in\nLondon a concentrated tumult dangerous to life. In the course of a trial\nat Guildhall in 1817, involving the rights of Lord Kensington, it was\nstated on Lord Kensington\u2019s behalf, that considering the corrupt state\nof the fair, and the nuisance caused by it in the neighbourhood of\nSmithfield, he should throw no obstacle in the way of its removal, and\nwas ready to give up his own rights over it, on being paid their value.\nHis receipts from toll were stated to be 30_l._ or 40_l._ a year, and\ntheir estimated value 500_l._ or 600_l._ In the year 1830 the\nCorporation of London did accordingly buy from Lord Kensington the old\nPriory rights, vested in the heirs of Chancellor Rich, and all the\nrights and interests in Bartholomew Fair then became vested in the City.\nHaving thus secured full power over the remains in question, the\nCorporation could take into its own hands the whole business of their\nremoval. The fair at this time had long ceased to be a place of traffic,\nand was only a haunt of amusement, riot, and dissipation. Latterly it\nhad only been attended by the keepers of a few gingerbread stalls; and\nconsequently in 1839 measures were for the first time seriously adopted\nfor its suppression, and in the following year the exhibitions were\nremoved to Islington. In 1850 the last proclamation by the Lord Mayor\ntook place, and in 1855 the once famous Bartholomew Fair came to an\nend.--_History and Origin of Bartholomew Fair_, published by Arliss and\nHuntsman, 1808; Chambers\u2019 _Encyclop\u00e6dia_ (1860), vol. i. p. 719; Morley,\n_Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair_, 1859; Chambers\u2019 _Book of Days_, vol. ii.\npp. 263-267.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nIn the morning a number of maidens, clad in their best attire, went in\nprocession to a small chapel, situated in the parish of Dorrington, and\nstrewed its floor with rushes, from whence they proceeded to a piece of\nland called the \u201cPlay-Garths,\u201d where they were joined by most of the\ninhabitants of the place, who passed the remainder of the day in rural\nsports, such as foot-ball, wrestling and other athletic exercises, with\ndancing, &c.--_History of County of Lincoln_, 1834, vol. ii. p. 255.\n\nIt was customary at Croyland Abbey to give little knives to all comers\non St. Bartholomew\u2019s Day. Mr. Gough, in his _History of Croyland Abbey_,\np. 73. says that this abuse was abolished by Abbot John de Wisebech, in\nthe time of Edward IV., exempting both the abbot and convent from a\ngreat and needless expense. This custom originated in allusion to the\nknife wherewith St. Bartholomew was flayed. Three of these knives were\nquartered, with three of the whips so much used by St. Guthlac, in one\ncoat borne by this house. Mr. Hunter had great numbers of them, of\ndifferent sizes, found at different times in the ruins of the abbey and\nin the river.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nDr. Johnston, quoted by Hampson (_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 342), has\npreserved an account of a pageant exhibited at Dent on the rush-bearing\n(St. Bartholomew\u2019s Day) after the Restoration, in which, among other\ncharacters, Oliver and Bradshaw, Rebellion and War, were represented,\nall decked by times with vizardes on, and strange deformities; and\nBradshaw had his tongue run through with a red hot iron, and Rebellion\nwas hanged on a gibbet in the market-place. Then came Peace and Plenty,\nand Diana with her nymphs, all with coronets on their heads, each of\nwhich made a several speech in verses of their loyalty to their king.\n\n\n\n\nAUG. 30.] PRESTON GUILD.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nConcerning this curious custom, Britton, in his _Lancashire_ (1818, p.\n109), gives the following account:--\n\nIt is a sort of public carnival or _jubilee_, and is held every twenty\nyears, as appears by the records of the corporation. The last\nconfirmation was by Charles II., in 1684, since which time it has been\nregularly held, in the first of Anne, ninth of George I., sixteenth of\nGeorge II., and second, twenty-second, and again in the forty-second\nyear of George III., the only monarch, except Queen Elizabeth, who has\nreigned during the time of three guilds. It begins about the latter end\nof August, and, by the Charter, which obliges the corporation to\ncelebrate it at the end of every twenty years, on pain of forfeiting\ntheir elective franchises and their right as burgesses, twenty-eight\ndays of grace are allowed to all who are disposed to renew their\nfreedom. By public proclamation it is declared that, on failure of doing\nso, they are ever after to be debarred of the same on any future\noccasion. The last guild commenced on the 30th of August, 1802, when an\nimmense concourse of people of all ranks were assembled, and processions\nof the gentlemen at the heads of the different classes of manufactories\nwith symbolical representations of their respective branches of trade\nand commerce; and bands of music passed through the principal streets of\nthe town. The mayor and corporation, with the wardens of the different\ncompanies at the head of their respective incorporated bodies, each in\ntheir official dresses, and with their usual insignia, fell into the\nranks in due order, and the whole was preceded by an excellent band of\nmusic belonging to the 17th Regiment of Light Dragoons, in full dress,\nand their officers newly clothed. Besides the wool-combers\u2019, spinners\u2019,\nweavers\u2019, cordwainers\u2019, carpenters\u2019, vintners\u2019, tailors\u2019, smiths\u2019,\nplumbers\u2019, painters\u2019, glaziers\u2019, watchmakers\u2019, mercers\u2019 and drapers\u2019\ncompanies, the whole was closed by the butchers, skinners, tanners, and\nglovers, habited in characteristic dresses, each company being attended\nby a band of music and a very elegant ensign. In this order they\nproceeded to church, and after service returned and paraded through the\ndifferent streets in the same order. The mayor afterwards entertained\nthe gentlemen at his house, and on the next day the mayoress repeated\nthe treat to the ladies of the town and its vicinity, who formed a\nprocession on this day, in a similar manner, preceded by the girls of\nthe cotton manufactory.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT.] ECCLES WAKE.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nAn annual festival used to be held at Eccles, of great antiquity, as old\nprobably as the first erection of the church, called Eccles Wake,\ncelebrated on the first Sunday in September, and was continued during\nthe three succeeding days, and consisted of feasting upon a kind of\nlocal confectionery, called \u201cEccles Cakes,\u201d and ale, with various\nsports.\n\nThe following was the programme on such an occasion:\n\n\u201c_Eccles Wake._--On Monday morning, at eleven o\u2019clock the sports will\ncommence (the sports of Sunday being passed over in silence) with that\nmost ancient, loyal, rational, constitutional and lawful diversion--\n\n\u201c_Bull Baiting_--In all its primitive excellence, for which this place\nhas been long noted. At one o\u2019clock there will be a foot race; at two\no\u2019clock, a bull baiting for a horse collar; at four o\u2019clock, donkey\nraces for a pair of panniers; at five o\u2019clock, a race for a stuff hat;\nthe day\u2019s sport to conclude with baiting the bull, Fury, for a superior\ndog-chain. On Tuesday, the sports will be repeated; also on Wednesday,\nwith the additional attraction of a smock race by ladies. A main of\ncocks to be fought on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for twenty guineas,\nand five guineas the byes, between the gentlemen of Manchester and\nEccles; the wake to conclude with a fiddling match by all the fiddlers\nthat attend for a piece of silver.\u201d--Baines, _History of County of\nLancaster_, 1836, vol. iii. p. 123.\n\n\n\n\nCHALK-BACK DAY.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nAt Diss, it is customary for the juvenile populace, on the Thursday\nbefore the third Friday in September (on which latter day a fair and\nsession for hiring servants are held), to mark and disfigure each\nother\u2019s dresses with white chalk, pleading a prescriptive right to be\nmischievous on \u201cChalk-Back Day.\u201d--_N. & Q. 1st. S._ vol iv. p. 501.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe following extract is taken from the _Leeds Mercury_, September 8th,\n1863:--The triennial ceremony of \u201cthrowing the dart\u201d in Cork Harbour was\nperformed on Thursday afternoon by the mayor of that city. This is one\nof those quaint ceremonials by which, in olden time, municipal\nboundaries were preserved and corporate rights asserted. A similar civic\npageant called \u201criding the fringes\u201d (franchises) was formerly held by\nthe lord mayor and corporation of Dublin, in which, after riding round\nthe inland boundaries of the borough, the cavalcade halted at a point on\nthe shore near Bullock, whence the lord mayor hurled a dart into the\nsea, the spot where it fell marking the limit of the maritime\njurisdiction. At 2 o\u2019clock, P.M., the members of the Cork town council\nembarked on board a steam-vessel, attended by all the civic officers,\nand the band of the Cork civil artillery. A number of ladies also\nattended. The steamer proceeded out to sea until she reached an\nimaginary line between Poor Head and Cork Head, which is supposed to be\nthe maritime boundary of the borough. Here the mayor donned his official\nrobes and proceeded, attended by the mace and sword bearer, the city\ntreasurer, and the town clerk, all wearing their official costumes, to\nthe prow of the vessel, whence he launched his javelin into the water,\nthereby asserting his authority as lord high admiral of the port. The\nevent was celebrated by a banquet in the evening.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT. 4.] ST. CUTHBERT\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nDURHAM.\n\nAn offering of a stag was at one time annually made on St. Cuthbert\u2019s\nDay, in September, by the Nevilles of Raby. On one occasion, however,\nLord Neville claimed that himself, and as many as he might bring with\nhim, should be feasted by the Prior upon the occasion. To this the Prior\ndemurred, as a thing that had never been before claimed as of right, and\nas being a most expensive and onerous burden, for the trains of the\ngreat nobility of that day were numerous in the extreme. The result was\nthat the Prior declined to accept the stag when laid before the shrine,\nby which they of the Nevilles were so grievously offended that from\nwords they got to blows, and began to cuff the monks who were\nministering at the altar. The latter, upon this occasion, were not\ncontented to offer a mere passive resistance, for they made such good\nuse of the large wax candles which they carried in belabouring their\nopponents as to compel them to retreat. The retainers of the Nevilles\ndid not, however, condescend to take back again the stag which, as they\ndeemed, had been so uncourteously refused. The stag was an oblation by\nthe Nevilles of great antiquity, and appears to have been brought into\nthe church, and presented with winding of horns.--Ornsby, _Sketches of\nDurham_, 1846, p. 77; Mackenzie, _View of County of Durham_, 1834, vol.\nii. p. 201.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT. 8.] NATIVITY OF THE VIRGIN MARY.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nAn old tradition existing within the town of Grimsby asserts that every\nburgess at his admission to the freedom of the borough anciently\npresented to the mayor a boar\u2019s head, or an equivalent in money when the\nanimal could not be procured. The lord, too, of the adjacent manor of\nBradley, it seems, was obliged by his tenure to keep a supply of these\nanimals in his wood for the entertainment of the mayor and burgesses,\nand an annual hunting match was officially proclaimed on some particular\nday after the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. In the midst of these\nextensive woods the sport was carried on, and seldom did the assembled\ntrain fail to bring down a leash of noble boars, which were designed for\na public entertainment on the following day. At this feast the\nnewly-elected mayor took his seat at the head of the table, which\ncontained the whole body corporate and the principal gentlemen of the\ntown and neighbourhood--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._, vol. i. p. 96.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT 12.] HAMPSHIRE.\n\n\nA fair used to be celebrated at Winchester on the 12th of September, and\nwas by far the greatest fair in the kingdom. The mayor resigned the keys\nof the four gates to a magistrate appointed by the bishop, and\ncollectors were stationed on all the roads. Merchants resorted to it\nfrom distant parts of Europe, and it formed a temporary city; each\nstreet being appropriated to different commodities.--_Historical and\nDescriptive Guide to Winchester_, 1829, p. 86.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT. 14.] HOLY-ROOD DAY.\n\n\nThis festival, called also Holy-Cross Day, was instituted by the Romish\nChurch on account of the recovery of a large piece of the cross by the\nEmperor Heraclius, after it had been taken away on the plundering of\nJerusalem by Chosroes, King of Persia.\n\nIt appears to have been customary to go a-nutting upon this day, from\nthe following passage in the old play of _Grim the Collier of Croydon_:\n\n    \u201cThis day, they say, is called Holy-Rood Day,\n    And all the youth are now a-nutting gone.\u201d\n\nIn the _Gent. Mag._ is the following:--\u201cTuesday, September 14th, 1731,\nbeing Holy-Rood Day, the king\u2019s huntsmen hunted their free buck in\nRichmond New Park, with bloodhounds, according to custom.\u201d\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIt appears from the MS. _Status Schol\u00e6 Etonensis_, 1560, already quoted,\nthat, in the month of September, \u201con a certain day,\u201d most probably the\n14th, the boys of Eton School were to have a play-day, in order to go\nout and gather nuts, a portion of which, when they returned, they were\nto make presents of to the different masters. Before leave, however, was\ngranted for their excursion, they were required to write verses on the\nfruitfulness of autumn, the deadly cold, &c., of the coming winter.\n\n\nSURREY.\n\nAt Chertsey a fair is held on Holy-Rood Day (Old Style), and goes by the\nname of \u201cOnion Fair,\u201d from the quantity of this esculent brought for\nsale.--Brayley, _History of Surrey_, 1841, vol. ii. p. 191.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT. 21.] ST. MATTHEW\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nIn Brayley\u2019s _Londiniana_ (1829, vol. ii. p. 30) is the following\nextract from the MS. copy of the journal of Richard Hoare, Esq., during\nthe year of his shrievalty, 1740-41:--Monday, September 21st (1741),\nbeing St. Matthew\u2019s Day, waited on my lord mayor to the great hall in\nChrist\u2019s Hospital, where we were met by several of the presidents and\ngovernors of the other hospitals within the city, and being seated at\nthe upper end the children passed two and two, whom we followed to the\nchurch, and after having a sermon came back to the grammar-school, where\nthe boys made speeches in commemoration of their benefactors, one in\nEnglish, the other in Latin, to each of whom it is customary for the\nlord mayor to give one guinea, and the two sheriffs half-a-guinea\na-piece as we did; afterwards, the clerk of the hospital delivered to\nthe lord mayor a list of the several governors to the several hospitals\nnominated the preceding year. Then the several beadles of all the\nhospitals came in, and laying down their staves on the middle of the\nfloor, retired to the bottom of the hall. Thereupon the lord mayor\naddressed himself to the city marshal, inquiring after their conduct,\nand if any complaint was to be made against any one in particular, and\nno objection being made, the lord mayor ordered them to take up their\nstaves again; all which is done in token of their submission to the\nchief magistrate, and that they hold their places at his will, though\nelected by their respective governors. We were afterwards treated in the\ncustomary manner with sweet cakes and burnt wine.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT. 22.] BEDFORDSHIRE.\n\n\nOn this day, at Biddenham, shortly before noon, a little procession of\nvillagers convey a white rabbit decorated with scarlet ribbons through\nthe village, singing a hymn in honour of St. Agatha. This ceremony is\nsaid to date from the year of the first Crusade. All the unmarried young\nwomen who meet the procession extend the first two fingers of the left\nhand, pointing towards the rabbit, and say--\n\n    \u201cGustin, Gustin, lacks a bier!\n    Maidens, maidens, bury him here.\u201d\n\n  _The Penny Post_, November 1870.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT. 24.] SCALDING THURSDAY.\n\n\nIn Laud\u2019s diary occurs the following: \u201c[1635] Sept. 24th, Scalding\nThursday.\u201d\n\nThis was probably a homely term for the day of preparation for that\nhigh-day Michaelmas, when the victim goose was scalded, plucked, and\nhung--a week\u2019s hanging is the rule for a goose.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._, vol.\niv. p. 441.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT. 28.] MICHAELMAS EVE.\n\n\nSURREY.\n\nA curious custom once existed at Kingston, viz., that of the\ncongregation cracking nuts during the performance of divine service on\nthe Sunday next before the eve of St. Michael\u2019s Day: hence the phrase,\n\u201cCrack-Nut Sunday.\u201d This custom is considered by some to have had\noriginally some connection with the choosing of the bailiff and other\nmembers of the corporate body on St. Michael\u2019s Day, and of the usual\ncivic feast attending that proceeding. It would seem, however, from the\nfollowing passage in Goldsmith\u2019s _Vicar of Wakefield_ (chap. iv.), that\nthe custom was not confined to Kingston; for the good vicar, speaking of\nhis parishioners, says:--\u201cThey kept up the Christmas carol, sent\ntrue-love-knots on Valentine morning, ate pancakes on Shrovetide, showed\ntheir wit on the first of April, and religiously cracked nuts on\nMichaelmas eve.\u201d--Brayley, _Topographical History of Surrey_, 1841, vol.\niii. p 41.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nThe last Sunday of summer has been, heretofore, a day of great\nimportance with the Irish, as upon it they first tried the new potato,\nand formed an opinion as to the prospects of the future harvest. The\nday was always called, in the west in particular, \u201cGarlic Sunday,\u201d\nperhaps a corruption of Garland Sunday.--_N. & Q. 1st. S._ vol. ix. p.\n34.\n\n\n\n\nSEPT. 29.] MICHAELMAS DAY.\n\n\nAt this season village maidens, in the west of England, go up and down\nthe hedges gathering crab apples, which they carry home, putting them\ninto a loft, and forming with them the initials of their supposed\nsuitors\u2019 names. The initials which are found, on examination, to be most\nperfect on _Old_ Michaelmas Day are considered to represent the\nstrongest attachments and the best for choice of husbands.--Brand, _Pop.\nAntiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 356.\n\n\n_Michaelmas Goose._--It was long a prevalent notion that the practice of\neating goose on Michaelmas Day arose from the circumstance that Queen\nElizabeth received the news of the defeat of the Spanish Armada whilst\npartaking of a goose on that anniversary. This, however, is disproved by\nthe fact that, so far back as the tenth year of Edward IV. (1470), one\nJohn de la Hay was bound, amongst other services, to render to William\nBarnaby, lord of Lastres, in Herefordshire, for a parcel of the demesne\nlands, \u201cxx^{d} and one goose fit for his lord\u2019s dinner on the Feast of\nSt. Michael the Archangel.\u201d--_Sports, Pastimes, and Customs of London_,\n1847, p. 37.\n\nIn the poems of George Gascoigne, 1575, occur too the following lines:--\n\n    \u201cAnd when the tenantes come to paie their quarter\u2019s rent,\n    They bring some fowle at Midsummer, a dish of fish in Lent;\n    At Christmasse a capon, at Michaelmasse a goose,\n    And somewhat else at New-yere\u2019s tide, for feare their lease flie\n      loose.\u201d\n\nBlount, in his _Tenures_, says that probably no other reason can be\ngiven for this custom but that Michaelmas day was a great festival, and\ngeese at that time were most plentiful.--See Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._,\n1849, vol. i. pp. 367-371.\n\n\nBERKSHIRE.\n\nIt appears from a tablet in the church at Great Coxwell, that the Rev.\nDavid Collier charged certain lands in the hamlet of Little Coxwell with\nthe payment of eight bushels of barley yearly, on the 29th of September,\nfor teaching the poor children of this parish to read, write, and cast\naccounts, for three years, when they were to be succeeded by two others\nto be taught for the same term, and so on successively for ever, and he\nempowered the vicar and churchwardens, or the major part of them (the\nvicar being always one) to nominate the children. The payment has been\nregularly made, sometimes in kind, but latterly in money estimated at\nthe price of barley, at the Farringdon market, the nearest to the day\nwhen the annual payment becomes due. The payment is made, under the\ndirection of the churchwardens, to a schoolmistress for teaching three\nchildren to read, and, if girls, to mark also. The number of children\nwas formerly two only, who were further taught to write and cast\naccounts; but this part of their education was discontinued many years\nago in consequence at the inadequacy of the fund, and, instead thereof\nan additional child was sent to be instructed with the others.--Edwards,\n_Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 40.\n\nThe inhabitants of Abingdon once had a custom of adorning their houses\nwith flowers, &c., on the election of a mayor. A writer in the _Gent.\nMag._ (1782, vol. lii. p. 558), says:--Riding through Abingdon early on\none of the first Sundays in October, he found the people in the streets\nat the entrance of the town, very busy in adorning the outside of their\nhouses with garlands of flowers and boughs of trees, and the paths were\nstrewed with flowers. One house was distinguished by a greater number of\ngarlands than the rest, and some were making to be fixed at the end of\npoles. On inquiring the reason, he was told that it was usual to have\nthis ceremony performed in the street in which the new mayor lived on\nthe first Sunday that he went to church after his election.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nThe manor of Roscarrock, the _Roscaret_ of Domesday, situated near\nEndellion, was held in the time of Edward the Confessor by Alvin, and at\nthe time of the Domesday survey by Nigel under the Earl of Moriton. A\nsubstantial house has been constructed on the site of the old mansion.\nRoscarrock pays a modus of \u00a39 in lieu of tithes; this modus was\nanciently paid, according to established custom, in the church porch\nbefore sunrise on the morning of Michaelmas Day.--_Parochial History of\nCounty of Cornwall_, 1867, vol. i. p. 333.\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nThe Lawless Court is kept, says Morant (_History of Essex_ 1768, vol. i.\np. 272), at King\u2019s-hill, about half a mile north-east of Rochford\nChurch, in the yard of a house once belonging to .... Crips, Gent., and\nafterwards to Robert Hackshaw, of London, merchant, and to Mr. John\nBuckle. Here the tenants kneel, and do their homage. The time is the\nWednesday morning next after Michaelmas Day, upon the first\ncock-crowing, without any kind of light but such as the heavens will\nafford. The steward of the Court calleth all such as are bound to appear\nwith as low a voice as possible, giving no notice, when he that gives\nnot an answer is deeply amerced. They are all to whisper to each other;\nnor have they any pen and ink, but supply that office with a coal; and\nhe that owes suit and service thereto, and appears not, forfeits to the\nlord double his rent every hour he is absent. A tenant of this manor\nforfeited not long ago his land for non-attendance, but was restored to\nit, the lord only taking a fine. The Court is called Lawless because\nheld at an unlawful or lawless hour, or _quia dicta sine lege_: the\ntitle of it runs in the Court rolls to this day according to the form\nbelow:--\n\nKING\u2019S HILL IN ROCHFORD.\n\n    Curia de Domino Rege\n    Dicta sine Lege,\n    Tenta est ibidem\n    Per ejusdem consuetudinem.\n    Ante ortum Solis,\n    Luceat nisi Polus,\n    Nil scribit nisi colis.\n    Toties voluerit,\n    Gallus ut cantaverit,\n    Per cujus solum sonitum,\n    Curia est summonita.\n    Clamat clam pro Rege\n    In Curia sine Lege,\n    Et nisi cito venerint,\n    Citius p\u0153nituerint;\n    Et nisi clam accedant\n    Curia non attendat;\n    Qui venerit cum lumine,\n    Errat in regimine\n    Et dum sunt sine lumine\n    Capti sunt in crimine,\n    Curia sine cura\n    Jurati de injuria;\n\n  Tenta ibidem die Mercurii (ante diem) proximo, post Festum Sancti\n  Michaelis Archangeli, anno Regni Regis, &c.\n\nThere is a tradition that this servile attendance was imposed at first\nupon certain tenants of divers manors hereabouts for conspiring in this\nplace at such an unreasonable time to raise a commotion.[77]\n\n  [77] At Kidderminster, says a correspondent of _Gent. Mag._ (1790,\n  vol. lx. p. 1191), is a singular custom. On the election of a bailiff\n  the inhabitants assemble in the principal streets and throw\n  cabbage-stalks at each other. The town-house bell gives signal for the\n  affray. This is called \u201clawless hour.\u201d This done (for it lasts an\n  hour), the bailiff elect and corporation, in their robes, preceded by\n  drums and fifes (for they have no waits), visit the old and new\n  bailiff, constables, &c., attended by a mob. In the meantime the most\n  respectable families in the neighbourhood are invited to meet and\n  fling apples at them on their entrance.\n\n\nGLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\nThe custom of hanging out bushes of ivy, boughs of trees, or bunches of\nflowers at _private_ houses as a sign that good cheer may be had within,\nprevails in the city of Gloucester at the fair held at Michaelmas,\ncalled Barton Fair from the locality.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. ix. p.\n113.\n\n\nHERTFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ (1849, vol. i. p. 372) is the following account\nof a curious septennial custom observed at Bishop Stortford and in the\nadjacent neighbourhood on old Michaelmas Day, taken from a London\nnewspaper of the 18th of October, 1787:--\n\nOn the morning of this day, called Ganging Day, a great number of young\nmen assemble in the fields where a very active fellow is nominated the\nleader. This person they are bound to follow, who, for the sake of\ndiversion, generally chooses the route through ponds, ditches, and\nplaces of difficult passage. Every person they meet is bumped, male or\nfemale, which is performed by two other persons taking them up by their\narms, and swinging them against each other. The women in general keep at\nhome at this period, except those of less scrupulous character, who, for\nthe sake of partaking of a gallon of ale and a plumcake, which every\nlandlord or publican is obliged to furnish the revellers with, generally\nspend the best part of the night in the fields if the weather is fair,\nit being strictly according to ancient usage not to partake of the cheer\nanywhere else.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nA correspondent of _Book of Days_ (vol ii. p. 393) gives the following\naccount of the ceremonies formerly connected with the election of the\nmayor at Nottingham. On the day the new mayor assumed office (September\n29), he, the old mayor, the aldermen, and councillors, all marched in\nprocession to St. Mary\u2019s Church, where divine service was said. After\nservice the whole body went into the vestry, where the old mayor seated\nhimself in an elbow chair, at a table covered with _black_ cloth, in the\nmiddle of which lay the mace covered with rosemary and sprigs of bay.\nThis was termed \u201cthe burying of the mace,\u201d doubtless a symbolical act,\ndenoting the official decease of its late holder. A form of electing the\nnew mayor was then gone through, after which the one retiring from\noffice took up the mace, kissed it, and delivered it into the hand of\nhis successor. The new mayor then proposed two persons for sheriffs, and\ntwo for the office of chamberlains; and after these had also gone\nthrough the votes, the whole assemblage marched into the chancel, where\nthe senior coroner administered the oath to the new mayor in the\npresence of the old one: and the town-clerk gave to the sheriffs and\nchamberlains their oath of office. These ceremonies being over, they\nmarched in order to the New Hall, attended by such gentlemen and\ntradesmen as had been invited by the mayor and sheriffs, where the\nfeasting took place. On their way, at the Week-day Cross, over against\nthe ancient Guild Hall, the town-clerk proclaimed the mayor and\nsheriffs; and at the next ensuing market-day they were again proclaimed\nin the face of the whole market at the Malt Cross. On these occasions\nthe mayor and sheriffs welcomed their guests with bread and cheese,\nfruit in season, and pipes and tobacco.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nAt Chichester, Sloe Fair was always proclaimed under the Canon Gate by\nthe bishop\u2019s steward eight days before the eve of St. Faith the Virgin,\nduring which time the jurisdiction of the mayor ceased, and the bishop\nhad power to collect, and did by his agent collect, the tolls of the\nmarket and fair. An instance is recorded (1702) in the annals of the\ncorporation of the bishop claiming the keys of the city during the\nPiepowder Court. The bishop\u2019s claim arose from a grant made as early as\nHenry I.--Dally, _Chichester Guide_, 1831, p. 24.\n\nThe bailiff of Seaford is annually elected on St. Michael\u2019s Day. The\nfreemen of the town having previously assembled at the Court\nHall--leaving the jurats on the bench--retire to a certain spot at the\ngate-post of a field near the west end of the town, where the\nserjeant-at-mace of the body corporate nominates the chief magistrate\nfor the ensuing year, who is then and there elected. This peculiar\ncustom is supposed to have originated to prevent any influence on the\npart of the corporation magistrates (jurats), and to enable the freemen\nto make a free choice of their mayor.\n\n\nWESTERN ISLES OF SCOTLAND.\n\nMartin, in his _Account of the Western Isles of Scotland_, (1703, p.\n79), speaking of the island Lingay, says that the inhabitants are much\naddicted to riding, the plainness of the country disposing both men and\nhorses to it. They observe an anniversary cavalcade on Michaelmas Day,\nand then all ranks of both sexes appear on horseback. The place for this\nrendezvous is a large piece of firm sandy ground on the sea-shore, and\nthere they have horse racing for small prizes for which they contend\neagerly. There is an ancient custom by which it is lawful for any of the\ninhabitants to steal his neighbour\u2019s horse the night before the race and\nride him all next day, provided he delivers him safe and sound to the\nowner after the race. The manner of running is by a few young men who\nuse neither saddles nor bridles, except small ropes made of bent instead\nof a bridle, nor any sort of spurs but their bare heels; and when they\nbegin the race, they throw these ropes on their horses\u2019 necks, and drive\nthem on vigorously, with a piece of long sea-ware in each hand instead\nof a whip, and this is dried in the sun several months before for that\npurpose. This is a happy opportunity for the vulgar, who have few\noccasions for meeting except on Sundays; the men have their sweethearts\nbehind them on horseback and give and receive mutual presents: the men\npresent the women with knives and purses, the women present the men with\na pair of fine garters of divers colours; they give them likewise a\nquantity of wild carrots.\n\nMacaulay says it was the custom, till of late, at St. Kilda, on\nMichaelmas Day, to prepare in every family a loaf or cake of bread,\nenormously large, and compounded of different ingredients. This cake\nbelonged to the Archangel, and had its name from him. Every one in each\nfamily, whether strangers or domestics, had his portion of this kind of\nshew-bread, and had of course some title to the friendship and\nprotection of St. Michael.--_History of St. Kilda_, 1764, p. 22.\n\nMartin, speaking of the Protestant inhabitants of Skye, says: They\nobserve the festivals of Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, and St.\nMichael. Upon the latter day, they have a cavalcade in each parish, and\nseveral families bake the bread called St. Michael\u2019s bannock. Alluding\nto St. Kilbar village, he observes that they likewise have a general\ncavalcade on St. Michael\u2019s Day, and take a turn round their church.\nEvery family, as soon as the solemnity is over, is accustomed to bake\nSt. Michael\u2019s cake; and all strangers, together with those of the\nfamily, must eat the bread that night.--Martin\u2019s _Description of the\nWestern Isles of Scotland_, p. 213.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nIn Ireland, this season is celebrated by the making of the Michaelmas\ncake. A lady\u2019s ring is mixed in the dough, and, when the cake is baked\nit is cut into sections and distributed to the unmarried people at\ntable, and the person who gets the slice with the ring \u201cis sure to be\nmarried before next Michaelmas.\u201d--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. ix. p. 520.\n\n\n\n\nOCT. 2.] GOOSE FAIR.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAM.\n\nThe origin of this fair arose from the large quantities of geese which\nwere driven up from the fens of Lincolnshire for sale at this fair,\nwhich is on the 2nd of October, when geese are just in season. Persons\nnow living can remember seeing fifteen or twenty thousand geese in the\nmarket-place, each flock attended by a gooseherd with a crook, which he\ndexterously threw round the neck of any goose, and brought it out for\ninspection by the customer. A street on the Lincolnshire side of the\ntown is still called Goosegate, and the flavour of the goose is fully\nappreciated by the good people of Nottingham, as, on the fair day, one\nis sure to be found on the table of twenty-nine out of a hundred of the\nbetter class of the inhabitants.--_N. & Q. 1st S._, vol. vi. p. 563.\n\nA writer in _Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ (1853, vol. viii. p. 236),\nalluding to the customs allowed at Nottingham, says that the mayor of\nNottingham formerly appears to have given a feast of hot roast geese on\nthe last day of his mayoralty previous to the election of his successor.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nAt Great Crosby, a suburban village about seven miles from Liverpool,\nearly in October, every year there is held a local festival, which is\ncalled the \u201cGoose Fair.\u201d The feast takes place when the harvest is\ngathered in about that part of the country, and so it forms a sort of\n\u201charvest-home\u201d gathering for the agriculturists of the neighbourhood. It\nis said also that, at this particular period, geese are finer and fatter\nafter feeding on the stubble-fields than at any other time. Curious to\nsay, however, the bird in question is seldom, if ever, eaten at these\nfeasts.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. iii. p. 158, and vol. iv. p. 82.\n\n\n\n\nOCT. 6.] ST. FAITH\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nOn this day a very curious custom is observed in the North of England. A\ncake of flour, spring-water, salt, and sugar must be made by three\nmaidens or three widows, and each must have an equal share in the\ncomposition. It is then baked before the fire in a Dutch-oven, and, all\nthe while it is doing, silence must be strictly observed, and the cake\nmust be turned nine times, or three times to each person. When it is\nthoroughly done it is divided into three parts. Each one taking her\nshare, and cutting it into nine slips, must pass each slip three times\nthrough a wedding-ring previously borrowed from a woman who has been\nmarried at least seven years. Then each one must eat her nine slips as\nshe is undressing, and repeat the following rhyme:--\n\n    \u201cO good St. Faith, be kind to-night,\n    And bring to me my heart\u2019s delight;\n    Let me my future husband view,\n    And be my visions chaste and true.\u201d\n\nThen all three must get into bed with the ring suspended by a string to\nthe head of the couch, and they will be sure to dream of their future\nhusbands.--Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 373.\n\n\n\n\nOCT. 10.] DORSETSHIRE.\n\n\nPack Monday Fair is held at Sherborne on the first Monday after the 10th\nof October, and is ushered in, says Hutchins (_Hist. of Dorset_, 1774),\nby the ringing of the great bell at a very early hour in the morning,\nand by the boys and young men perambulating the streets with cows\u2019\nhorns. Tradition asserts that this fair originated at the termination of\nthe building of the church, when the people who had been employed about\nit packed up their tools, and held a fair or wake in the churchyard,\nblowing cows\u2019 horns in their rejoicing.--See _Every Day Book_, vol. ii.\np. 1037.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nA fair was formerly held yearly on the 10th of October, in the precincts\nof the ville of Christ Church, and was usually called Jack and Joan\nFair, from its being esteemed a statute fair for the hiring of servants\nof both sexes, for which purpose it continued till the second Saturday\nor market-day had passed.--Hasted\u2019s _History of Kent_, 1799, vol. iv. p.\n424.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nAbout the year 1760, it was customary with the burgesses of Liverpool on\nthe annual election of a mayor to have a bear baited. This event took\nplace on the 10th of October, and the demonstrations of rejoicing\ncontinued for several days. The animal was first baited at the White\nCross, at the top of Chapel Street, and was then led in triumph to the\nexchange, where the conflict was renewed. A repetition of the same\nbrutal cruelties was likewise exhibited in Derby Street, and the\ndiversion was concluded by the animal undergoing reiterated assaults at\nthe Stock Market opposite the top of Pool Lane. The bear was assailed\nseparately by large mastiffs, and if any dog compelled him to yell, or\nwas able to sustain the contest with superior address, he was rewarded\nwith a brass collar. It was remarkable, however, that few of the bear\u2019s\nassailants could be induced to renew the fight after having once\nreceived the fraternal embrace.--Corry, _History of Liverpool_, 1810, p.\n93.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nFormerly, there existed in Hull a custom of whipping all the dogs that\nwere found running about the streets on the 10th of October,[78] and at\none time so common was the practice, that every little urchin considered\nit his duty to prepare a whip for any unlucky dog that might be seen in\nthe street on that day.\n\n  [78] See St. Luke\u2019s Day.\n\nTradition assigns the following origin to the custom:--Previous to the\nsuppression of monasteries in Hull, it was the custom for the monks to\nprovide liberally for the poor and the wayfarer who came to the fair\nheld annually on the 11th of October; and while busy in this necessary\npreparation the day before the fair, a dog strolled into the larder,\nsnatched up a joint of meat and decamped with it. The cooks gave the\nalarm, and when the dog got into the streets he was pursued by the\nexpectants of the charity of the monks, who were waiting outside the\ngate, and made to give up the stolen joint. Whenever, after this, a dog\nshowed his face while this annual preparation was going on, he was\ninstantly beaten off. Eventually, this was taken up by the boys and,\nuntil the introduction of the new police, was rigidly put in practice by\nthem every 10th of October.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. viii. p. 409.\n\n\n\n\nOCT. 18.] ST. LUKE\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nAt Charlton, a fair was held on this day, and was characterized by\nseveral curious peculiarities. Every booth in the fair had its horns\nconspicuous in the front. Rams\u2019 horns were an article abundantly\nrepresented for sale, even the gingerbread was marked by a gilt pair of\nhorns. It seemed an inexplicable mystery how horns and Charlton Fair had\nbecome associated in this manner, till an antiquary at length threw a\nlight upon it by pointing out that a horned ox is the recognised\nmedi\u00e6val symbol of St. Luke, the patron of the fair, fragmentary\nexamples of it being still to be seen in the painted windows of Charlton\nChurch. This fair was one where an unusual licence was practised. It was\ncustomary for men to come to it in women\u2019s clothes--a favourite mode of\nmasquerading two or three hundred years ago--against which the puritan\nclergy launched many a fulmination. The men also amused themselves, on\ntheir way across Blackheath, in lashing the women with furze, it being\nproverbial that \u201call was fair at Horn Fair.\u201d--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p.\n645.\n\nA sermon was formerly preached at Charlton Church on the day of the\nfair. A practice which originated by a bequest of twenty shillings a\nyear to the minister of the parish for preaching it.--See _Every Day\nBook_, 1826, vol. i. pp. 1386-1389.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nDrake, in his _Eboracum_ (1736, p. 218), says that a fair was always\nkept in Micklegate, on St. Luke\u2019s Day, for all sorts of small wares. It\nwas commonly called _Dish Fair_ from the great quantity of wooden\ndishes, ladles, &c., brought to it. An old custom was observed at this\nfair, of bearing a wooden ladle in a sling on two stangs about it,\ncarried by four sturdy labourers, and each labourer was supported by\nanother. This, without doubt, was a ridicule on the meanness of the\nwares brought to the fair, small benefit accruing to the labourers at\nit.\n\nDrake tells us that in his time St. Luke\u2019s Day was known in York by the\nname of Whip-Dog Day, from a strange custom that schoolboys had of\nwhipping all dogs that were seen in the streets on that day. Whence this\nuncommon persecution, he says, took its rise is uncertain, and has even\nbeen considered by some to be of Roman origin. He regards, however, the\nfollowing tradition as most probable:--That in some time of popery a\npriest celebrating mass at this festival, in some church in York,\nunfortunately dropped the host after consecration, which was suddenly\nsnatched up and swallowed by a dog that lay under the altar table. The\nprofanation of this high mystery occasioned the death of the dog, and a\npersecution began which was continued on the anniversary of this day.\nThe same custom also existed at Manchester on the first day of Acres\nFair, which was held about the same time.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p.\n360.\n\n\n\n\nOCT. 21.] GLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\n\nRichard Aldridge gave the interest of 200_l._, Three per Cent. Consols,\nthat the dividend should, for ever, be disposed of as follows:--1_l._\n1_s._ to the vicar of the parish of St. Nicholas for performing morning\nservice annually in the parish church on the 21st of October, and\npreaching a sermon in commemoration of the glorious victory obtained by\nLord Nelson over the combined fleets of France and Spain off Cape\nTrafalgar, on the 21st of October 1805; 10_s._ 6_d._ equally between the\nclerk and sexton for their attendance at such service and sermon. The\nresidue of the dividend to be applied to keeping a monument of his\nfriend in good condition, and the surplus after such repair to be given\nto the poor on the 6th of December each year in coals and\ngarments.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 170.\n\n\n\n\nOCT. 25.] ST. CRISPIN\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nIn many places St. Crispin\u2019s Day is a great holiday among the\nshoemakers, and the origin of it is thus explained:--Two brothers,\nCrispin and Crispinian, natives of Rome, having become converts to\nChristianity, travelled to Soissons in France about the year 303, in\norder to propagate the Christian faith. Being desirous, however, of\nrendering themselves independent they gained a subsistence by making\nshoes, with which it is said they furnished the poor at an extremely\nsmall price, an angel, according to the legend, supplying them with\nleather. They suffered martyrdom in the persecution under Maximian.\n\nIn _Time\u2019s Telescope_ for 1816 it is observed that the shoemakers of the\npresent day are not far behind their predecessors in the manner of\nkeeping St. Crispin. From the highest to the lowest it is a day of\nfeasting and jollity. It is also observed as a festival with the\ncorporate body of cordwainers or shoemakers of London, but without any\nsort of procession on the occasion.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nIn the town of Hexham, the following custom is, or was, at one time\nobserved:--The shoemakers of the town meet and dine by previous\narrangements at some tavern; a King Crispin, queen, prince, and\nprincess, elected from members of their fraternity of families, being\npresent. They afterwards form in grand procession (the ladies and their\nattendants excepted), and parade the streets with banners, music, &c.,\nthe royal party and suite gaily dressed in character. In the evening\nthey reassemble for dancing and other festivities. To his majesty and\nconsort, and their royal highnesses the prince and princess (the latter\nusually a pretty girl), due regal homage is paid during that day.--_N. &\nQ. 1st S._ vol. vi. p. 243.\n\nAt one time the cordwainers of Newcastle celebrated the festival of St.\nCrispin by holding a coronation of their patron saint in the court of\nthe Freemen\u2019s Hospital at the Westgate, and afterwards walking in\nprocession through the principal streets of the town. This caricature\nshow produced much laughter and mirth.--Mackenzie, _History of\nNewcastle_, 1827, vol. i. p. 88.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nIn the parishes of Cuckfield and Hurst-a-point, St. Crispin\u2019s Day is\nkept with much rejoicing. The boys go round asking for money in the name\nof St. Crispin, bonfires are lighted, and it passes off very much in the\nsame way as the 5th of November. It appears from an inscription on a\nmonument to one of the ancient family of Bunell, in the parish church of\nCuckfield, that a Sir John Bunell attended Henry V. to France in the\nyear 1415, with one ship, twenty men-at-arms, and forty archers, and it\nis probable that the observance of this day in that neighbourhood is\nconnected with that fact.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. v. p. 30.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nAt Tenby an effigy was made and hung on some elevated and prominent\nplace (the steeple for instance) on the previous night. On the morning\nof the Saint\u2019s day it was cut down and carried about the town, a will\nbeing read in doggrel verse, purporting to be the last testament of the\nSaint, in pursuance of which the several articles of dress were\ndistributed to the different shoemakers. At length nothing remained of\nthe image but the padding, which was kicked about by the crowd. As a\nsort of revenge for the treatment given to St. Crispin, his followers\nhung up the effigy of a carpenter on St. Clement\u2019s Day.--Mason\u2019s _Tales\nand Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, p. 26.\n\n\n\n\nOCT. 29.] ST. MODWEN\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nThis day used to be observed at Burton-on-Trent. On it was held a sale\nof cheese, and a variety of sports and pastimes took place.--Pitt,\n_Topographical History of Staffordshire_, 1817, p. 45.\n\n\n\n\nOCT. 30.] BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\n\nThe manor of Chetwode--a small village about five miles from\nBuckingham--has been the property of the Chetwode family from Saxon\ntimes. Though of small extent, it is the paramount manor of a liberty\nor district, embracing several other manors and villages, which are\nrequired to do suit and service at the Court-Leet held at Chetwode every\nthree years. The lord of Chetwode manor has also the right to levy a\nyearly tax, called the \u201cRhyne Toll,\u201d on all cattle found within this\nliberty, between the 30th of October and the 7th of November, both days\ninclusive. The commencement of the toll, which is proclaimed with much\nceremony, is thus described in an old document of Queen Elizabeth\u2019s\nreign:--\n\n\u201cIn the beginning of the said drift of the common, or rhyne, first at\ntheir going forth, they shall blow a welke-shell, or horne, immediately\nafter the sun rising at the Mansion-House of the manor of Chetwode, and\nthen, in their going about, they shall blow their horne the second time\nin the field between Newton Purcell and Barton Hartshorne, in the said\ncounty of Bucks, and also shall blow their horne a third time at a place\nnear the town of Finmere, in the county of Oxford, and they shall blow\ntheir horne the fourth time at a certain stone in the market of the town\nof Buckingham, and there to give the poor sixpence; and so, going\nforward in this manner about the said drift, shall blow the horne at\nseveral bridges called Thornborough Bridge, King\u2019s Bridge, and Bridge\nMill. And they also shall blow their horne at the Pound Gate, called the\nLord\u2019s Pound, in the parish of Chetwode..... And also (the Lord of\nChetwode) has always been used by his officers and servants to drive\naway all foreign cattle that shall be found within the said parishes,\nfields, &c., to impound the same in any pound of the said towns, and to\ntake for every one of the said foreign beasts twopence for the mouth,\nand one penny for a foot for every one of the said beasts.\u201d All cattle\nthus impounded at other places were to be removed to the pound at\nChetwode, and if not claimed and the toll paid within three days, \u201cthen\nthe next day following after the rising of the sun, the bailiff or\nofficers of the lord for the time being shall blow their horne three\ntimes at the gate of the said pound, and make proclamation that, if any\npersons lack any cattle that shall be in the same pound, let them come\nand shew the marks of the same cattle so claimed by them, and they shall\nhave them, paying unto the lord his money in the manner and form before\nmentioned, otherwise the said cattle that shall so remain, shall be the\nlord\u2019s as strays.\u201d This toll was formerly so rigidly enforced, that if\nthe owner of cattle so impounded made his claim immediately after the\nproclamation was over, he was refused them, except by paying their full\nmarket price.\n\nThough the custom is still regularly observed, it has undergone some\nchanges since the date of the above document. The toll now begins at\nnine in the morning instead of at sunrise, and the horn is first sounded\non the church-hill at Buckingham, and gingerbread and beer distributed\namong the assembled boys, the girls being excluded. The officer then\nproceeds to another part of the liberty on the border of Oxfordshire,\nand there, after blowing his horn as before, again distributes\ngingerbread and beer among the assembled boys. The toll is then\nproclaimed as begun, and collectors are stationed at different parts to\nenforce it, at the rate of two shillings a score upon all cattle and\nswine passing on any road within the liberty, until twelve o\u2019clock at\nnight on the 7th of November, when the \u201cRhyne\u201d closes.\n\nThe occupiers of land within the liberty have long been accustomed to\ncompound for the toll by an annual payment of one shilling. The toll has\nsometimes been refused, but has always been recovered with the attendant\nexpenses. It realised about 20_l._ a year before the opening of the\nBuckinghamshire Railway; but now, owing to Welsh and Irish cattle being\nsent by trains, it does not amount to above 4_l._, and is let by the\npresent lord of the manor for only 1_l._ 5_s._ a year.\n\nThe existence of this toll may be traced to remote antiquity, but\nnothing is known of its origin except from local tradition, which,\nhowever, in this case has been so remarkably confirmed, that it may\nsafely be credited. The parish of Chetwode, as its name implies, was\nformerly thickly wooded; indeed it formed a part of an ancient forest\ncalled Rookwoode, which is supposed to have been conterminous with the\npresent liberty of Chetwode. At a very early period, says our tradition,\nthis forest was infested with an enormous wild boar which became the\nterror of the surrounding country. The inhabitants were never safe from\nhis attacks, and strangers who heard of his ferocity were afraid to\nvisit or pass through the district, so that traffic and friendly\nintercourse were seriously impeded, as well us much injury done to\nproperty by this savage monster. The lord of Chetwode, like a valiant\nknight, determined to rid his neighbourhood from this pest, or to die in\nthe attempt. Bent on this generous purpose, he sallied forth into the\nforest, and, as the old song has it,--\n\n    \u201cThen he blowed a blast full north, south, east, and west--\n      Wind well thy horn, good hunter;\n    And the wild boar then heard him full in his den,\n      As he was a jovial hunter.\n\n    Then he made the best of his speed unto him--\n      Wind well thy horn, good hunter;\n    Swift flew the boar, with his tusks smeared with gore,\n      To Sir Ryalas, the jovial hunter.\n\n    Then the wild boar, being so stout and so strong--\n      Wind well thy horn, good hunter;\n    Thrashed down the trees as he ramped him along\n      To Sir Ryalas, the jovial hunter.\n\n    Then they fought four hours in a long summer day--\n      Wind well thy horn, good hunter;\n    Till the wild boar fain would have got him away\n      From Sir Ryalas, the jovial hunter.\n\n    Then Sir Ryalas he drawed his broad-sword with might--\n      Wind well thy horn, good hunter;\n    And he fairly cut the boar\u2019s head off quite,\n      For he was a jovial hunter.\u201d\n\nMatters being thus settled, the neighbourhood rung with the praises of\nthe gallant deed of the lord of Chetwode, and the news thereof soon\nreached the ears of the king, who \u201cliked him so well of the\nachievement,\u201d that he forthwith made the knight tenant _in capite_, and\nconstituted his manor paramount of all the manors within the limits and\nextent of the royal forest of Rookwoode. Moreover, he granted to him,\nand to his heirs for ever, among other immunities and privileges, the\nfull right and power to levy every year the \u201cRhyne Toll,\u201d which has\nalready been described.\n\nSuch a custom as the \u201cRhyne Toll\u201d is not without its use. It is a\nperpetual memorial, perhaps more convincing than written history, of the\ndangers which surrounded our ancestors, and from which our country has\nhappily been so long delivered that we can now scarcely believe they\never existed.--_The Book of Days_, vol. ii. pp. 517-519.\n\n\n\n\nOCT. 31.] HALLOW EVE.\n\n\nThis eve is so called from being the vigil of All Saints\u2019 Day, and is\nthe season for a variety of superstitious and other customs. In the\nnorth of England many of these still linger. One of the most common is\nthat of diving for apples, or of catching at them with the mouth only,\nthe hands being tied behind, and the apples suspended on one end of a\nlong transverse beam, at the other extremity of which is fixed a lighted\ncandle. The fruit and nuts form the most prominent parts of the evening\nfeast, and from this circumstance the night has been termed _Nutcrack\nNight_.[79]--Soane\u2019s _Book of the Months_, 1849, vol. ii. p. 215; see\n_Book of Days_, vol. ii. pp. 519-520.\n\n  [79] See Michaelmas Eve, p. 375.\n\nSir William Dugdale (_Life, Diary, and Correspondence of Sir W.\nDugdale_, _edited by_ W. Hamper, 1827, p. 104) tells us that formerly,\non Halloween, the master of the family used to carry a bunch of straw,\nfired, about his corn, saying:\n\n    \u201cFire and red low\n    Light on my teen now.\u201d\n\nThis fire-straw, says a correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_3rd S._ vol. i. p.\n316), was meant to ward off witchcraft, and so preserve the corn from\nbeing spoiled. In Scotland, on Halloween, the red end of a fiery stick\nis waved about in mystic figures in the air to accomplish for the person\nthe same spell. Red appears to be a colour peculiarly obnoxious to\nwitches. One Halloween rhyme enjoins the employment of:\n\n    \u201cRowan tree and red thread,\n    To gar the witches dance their dead;\u201d\n\ni.e., dance till they fall down and expire. The berries of the\nrowan-tree (mountain-ash) are of a brilliant red. The point of the fiery\nstick waved rapidly takes the appearance of a \u201cred thread.\u201d\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nThe ancient custom of providing children with a large apple on\nAllhallows Eve is still observed to a great extent at St. Ives. \u201cAllan\nDay,\u201d as it is termed, is the day of days to hundreds of children who\nwould deem it a great misfortune were they to go to bed on Allan night\nwithout the time honoured allan apple to hide beneath their pillows. A\nlarge quantity of apples are thus disposed of, the sale of which is\ndignified by the term Allan Market.--Hunt\u2019s _Romances of the West of\nEngland_, 1871, p. 388.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nIn Lancashire, says Hampson (_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 365), it was\nformerly believed that witches assembled on this night to do \u201ctheir\ndeeds without a name,\u201d at their general rendezvous in the forest of\nPendle, a ruined and desolate farmhouse, denominated the _Malkin Tower_,\nfrom the awful purposes to which it was devoted. This superstition led\nto a ceremony called _lating_, or perhaps _leeting the witches_. It was\nbelieved that, if a lighted candle were carried about the fells or hills\nfrom eleven till twelve o\u2019clock at night, and burned all that time\nsteadily, it had so far triumphed over the evil power of the witches,\nwho, as they passed to the Malkin Tower, would employ their utmost\nefforts to extinguish the light, and the person whom it represented\nmight safely defy their malice during the season; but if by accident the\nlight went out, it was an omen of evil to the luckless wight for whom\nthe experiment was made. It was also deemed inauspicious to cross the\nthreshold of that person until after the return from _leeting_, and not\nthen unless the candle had preserved its light.--See _Year Book_, 1838,\np. 1276.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nThis festival, called by the islanders _Sauin_, was formerly observed in\nthe Isle of Man by kindling of fires with all the accompanying\nceremonies, to prevent the baneful influence of fairies and witches. The\nisland was perambulated at night by young men who stuck up at the door\nof every dwelling-house, a rhyme in Manks, beginning:\n\n    \u201cNoght oie howney hop-dy-naw,\n    This is Hollantide Eve,\u201d &c.\n\nOn Hollantide Eve, boys go round the town shouting out a doggrel, of\nwhich the following is an extract:\n\n                  \u201cThis is old Hollantide night,\n                  The moon shines fair and bright;\n                  I went to the well\n                  And drank my fill;\n                  On the way coming back\n                  I met a pole-cat;\n                  The cat began to grin\n                  And I began to run;\n                  Where did you run to?\n                  I ran to Scotland;\n                  What were they doing there?\n                  Baking bannocks and roasting collops.\n\n           *       *       *       *       *\n\n    If you are going to give us anything, give us it soon,\n    Or we\u2019ll be away by the light of the moon!\u201d\n\nFor some peculiar reason, potatoes, parsnips, and fish, pounded together\nand mixed with butter, form always the evening meal.--Train, _History of\nthe Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 123.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nIn the reign of Charles I., the young gentlemen of the Middle Temple\nwere accustomed at All Hallow Tide, which they considered the beginning\nof Christmas, to associate themselves for the festive objects connected\nwith the season. In 1629 they chose Bulstrode Whitelocke as Master of\nthe Revels, and used to meet every evening at St. Dunstan\u2019s Tavern, in a\nlarge new room, called \u201cThe Oracle of Apollo,\u201d each man bringing friends\nwith him at his own pleasure. It was a kind of mock parliament, where\nvarious questions were discussed as in our modern debating societies,\nbut these temperate proceedings were seasoned with mirthful doings, to\nwhich the name of revels was given and of which dancing appears to have\nbeen the chief. On All Hallows Day, \u201cthe Master (Whitelocke, then\nfour-and-twenty), as soon as the evening was come, entered the hall\nfollowed by sixteen revellers. They were proper, handsome young\ngentlemen, habited in rich suits, shoes and stockings, hats and great\nfeathers. The master led them in his bar gown, with a white staff in his\nhand, the music playing before them. They began with the old masques;\nafter which they danced the _Brawls_,[80] and then the master took his\nseat, while the revellers flaunted through galliards, corantos, French\nand country dances, till it grew very late. As might be expected, the\nreputation of this dancing soon brought a store of other gentlemen and\nladies, some of whom were of great quality, and when the ball was over\nthe festive party adjourned to Sir Sydney Montague\u2019s chamber, lent for\nthe purpose to our young president. At length the court ladies and\ngrandees were allured, to the contentment of his vanity it may have\nbeen, but entailing on him serious expense, and then there was great\nstriving for places to see them on the part of the London citizens. To\ncrown the ambition and vanity of all, a great German lord had a desire\nto witness the revels, then making such a sensation at court, and the\nTemplars entertained him at great cost to themselves, receiving in\nexchange that which cost the great noble very little--his avowal that\n\u2018Dere was no such nople gollege in Christendom as deirs.\u2019\u201d--Whitelocke\u2019s\n_Memoirs of Bulstrode Whitelocke_, 1860, p. 56; quoted in _Book of\nDays_, vol. ii. p. 538.\n\n  [80] Erroneously written _Brantes_ in the authority quoted.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIf a girl had two lovers, and wished to know which would be the most\nconstant, she procured two brown apple pippins, and sticking one on each\ncheek (after having named them from her lovers) while she repeated this\ncouplet:\n\n    \u201cPippen, pippen, I stick thee there,\n    That that is true thou may\u2019st declare,\u201d\n\npatiently awaited until one fell off, when the unfortunate swain whose\nname it bore was instantly discarded as being unfaithful. It is to this\ncustom that Gay has thus alluded:\n\n    \u201cSee from the core two kernels now I take,\n    This on my cheek for Lubberkin is worn,\n    And Booby Clod on t\u2019other side is borne;\n    But Booby Clod soon falls upon the ground,\n    A certain token that his love\u2019s unsound;\n    While Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last;\n    Oh! were his lips to mine but joined so fast.\u201d\n\n  _Jour. of Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. iii. p. 286.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nAt Ripon, the women make a cake for every one in the family, whence this\neve is by them called _cake-night_.--_Gent. Mag._ 1790, vol. lx. p. 719.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nIn North Wales there is a custom upon All Saints\u2019 Eve of making a great\nfire called _Coel Coeth_, when every family for about an hour in the\nnight, makes a great bonfire in the most conspicuous place near the\nhouse, and when the fire is almost extinguished every one throws a white\nstone into the ashes, having first marked it; then having said their\nprayers turning round the fire, they go to bed. In the morning, as soon\nas they are up, they come and search out the stones, and if any one of\nthem is found wanting they have a notion that the person who threw it in\nwill die before he sees another All Saints\u2019 Eve.--Pennant MS., quoted by\nBrand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 389.\n\nIn Owen\u2019s _Account of the Bards_, preserved in Sir R. Hoare\u2019s _Itinerary\nof Archbishop Baldwin through Wales_ (vol. ii. p. 315), the following\nparticulars are given in connection with the above custom:--The autumnal\nfire kindled in North Wales on the eve of the 1st of November is\nattended by many ceremonies, such as running through the fire and smoke,\neach casting a stone into the fire, and all running off at the\nconclusion, to escape from the black short-tailed sow; then supping upon\nparsnips, nuts, and apples; catching at an apple suspended by a string,\nwith the mouth alone, and the same by an apple in a tub of water; each\nthrowing a nut into the fire, and those that burn bright betoken\nprosperity to the owners through the following year, but those that burn\nblack and crackle, denote misfortune. On the following morning the\nstones are searched for in the fire, and if any be missing, they betide\nill to those who threw them in.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nBurns, in his notes upon Halloween, gives the following interesting\naccount of the superstitious customs practised by the Scottish\npeasantry:\n\n1. The first ceremony of Halloween is pulling each a stock or plant of\nkail. They must go out hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first\nthey meet with; its being big or little, straight or crooked, is\nprophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their\nspells--the husband or wife. If any _yird_, or earth stick to the root,\nthat is _tocher_ or fortune; and the taste of the _custoc_, that is the\nheart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper and disposition.\nLastly, the stems, or--to give them their ordinary appellation--the\nrunts, are placed somewhere above the head of the door; and the\nChristian names of the people, whom chance brings into the house are,\naccording to the priority of placing the runts, the names in question.\n\n2. They go to the barn-yard, and pull each, at three several times, a\nstalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the _top-pickle_, the party in\nquestion will come to the marriage-bed anything but a maid.\n\n3. Burning the nuts is a famous charm, they name the lad and lass to\neach particular nut as they lay them in the fire. Accordingly, as they\nburn quietly together or start from beside one another, the course and\nissue of the courtship will be.\n\n4. Steal out all alone to the _kiln_, and darkling throw into the pot a\nclue of blue yarn, wind it in a new clue off the old one; and towards\nthe latter end, something will hold the thread; demand, \u201cWho hauds?\u201d\ni.e., who holds. An answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming\nthe Christian and surname of your future spouse.\n\n5. Take a candle and go alone to a looking-glass, eat an apple before\nit, and, some traditions say you should comb your hair all the time, the\nface of your conjugal companion to be will be seen in the glass as if\npeeping over your shoulder.\n\n6. Steal out unperceived and sow a handful of hempseed, harrowing it\nwith anything you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat now and then,\n\u201cHempseed I sow thee; hempseed, I sow thee; and him (or her) that is to\nbe my true love come after me and pou thee.\u201d Look over your left\nshoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person invoked in the\nattitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions say, \u201cCome after me, and show\nthee,\u201d that is show thyself, in which case it simply appears. Others\nomit the harrowing, and say, \u201cCome after me and harrow thee.\u201d\n\n7. _To win three wechts o\u2019 naething._--This charm must likewise be\nperformed unperceived and alone, you go to the barn, and open both\ndoors, taking them off the hinges if possible; for there is danger that\nthey, being about to appear, may shut the doors and do you some\nmischief. Then take that instrument used in winnowing the corn, which in\nour dialect is called a _wecht_; and go through all the attitudes of\nletting down corn against the wind. Repeat it three times; and the third\ntime an apparition will pass through the barn, in it at the windy door\nand out at the other, having both the figure in question, and the\nappearance or retinue marking the employment or station in life.\n\n8. Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a bean stack, and fathom it\nthree times round. The last fathom of the last time, you will catch in\nyour arms the appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow.\n\n9. You go out, one or more, for this is a social spell, to a south\nrunning spring or rivulet, where three lairds\u2019 lands meet, and dip your\nleft shirt sleeve. Go to bed in sight of a fire, and hang your wet\nsleeve before it to dry. Lie awake, and sometime near midnight an\napparition, having an exact figure of the grand object in question, will\ncome and turn the sleeve as if to dry the other side of it.\n\n10. Take three dishes, put clean water in one, foul water in another,\nleave the third empty; blindfold a person, and lead him to the hearth\nwhere the dishes are ranged; he (or she) dips the left hand; if by\nchance in the clean water, the future husband or wife will come to the\nbar of matrimony a maid; if in the foul, a widow; if in the empty dish,\nit foretells with equal certainty no marriage at all. It is repeated\nthree times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes is altered.\n\n\nABERDEENSHIRE.\n\nThe following extract is taken from the _Guardian_ (November 11th,\n1874):--Halloween was duly celebrated at Balmoral Castle. Preparations\nhad been made days beforehand, and farmers and others for miles around\nwere present. When darkness set in the celebration began, and her\nMajesty and the Princess Beatrice, each bearing a large torch, drove out\nin an open phaeton. A procession formed of the tenants and servants on\nthe estates followed, all carrying huge torches lighted. They walked\nthrough the grounds and round the Castle, and the scene as the\nprocession moved onwards was very weird and striking. When it had\narrived in front of the Castle an immense bonfire, composed of old\nboxes, packing-cases, and other materials, stored up during the year for\nthe occasion, was set fire to. When the flames were at their brightest a\nfigure dressed as a hobgoblin appeared on the scene, drawing a car\nsurrounded by a number of fairies carrying long spears, the car\ncontaining the effigy of a witch. A circle having been formed by the\ntorch-bearers, the presiding elf tossed the figure of the witch into the\nfire, where it was speedily consumed. This cremation over, reels were\nbegun, and were danced with great vigour to the stirring strains of\nWillie Ross, her Majesty\u2019s piper.\n\n\nBANFFSHIRE.\n\nIn former times at Halloween, Christmas, and other holidays, the younger\npart of the community of Cullen resorted to the sands and links of the\nbay for the purpose of playing foot-ball, running foot-races, &c. They\nleft the town in procession, preceded by a piper and other music, and\nwere attended by numbers from the adjacent districts. The games were\nkeenly contested, and the victor was crowned by a bonnet adorned with\nfeathers and ribbons, previously prepared by the ladies. When the games\nwere over, the whole party had a dance on the green, with that merriment\nand glee to which the etiquette and formation of the ballroom at the\npresent day are total strangers. Afterwards, the procession was again\nformed, and returned to the town, the victor preceded by the music,\nleading the way. A ball took place in the evening, at which he presided,\nand, moreover, had the privilege of wearing his bonnet and\nfeathers.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1845, vol. xiii. p. 381.\n\n\nMORAYSHIRE.\n\nShaw, in his _History of the Province of Moray_ (p. 241), considers the\nfestivity of this night as a kind of harvest-home rejoicing. He says, a\nsolemnity was kept on the eve of the 1st of November, as a thanksgiving\nfor the safe ingathering of the produce of the fields.\n\n\nPERTHSHIRE.\n\nOn All Saints\u2019 Even, the inhabitants of Callander, set up bonfires in\nevery village. When the bonfire is consumed, the ashes are carefully\ncollected into the form of a circle. There is a stone put in near the\ncircumference, for every person of the several families interested in\nthe bonfire; and whatever stone is removed out of its place or injured\nbefore the next morning, the person represented by that stone is\ndevoted, or _fey_, and is supposed not to live twelve months from that\nday.--Sinclair, _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1793, vol. xi. p. 621.\n\nOn the evening of the 31st of October (Old Style), the inhabitants of\nLogierait practise the following custom:--Heath, broom and dressings of\nflax are tied upon a pole; this faggot is then kindled; one takes it\nupon his shoulders, and, running, bears it round the village; a crowd\nattending him. When the first faggot is burnt out, a second is bound to\nthe pole and kindled in the same manner as before. Numbers of these\nblazing faggots are often carried about together, and when the night\nhappens to be dark they form a splendid illumination.--Sinclair, _Stat.\nAcc. of Scotland_, 1793, vol. v. p. 84.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nAt this season the peasants assemble with sticks and clubs, and go from\nhouse to house collecting money, bread-cake, butter, &c., for the feast,\nrepeating verses in honour of the solemnity, and demanding the\ninhabitants to lay aside the fatted calf and to bring forth the black\nsheep.[81] The women are employed in making the griddle cake and\ncandles; these last are sent from house to house in the vicinity, and\nare lighted up on the next day before which they pray, or are supposed\nto pray, for the departed soul of the donor. Hempseed is sown by the\nmaidens, and they believe that, if they look back, they will see the\napparition of the man intended for their future husbands; they hang a\nsmock before the fire on the close of the feast, and sit up all night\nconcealed in a corner of the room, convinced that his apparition will\ncome down the chimney and turn the smock. They also throw a ball of yarn\nout of the window, and wind it up on a reel within, thinking that, if\nthey repeat the Paternoster backwards and look at the ball of yarn\nwithout, they will see his apparition. They, moreover, dip for apples in\na tub of water, and endeavour to bring one up in the mouth; they suspend\na cord with a cross stick, with apples at one point and candles lighted\nat the other, and endeavour to catch the apple, while it is in circular\nmotion, in the mouth. These and many other superstitious customs are\nobserved.--Valiancy, _Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis_, 1786, vol. iii.\np. 459.\n\n  [81] This was preparatory to the sacrifice of the black sheep on the\n  following day to Saman--See Soane\u2019s _New Curiosities of Literature_,\n  1847, p. 219.\n\nOn Halloween, women take the yolk from eggs boiled hard, fill the eggs\nwith salt, and eat egg, shell and salt. They are careful not to quench\ntheir thirst till morning.--_N. & Q. 4th. S._ vol. iv. p. 505.\n\n\n\n\nNOV.] DERBYSHIRE.\n\n\nAt Duffield, a curious remnant of the right of hunting wild animals is\nstill observed--this is called the \u201csquirrel hunt.\u201d The young men of the\nvillage assemble together on the Wakes Monday, each provided with a\nhorn, a pan, or something capable of making a noise, and proceed to\nKeddleston Park, where, with shouting and the discordant noise of the\ninstruments, they frighten the poor little squirrels, until they drop\nfrom the trees. Several having been thus captured the hunters return to\nDuffield, and having released the squirrels amongst some trees,\nrecommence the hunt.--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p.\n208.\n\nAt Duffield, the right of collecting wood in the forest is also\nsingularly observed. The young men in considerable numbers collect\ntogether, and having taken possession of any cart they can find, yoke\nthemselves to it, and preceded by horns, remove any trees or other wood\nfrom the various lanes and hedge-rows; this is done almost nightly,\nbetween September and the Wakes, in the first week in November, when a\nbonfire is made of the wood collected on the Wakes Monday.--_Ibid._ p.\n208.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 1.] ALL SAINTS\u2019 DAY.\n\n\nThis festival takes its origin from the conversion, in the seventh\ncentury, of the Pantheon at Rome into a Christian place of worship, and\nits dedication by Pope Boniface IV. to the Virgin and all the Martyrs.\nThe anniversary of this event was at first celebrated on the 1st of May,\nbut the day was subsequently altered to the 1st of November, which was\nthenceforth, under the designation of the feast of All Saints, set apart\nas a general commemoration in their honour. The festival has been\nretained by the Anglican Church--_Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 529; See\nSoane\u2019s _Book of the Months_, 1849, vol. ii. p. 235.\n\nA writer in the _Gent. Mag._ 1783 (vol. liii. p. 578), thinks the\ncustom prevailing among the Roman Catholics of lighting fires upon the\nhills on All Saints\u2019 night, the Eve of All Souls, scarcely needs\nexplaining, fire being, even among the Pagans, an emblem of immortality,\nand well calculated to typify the ascent of the soul to heaven.\n\nA correspondent of the same periodical (1788, vol. lviii. p. 602)\nalludes to a custom observed in some parts of the kingdom among the\nPapists, of illuminating some of their grounds upon the eve of All\nSouls, by bearing round them straw, or other fit materials, kindled into\na blaze. This ceremony is called a _Tinley_, said to represent an\nemblematical lighting of souls out of purgatory.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nOn All Souls\u2019 Eve, both children and grown-up people go from door to\ndoor, a-souling, i.e., begging for soul cakes, or anything else they can\nget. In some districts they perform a kind of play as well, but in all\ninstances the following, or a similar song, is sung:--\n\n    \u201cYou gentlemen of England, pray you now draw near\n    To these few lines, and you soon shall hear\n    Sweet melody of music all on this evening clear,\n    For we are come a-souling for apples and strong beer.\n\n    Step down into your cellar, and see what you can find,\n    If your barrels are not empty, we hope you will prove kind;\n    We hope you will prove kind with your apples and strong beer,\n    We\u2019ll come no more a-souling until another year.\n\n    Cold winter it is coming on, dark, dirty, wet and cold,\n    To try your good nature, this night we do make bold;\n    This night we do make bold with your apples and strong beer,\n    And we\u2019ll come no more a-souling until another year.\n\n    All the houses that we\u2019ve been at, we\u2019ve had both meat and drink,\n    So now we\u2019re dry with travelling, we hope you\u2019ll on us think;\n    We hope you\u2019ll on us think with your apples and strong beer,\n    For we\u2019ll come no more a-souling until another year.\n\n    God bless the master of this house, and the mistress also.\n    And all the little children that round the table go;\n    Likewise your men and maidens, your cattle and your store,\n    And all that lies within your gates we wish you ten times more;\n    We wish you ten times more with your apples and strong beer,\n    And we\u2019ll come no more a-souling until another year.\u201d\n\n  _Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1850, vol. v. p. 252.\n\nIn the parish of Lymm it is customary, for a week or ten days before the\n5th of November, for the skeleton of a horse\u2019s head, dressed up with\nribbons, &c., having glass eyes inserted in the sockets, and mounted on\na short pole by way of handle, to be carried by a man underneath covered\nwith a horse-cloth. There is generally a chain attached to the nose,\nwhich is held by a second man, and they are attended by several others.\nIn houses to which they can gain access, they go though some kind of\nperformance, the man with the chain telling the horse to rear, open its\nmouth, &c. The object of course is to obtain money. The horse will\nsometimes seize persons, and hold them fast till they pay for being set\nfree; but he is generally very peaceable, for, in case of resistance\nbeing offered, his companions generally take to flight and leave the\npoor horse to fight it out.--_N. & Q. 1st. S._ vol. i. p. 258.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nAt Great Marton, there was formerly a sort of procession of young people\nfrom house to house, at each of which they recited psalms, and, in\nreturn, received presents of cakes, whence the custom was called\n_Psalm-caking_.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ 1841, vol. i. p. 375.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nAt a pension held at Gray\u2019s Inn in Michaelmas Term, 21 Henry VIII.,\nthere was an order made that all the fellows of this house who should be\npresent upon any Saturday at supper, betwixt the feasts of All Saints\nand the Purification of our Lady, or upon any other day at dinner or\nsupper, when there are _revels_, should not depart out of the hall until\nthe said _revels_ were ended, upon the penalty of 12_d._\n\nIn 4 Edward VI. (17 Nov.), it was also ordered, that thenceforth there\nshould be no comedies, called _interludes_, in the house out of term\ntime, but when the feast of the Nativity of our Lord is solemnly\nobserved, and that when there shall be any such comedies, then all the\nsociety at that time in common to bear the charge of the apparel.\n\nIn 4 Charles I. (17 Nov.), it was also ordered that all playing of\ndice, cards, or otherwise, in the hall, buttery, or butler\u2019s chamber,\nshould be thenceforth forbidden at all times of the year, the twenty\ndays of Christmas only excepted.--Herbert, _Antiquities of the Inns of\nCourt_, 1804, p. 336.\n\n\nMONMOUTHSHIRE.\n\nIn this county, says Hone, _Year Book_ (p. 1288), a custom prevails\namong the lower classes of begging bread for the souls of the departed\non All Saints\u2019 Day; the bread thus distributed is called _dole_ bread.\n\n\nSHROPSHIRE.\n\nIt is customary, says a correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_1st S._ vol. iv. p.\n381) for the village children to go round to all their neighbours\n_Souling_, collecting contributions, and singing the following\ndoggrel:--\n\n    \u201cSoul! soul! for a soul-cake;\n    Pray, good mistress, for a soul-cake.\n    One for Peter, and two for Paul,\n    Three for them who made us all.\n\n    Soul! soul! for an apple or two;\n    If you\u2019ve got no apples, pears will do.\n    Up with your kettle, and down with your pan,\n    Give me a good big one, and I\u2019ll be gone.\n                Soul! soul! for a soul-cake, &c.\n\n    An apple or pear, a plum or a cherry,\n    Is a very good thing to make us merry.\n                Soul! soul! &c.\u201d\n\nThe soul-cake referred to is a sort of bun, which at one time it was an\nalmost general custom for persons to make, to give to one another on\nthis day.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nTollett, in his _Variorum_ Shakspeare (_The Two Gentlemen of Verona_,\nii. 2, note) says, On All Saints\u2019 Day the poor people in Staffordshire,\nand perhaps in other country places, go from parish to parish\n_a-souling_, as they call it, i.e. begging and puling (or singing small,\nas Bailey\u2019s _Dictionary_ explains puling) for soul-cakes, or any good\nthing to make them merry.\u201d Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ (1849, vol. i. p. 393),\ngives the following lines as sung on the occasion:\n\n    \u201cSoul, soul, for a soul-cake,\n    Pray you, good mistress, a soul-cake.\u201d\n\n\nWESTERN ISLES OF SCOTLAND.\n\nIn St. Kilda, the inhabitants used to make a large cake in the form of a\ntriangle furrowed round, all of which was eaten the same\nnight.--Martin\u2019s _Western Isles of Scotland_, 1716, p. 287.\n\nFrom the same authority we learn that the inhabitants of Lewis had an\nancient custom of sacrificing to the sea-god called Shony. The\ninhabitants round the island came to the church of St. Mulvay, each man\nhaving his provisions with him. Every family furnished a peck of malt,\nwhich was brewed into ale. One of their number was picked out to wade\ninto the sea up to the middle, and carrying a cup of ale in his hand, he\ncried out with a loud voice, saying, \u201cShony, I give you this cup of ale,\nhoping that you\u2019ll be so kind as to send us plenty of sea-ware, for\nenriching our ground the ensuing year;\u201d and so threw the cup of ale into\nthe sea--this was performed in the night time. At his return to land,\nthey all went to church, where there was a candle burning upon the\naltar; and then standing silent for a little time one of them gave a\nsignal, at which the candle was put out, and immediately all of them\nwent to the fields, where the rest of the night was spent in merriment.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_3rd S._ vol. i. p. 446) mentions a custom\nat Wexford,[82] of lighting candles (more or less) in every window in\nthe house, on the night of the vigil of All Souls, and when travelling\nalong a country road where farmhouses and cottages are numerous, the\neffect is quite picturesque on a dark November eve.\n\n  [82] This custom extends over the whole of Ireland, and is common in\n  some parts of the Continent.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 2.] ALL SOULS\u2019 DAY.\n\n\nAll Souls\u2019 Day is set apart by the Roman Catholic Church for a solemn\nservice for the repose of the dead. In this country the day was formerly\nobserved by ringing of the passing bell, making soul-cakes, blessing\nbeans, and other customs. Various tenures were held by services to be\nperformed on this day. The nut and apple omens of Hallow Even were\ncontinued on this day. Soul-mass cakes were given to the poor; and at\nHallowasse frankincense was newly provided.--Timbs, _Something for\nEverybody_, 1861, p. 115.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nFrom All Souls\u2019 Day to Christmas Day, Old Hob is carried about; this\nconsists of a horse\u2019s head enveloped in a sheet, taken from door to\ndoor, accompanied by the singing of doggerel-begging rhymes.--_Jour. of\nArch. Assoc._ 1850, vol. v. p. 253.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nFormerly, at the village of Findern, the boys and girls used to go every\nyear in the evening of All Souls\u2019 Day to the adjoining common, and light\nup a number of small fires among the furze growing there, which they\ncalled _Tindles_.--_Gent. Mag._ 1784, vol. iv. p. 836.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn this county and also in Lancashire it was in days gone by usual for\nthe wealthy to dispense oaten cakes, called _soul-mass cakes_, to the\npoor, who upon receiving them repeated the following couplet in\nacknowledgment:\n\n    \u201cGod have your soul\n    Beens and all.\u201d\n\n  See Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 392.\n\n\nSHROPSHIRE.\n\nIn this county the inhabitants set on a board a high heap of small\ncakes, called soul-cakes, of which they offer one to every person who\ncomes to the house on this day, and there is an old rhyme, which seems\nto have been sung by the family and guests:\n\n    \u201cA soul-cake, a soul-cake;\n    Have mercy on all Christian souls for a soul-cake.\u201d\n\n  Kennett\u2019s _Collections_, MS. _Bibl. Lansdown_, No. 1039, vol. 105, p.\n  12.\n\nThe same custom is mentioned, and with very little variation, by Aubrey\nin the _Remains of Gentilisme_; see _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. x. pp. 409,\n525.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nThe people of North Wales have a custom of distributing soul-cakes on\nAll Souls\u2019 Day, at the receiving of which the poor people pray to God to\nbless the next crop of wheat.--_Pennant._\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nIn the county of Aberdeen on All Souls\u2019 Day, baked cakes of a particular\nsort are given away to those who may chance to visit the house where\nthey are made. The cakes are called \u201cdirge-loaf.\u201d--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol.\nii. p. 483.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 5.] GUNPOWDER PLOT.\n\n\nThe 5th of November is not observed by the populace with nearly so much\nfestive diversion as in former times. Originally, the burning of Guy\nFawkes in effigy was a ceremony much in vogue, especially among the\nlower classes, but it is now confined chiefly to school-boys, and even\nwith them it is not so popular as in days gone by. Formerly, the\nburning of \u201ca good guy\u201d was a scene of uproar perhaps unknown to the\npresent day. The bonfire, for example, in Lincoln\u2019s Inn Fields was\nconducted on a very grand scale. It was made at the Great Queen Street\ncorner, immediately opposite Newcastle House. Fuel came all day long in\ncarts properly guarded against surprise. Old people have recollected\nwhen upwards of two hundred cart-loads were brought to make and feed\nthis bonfire, and more than thirty \u201cguys\u201d were burnt upon gibbets\nbetween eight and twelve o\u2019clock at night.[83]\n\n  [83] The following extract is from the _Evening Standard_ (February\n  5th, 1875):--\u201cThis morning at ten o\u2019clock the Yeomen of the Guard\n  (Beefeaters) made their usual search before the meeting of Parliament\n  for any barrels of gunpowder that might be stowed away in the vaults\n  under the Houses of Parliament.\u201d\n\nThe butchers of Clare Market, also, were accustomed to celebrate this\nanniversary in a somewhat peculiar style; one of their body, personating\nGuy Fawkes, being seated in a cart, with a prayer-book in his hand, and\na priest, executioner, &c., attending, was drawn through the streets, as\nif going to the place of execution; while a select party, with\nmarrow-bones and cleavers, led the way, and others solicited money from\nthe inhabitants and spectators. The sums thus obtained were spent at\nnight in jollity and carousing.--_Sports, Pastimes, and Customs of\nLondon_, 1847, p. 39.\n\nThe following time-honoured rhyme is still sung, and varies in different\nparts of the country:\n\n    \u201cPray remember\n    The Fifth of November,\n    Gunpowder treason and plot;\n    For I know no reason\n    Why Gunpowder treason\n    Should ever be forgot.\n    Hollo boys! Hollo boys! Hurrah.\u201d\n\nIn Poor Robin\u2019s _Almanack_ for the year 1677 is the following:\n\n    \u201cNow boys with\n    Squibs and crackers play,\n    And bonfire\u2019s blaze\n    Turns night to-day.\u201d\n\nIn some parts of the north of England the following song is sung:\n\n    \u201cHappy was the man,\n    And happy was the day,\n    That caught Guy\n    Going to his play,\n    With a dark lanthorn\n    And a brimstone match\n    Ready for the prime to touch.\n\n    As I was going through the dark entry\n    I spied the devil.\n    Stand back! Stand back!\n    Queen Mary\u2019s daughter.\n    Put your hand in your pocket,\n    And give us some money\n    To kindle our bonfire. Hurrah.\u201d\n\n  Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 398.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nThe rhyme formerly sung in many parts of this county is as below:\n\n    \u201cRemember, remember,\n    Th\u2019 fifth o\u2019 November,\n    Th\u2019 gunpowder plot,\n    Shall ne\u2019er be forgot!\n    Pray gi\u2019s a bit o\u2019 coal,\n    Ter stick in th\u2019 bun-fire hole!\n    A stick an\u2019 a stake,\n    For King George\u2019s sake--\n    A stowp an\u2019 a reel,\n    Or else wey\u2019ll steal.\u201d\n\n  _Long Ago_, 1873, vol. i. p. 338.\n\n\nLINCOLNSHIRE.\n\nIn this county the following quaint rhyme was sung on the anniversary of\nthe Gunpowder Plot:\n\n        \u201cRemember, remember\n        The fifth o\u2019 November!\n    Guy and his companions\u2019 plot:\n    We\u2019re going to blow the Parliament up!\n    By God\u2019s mercy we wase catcht,\n    With a dark lantern an\u2019 lighted matcht!\u201d\n\n  _Long Ago_, 1873, vol. i. p. 338.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nIt is stated in the register at Harlington, under the date of 1683, that\nhalf an acre of land was given by some person, whose name has been\nforgotten, for the benefit of the bell-ringers of the parish, to provide\nthem with a leg of pork for ringing on the 5th of November. It is called\nthe Pork Acre. The ground is let by the parish officers at 50_s._ a\nyear, which is paid by them to the bell-ringer.--Edwards, _Old English\nCustoms and Charities_, 1842, p. 27.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nThe following is the rhyme formerly sung in this county:\n\n                  \u201cGunpowder treason!\n                  Gunpowder treason!\n                    Gunpowder treason plot!\n                  I know no reason\n                  Why gunpowder treason\n                    Should ever be forgot.\n\n                  Guy Fox and his companions\n                    Did the scheme contrive,\n                  To blow the King and Parliament\n                    All up alive.\n\n    But, by God\u2019s providence, him they catch,\n    With a dark lantern, lighting a match!\n    Hollo, boys! hollo, boys! make the bells ring!\n    Hollo, boys! hollo, boys! God save the king! Hurrah.\u201d\n\n  _Long Ago_, 1873, vol. i. p. 338.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nAt Clifton the following rhyme is sung:\n\n    \u201cPlease to remember\n    The fifth of November.\n    Old Guy Faux\n    And gunpowder plot\n    Shall never be forgot,\n    While Nottingham castle\n    Stands upon a rock!\u201d\n\n  _Long Ago_, 1873, vol. i. p. 338.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\n    \u201cThe fifth of November,\n    Since I can remember,\n    Gunpowder treason and plot;\n    This was the day the plot was contriv\u2019d,\n    To blow up the King and Parliament alive;\n    But God\u2019s mercy did prevent\n    To save our King and his Parliament.\n\n            A stick and a stake\n              For King James\u2019s sake!\n            If you won\u2019t give me one,\n              I\u2019ll take two,\n            The better for me,\n              And the worse for you.\u201d\n\nThis is the Oxfordshire song chanted by the boys when collecting sticks\nfor the bonfire, and it is considered quite lawful to appropriate any\nold wood they can lay their hands on after the recitation of these\nlines. If it happen that a crusty chuff prevents them, the threatening\n_finale_ is too often fulfilled. The operation is called _going\na-progging_. In some places they shout, previously to the burning of the\neffigy of Guy Fawkes,\n\n    \u201cA penn\u2019orth of bread to feed the Pope,\n      A penn\u2019orth of cheese to choke him;\n    A pint of beer to wash it down,\n      And a good old faggot to burn him.\u201d\n\n  Halliwell\u2019s _Pop. Rhymes_, 1849, pp. 253, 554.\n\nFormerly, it was the custom for the undergraduates of Pembroke College,\nOxford, to make verses on the 5th of November, and to have two copies of\nthem, one to present to the master, the other to stick up in the Hall,\nand there to remain till a speech on this occasion was spoken before\nsupper.--Pointer, _Oxoniensis Academia_, 1749, p. 109.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nAt Lewes on the 5th of November in each year, a great torchlight\nprocession, composed of men dressed up in fantastic garbs, and with\nblackened faces, and dragging blazing tar barrels after them, parade the\nhigh street, while an enormous bonfire is lighted, into which, when at\nits highest, various effigies are cast. The day\u2019s festivities not\nunfrequently terminate in a general uproar and scene of confusion. See\n_Lewes Times_, November 13th, 1856.\n\n\nWESTMORELAND.\n\nThe following doggerel is sung in this county:\n\n      \u201cI pray you remember the fifth of November,\n        Gunpowder treason and plot;\n      The king and his train had like to be slain--\n        I hope this day\u2019ll ne\u2019er be forgot.\n\n    All the boys, all the boys, let the bells ring!\n    All the boys, all the boys, God save the king!\n    A stick and a stake for King Jamie\u2019s sake,--\n    I hope you\u2019ll remember the bonfire!\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. vii. p. 32.\n\n\nWILTSHIRE.\n\nAt Marlborough the rustics have the following peculiar custom at their\nbonfires. They form themselves into a ring of some dozen or more round\nthe bonfire, and follow each other round it, holding thick club-sticks\nover their shoulders; while a few others, standing at distances outside\nthis moving ring with the same sort of sticks, beat those which the men\nhold over their shoulders, as they pass round in succession, all\nshouting and screaming loudly. This might last half an hour at a time,\nand be continued at intervals till the fire died out.--_N. & Q. 1st. S._\nvol. v. p. 355.\n\nAt Purton the boys, for several weeks before the 5th of November, used\nto go from house to house begging faggots for the bonfire, in the middle\nof which was burnt the effigy of Guy Fawkes. The following rhyme was\nsung on the occasion:\n\n    \u201cMy brave lads remember\n    The fifth of November,\n    Gunpowder treason and plot;\n    We will drink, smoke, and sing, boys,\n    And our bells they shall ring, boys,\n    And here\u2019s health to our King, boys,\n    For he shall not be forgot.\u201d\n\n  See _Every Day Book_, 1827, vol. ii. p. 1379.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nA very old custom prevails in the West Riding of Yorkshire, of\npreparing, against the anniversary of Gunpowder Plot, a kind of oatmeal\ngingerbread, if it may be so called, and of religiously partaking of the\nsame on this day and subsequently. The local name of the delicacy is\n_Parkin_ and it is usually seen in the form of massive loaves,\nsubstantial cakes, or bannocks.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. iv. p. 368.\n\nBlount, in his _Fragmenta Antiquitatis_ (Beckwith, 1815, p. 565), gives\nthe following account of a custom observed at Doncaster. He says at this\nplace on the 5th November, yearly, whether it happens on a Sunday, or\nany other day in the week, the town waits play for some time on the top\nof the church steeple, at the time when the congregation are coming out\nof the church from morning service, the tune of \u201cGod Save the King.\u201d\nThis has been done for four-score years at least, and very possibly ever\nsince the 5th of November has been a festival, except that formerly the\ntune played was \u201cBritons, strike home.\u201d The waits always receive from\nthe churchwardens sixpence a-piece for this service.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 6.] ST. LEONARD\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nEvery tenant of the Manor of Writtell, upon St. Leonard\u2019s Day, pays to\nthe lord for everything under a year old a halfpenny, for every yearling\npig a penny, and for every hog above a year old twopence, for the\nprivilege of pawnage in the lord\u2019s woods: and this payment is called\nAvage or Avisage.--Blount\u2019s _Law Dictionary_, 1717.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nA list of holy days published at Worcester, in 1240, ordains St.\nLeonard\u2019s festival to be kept a half holy day, enjoins the hearing of\nmass, and prohibits all labour except that of the plough.--_Every Day\nBook_, vol. ii. p. 1382.\n\n\n\n\nNOV 9.] LORD MAYOR\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThe office of Chief Magistrate of London was held for life till about\n1214, nor was it until more than a hundred years afterwards that the\ntitle of _Lord_ was given to the Mayor. This arose in the time of\nRichard II., on occasion of Walworth, the Mayor of the day, basely\nmurdering Wat Tyler in Smithfield.\n\nThat which in later days has been called the _Lord Mayor\u2019s Show_ was but\na degenerate copy of the old _Pageant_ or _Triumph_, which assumed a\nvariety of forms at different times, blending Paganism, Christianity,\nand chivalry in marvellous confusion. This, however, was not always the\ncase, for at one time it became the fashion for the city to employ\ndramatists of note upon these matters; and there are yet extant certain\npageants by Decker, Middleton, Webster, and others, though perhaps\ninferior writers.--Soane\u2019s _Curiosities of Literature_.\n\nWith the processions, &c., of late years, most readers are sufficiently\nwell acquainted from the newspapers of the day. Fully to describe those\nof former ages would require, however, a volume of no mean size; but\nsome idea of their general character may be formed from the following\nbrief sketch:--The first account of this annual exhibition known to have\nbeen published, was written by George Peele for the inauguration of Sir\nWolstone Dixie, Knight, on the 29th of October (Old Style), 1585. On\nthat occasion, as was customary to the times, there were dramatic\nrepresentations in the procession of an allegorical character. Children\nwere dressed to personify the city, magnanimity, loyalty, science, the\ncountry, and the river Thames. They also represented sailors, soldiers,\nand nymphs, with appropriate speeches. The show opened with a Moor\nmounted on a lynx. On Sir Thomas Middleton\u2019s mayoralty, in 1613, the\nsolemnity is described as unparalleled for the cost, art, and\nmagnificence of the shows, pageants, chariots, morning, noon, and night\ntriumphs. In 1655 the city pageants, after a discontinuance of about\nfourteen years, were revived. Edmund Gayton, the author of the\ndescription for that year, says that \u201cour metropolis, for these\nplanetary pageants, was as famous and renowned in foreign nations as for\ntheir faith, wealth, and valour.\u201d In the show of 1659, an European, an\nEgyptian, and a Persian were personated. On Lord Mayor\u2019s Day, 1671, the\nKing, Queen, and Duke of York, and most of the nobility being present,\nthere were \u201csundry shows, shapes, scenes, speeches, and songs in part;\u201d\nand the like in 1672 and 1673, when the King again graced the triumphs.\nThe King, Queen, Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Rupert, the Duke of\nMonmouth, foreign ambassadors, the chief nobility, and Secretary of\nState, were at the celebration of Lord Mayor\u2019s Day in 1674, when there\n\u201cwere emblematical figures, artful pieces of architecture, and rural\ndancing, with pieces spoken on each pageant.\u201d--See Hone\u2019s _Every Day\nBook_, vol. i. p. 1445.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 11.] ST. MARTIN\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThe festival of St. Martin, happening at that season when the new wines\nof the year are drawn from the lees and tasted, when cattle are killed\nfor winter food, and fat geese are in their prime, is held as a feast\nday over most parts of Christendom. On the ancient clog almanacs, the\nday is marked by the figure of a goose, our bird of Michaelmas being, on\nthe continent, sacrificed at Martinmas. In Scotland and the north of\nEngland, a fat ox is called a _mart_[84] clearly from Martinmas, the\nusual time when beeves are killed for winter use.--_Book of Days_, vol\nii. p. 568.\n\n  [84] _Mart_, according to Skinner, is a fair, who considers it a\n  contraction of market. Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 400) says\n  that, had not _mart_ been the general name for a fair, one might have\n  been tempted to suppose it a contraction of Martin, the name of the\n  saint whose day is commemorated.\n\n\n_Salt Silver._--In the glossary to Kennett\u2019s _Parochial Antiquities_ (p.\n496) is the following:--\u201cSalt Silver.--_One penny paid at the Feast of\nSt. Martin_, by the servile tenants to their lord, as a commutation for\nthe service of carrying their lord\u2019s salt from market to his larder.\u201d\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nThere is a house in Fenny Stratford, called St. Martin\u2019s house, in the\nwall of which is a stone bearing the following inscription:--\n\n\u201cThis house was settled on the parish officers of this town, for the\nannual observance of St. Martin\u2019s Day.\u201d--\u201cAnno Domini 1752.\u201d\n\nThe house is let at 5_l._ 4_s._ per annum, and the rent, after defraying\nthe expense of repairs, is laid out in giving an entertainment to the\ninhabitants of the town.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_,\n1842, p. 59.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nWithin the manor of Whitlesea there is a custom for the inhabitants to\nchoose, on the Sunday next after the feast of St. Martin, two persons\ncalled storers, to oversee the public business, and likewise to provide\na common bull, in consideration whereof they enjoy a certain pasture\ncalled Bull Grass; and the major part of the freeholders and copyholders\nat a meeting grant the grass every year to any person who will take it,\nto have the same from Lady-day till the corn is carried out of\nCoatsfield.--Blount\u2019s _Fragmenta Antiquitatis_, 1815, p. 576.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nThomas Williamson, by will, dated 14th December, 1674, gave the sum of\n20_l._ to be laid out in land to be bestowed upon poor people born\nwithin St. John\u2019s Chapelry or Castlerigg, in mutton or veal, at\nMartinmas yearly, when flesh might be thought cheapest, to be by them\npickled or hung up and dried, that they might have something to keep\nthem within doors upon stormy days.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and\nCharities_, 1842, p. 63.\n\n\nWARWICKSHIRE.\n\nDugdale, in his _Antiquities of Warwickshire_ (1730, vol. i. p. 4),\nsays:--There is a certain rent due unto the lord of the Hundred of\nKnightlow, called _Wroth_ money or _Warth_ money or _Swarff_ penny,\nprobably the same with _Ward_ penny. This rent must be paid every\nMartinmas Day, in the morning, at Knightlow Cross, before the sun\nriseth: the party paying it must go thrice about the cross, and say \u201cThe\n_Wrath_ money,\u201d and then lay it in the hole of the said cross before\ngood witness, for if it be not duly performed the forfeiture is thirty\nshillings and a white bull.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nIn the North Riding of Yorkshire it is customary for a party of singers,\nmostly consisting of women, to begin at the feast of St. Martin a kind\nof peregrination round the neighbouring villages, carrying with them a\nsmall waxen image of our Saviour adorned with box and other evergreens,\nand singing at the same time a hymn which, though rustic and uncouth, is\nnevertheless replete with the sacred story of the Nativity. The custom\nis yearly continued till Christmas Eve, when the feasting, or as they\nusually call it, \u201cgood living,\u201d commences; every rustic dame produces a\ncheese preserved for the sacred festival, upon which, before any part of\nit is tasted, according to an old custom, she with a sharp knife makes\nrude incisions to represent the Cross. With this, and furmity made of\nbarley and meal, the cottage affords uninterrupted hospitality.--_Gent.\nMag._ 1811, vol. lxxxi. pt. i. p. 423.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nAt St. Peter\u2019s, Athlone, every family of a village, says Mason, in his\n_Stat. Acc. of Ireland_ (1819, vol. iii. p. 75), kills an animal of some\nkind or other: those who are rich kill a cow or a sheep, others a goose\nor a turkey; while those who are poor and cannot procure an animal of\ngreater value, kill a hen or a cock, and sprinkle the threshold with the\nblood, and do the same in the four corners of the house, and this\nceremonious performance is done to exclude every kind of evil spirit\nfrom the dwelling where this sacrifice is made, till the return of the\nsame day in the following year.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 13.] ST. BRICE\u2019S DAY.\n\n\n_The Stamford Bull Running._--From time immemorial down to a late period\nthis day was annually celebrated at the town of Stamford, in\nLincolnshire, by a rough sport called bull-running. Butcher, in his\n_Survey of Stamford_ (1717, pp. 76, 77), alluding to this custom,\nsays:--\u201cThe butchers of the town at their own charge provide the bull,\nand place him over-night in a stable or barn belonging to the alderman.\nThe next morning proclamation is made by the common bell-man of the town\nthat each one shut up his shop-door and gate, and that none, upon pain\nof imprisonment, do any violence to strangers, for the preventing\nwhereof (the town being a thoroughfare and then being in Term time) a\nguard is appointed for the passing of travellers through the same\nwithout hurt. That none have any iron upon their bull-clubs or other\nstaff which they pursue the bull with. Which proclamation made, and all\nthe gates shut up, the bull is turned out of the alderman\u2019s house, and\nthe men, women, and children, with all the dogs in the town, run after\nhim, &c.\u201d\n\nAccording to tradition the origin of the custom dates from the time of\nKing John, when, one day, William, Earl of Warren, standing on the\nbattlements of the castle, saw two bulls fighting in the meadow beneath.\nSome butchers, coming to part the combatants, one of the bulls ran into\nthe town, causing a great uproar. The earl, mounting his horse, rode\nafter the animal, and enjoyed the sport so much that he gave the meadow\nin which the fight began to the butchers of Stamford, on condition that\nthey should provide a bull, to be run in the town annually, on the 13th\nof November, for ever after.\n\nThere is no documentary evidence on the subject, but the town of\nStamford undoubtedly holds certain common rights in the meadow\nspecified, which is still termed the bull-meadow.--See _Book of Days_,\nvol. ii. p. 574.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 14.] St. ERCONWALD\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nStrype, in his _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. pt. i. p.\n322), says:--\u201cIt was commanded, that every priest in the diocese of\nLondon should go to St. Paul\u2019s in procession in copes on St. Erconwald\u2019s\nDay.\u201d [November 14th, 1554].\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 17.] QUEEN ELIZABETH\u2019S ACCESSION.\n\n\nQueen Elizabeth\u2019s accession was long observed as a Protestant festival,\nand with the society of the Temple, the Exchequer, Christ\u2019s Hospital,\nWestminster, and Merchant Taylors\u2019 Schools, is, says Timbs, kept as a\nholiday. The Pope in effigy, in a chair of state, with the devil, a real\nperson, behind him, caressing him, &c., was formerly paraded in\nprocession on this day in the streets of London, and afterwards thrown\ninto a bonfire. In Queen Anne\u2019s time the Pretender was added to the Pope\nand the devil. There were also great illuminations in the evening. This\nanniversary was first publicly celebrated about 1570, twelve years after\nElizabeth\u2019s accession. (Timbs, _Something for Everybody_, p. 122.)\nBrayley in his _Londiniana_, vol. iv. p. 74, _et seq._, has given a very\ninteresting account of these processions.\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_1st S._ vol. iv. p. 345) says that when\nhe was at Christ\u2019s Hospital the following curious custom prevailed on\nthe 17th of November.\n\nTwo or more boys would take one against whom they had any spite or\ngrudge, and having lifted him by the arms and legs, would bump him on\nthe hard stones of the cloisters.\n\nIn reading _Sir Roger de Coverley_, with notes by Willis published in\nthe _Traveller\u2019s Library_, the same correspondent says that he found (at\np. 134) what he considered a fair explanation. A full account is there\ngiven, he says, of the manner in which the citizens of London intended\ncelebrating, in 1711, the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth\u2019s accession on\nthe 17th of November, some parts of which would almost seem to have\nbeen copied during the excitement against the papal bull in November\n1850. Probably therefore, originally, the unfortunate boy who had to\nendure the rude bumping by his schoolfellows was intended to represent\nthe Pope or one of his emissaries, and that those who inflicted the\npunishment were looked upon as good Protestants.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 23.] ST. CLEMENT\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThe festival day of St. Clement was formerly considered as the first day\nof winter, in which were comprised ninety-one days. From a State\nproclamation in 1540 it appears that processions of children were\nfrequent on St. Clement\u2019s Day; and, in consequence of a still more\nancient custom of perambulating the streets on the night of this\nfestival to beg drink for carousing, a pot was formerly marked against\nthe 23rd of November upon the old runic or clog almanacs; but not upon\nall.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ 1841, vol. i. p. 60.; Plot, _History of\nStaffordshire_, 1686, p. 430; see Gough\u2019s _Camden Brit._ vol. ii. pt.\nxvi. p. 499.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nThe bakers of Cambridge hold an annual supper on St. Clement\u2019s Day,\nwhich supper is called the \u201cBaker\u2019s Clem.\u201d--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. iv. p.\n492.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nIn _Every Day Book_ (1826, vol. i. p. 1501) is the following account of\nan annual ceremony formerly celebrated on the evening of St. Clement\u2019s\nDay, by the blacksmiths\u2019 apprentices of the dockyard at Woolwich:--\n\nOne of the senior apprentices being chosen to serve as _Old Clem_ (so\ncalled by them), is attired in a great coat, having his head covered\nwith an oakum wig, face masked, and a long white beard; thus attired, he\nseats himself in a large wooden chair, chiefly covered with a sort of\nstuff called bunting, with a crown and anchor, made of wood, on the top\nand around it, four transparencies representing the \u201cBlacksmiths\u2019 Arms,\u201d\n\u201cAnchor Smiths at Work,\u201d \u201cBritannia with her Anchor,\u201d and \u201cMount Etna.\u201d\nHe has before him a wooden anvil, and in his hands a pair of tongs and\nwooden hammer. A mate, also masked, attends him with a wooden\nsledge-hammer; he is also surrounded by a number of other attendants,\nsome of whom carry torches, banners, flags, &c.; others, battle-axes,\ntomahawks, and other accoutrements of war. This procession, headed by a\ndrum and fife, and six men with Old Clem mounted on their shoulders,\nproceed round the town, not forgetting to call on the blacksmiths and\nofficers of the dockyard: here the money-box is pretty freely handed,\nafter Old Clem and his mate have recited their speeches, which commence\nby the mate calling for order with,\n\n    \u201cGentlemen all, attention give,\n    And wish St. Clem long, long to live.\u201d\n\nOld Clem then recites the following speech:--\n\n\u201cI am the real St. Clement, the first founder of brass, iron, and steel,\nfrom the ore. I have been to Mount Etna, where the god Vulcan first\nbuilt his forge, and forged the armour and thunderbolts for the god\nJupiter. I have been through the deserts of Arabia; through Asia,\nAfrica, and America; through the city of Pongrove, through the town of\nTipmingo, and all the northern parts of Scotland. I arrived in London on\nthe 23rd of November, and came down to his Majesty\u2019s dockyard at\nWoolwich to see how all the gentlemen Vulcans came on there. I found\nthem all hard at work, and wish to leave them well on the\ntwenty-fourth.\u201d\n\nThe mate then subjoins:\n\n    \u201cCome all you Vulcans stout and strong,\n    Unto St. Clem we do belong;\n    I know this house is well prepared\n    With plenty of money and good strong beer;\n    And we must drink before we part,\n    All for to cheer each merry heart.\n    Come all you Vulcans, strong and stout,\n    Unto St. Clem I pray turn out;\n    For now St. Clem\u2019s going round the town,\n    His coach-and-six goes merrily round.\n                      Huzza--a--a.\u201d\n\nAfter having gone round the town and collected a pretty decent sum, they\nretire to some public-house, where they enjoy as good a supper as the\nmoney collected will allow.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nOn the feast of St. Clement, a custom exists in Staffordshire for the\nchildren to go round to the various houses in the village to which they\nbelong singing the following doggerel:\n\n    \u201cClemany! Clemany! Clemany mine!\n    A good red apple and a pint of wine,\n    Some of your mutton and some of your veal,\n    If it is good, pray give me a deal;\n    If it is not, pray give me some salt.\n    Butler, butler, fill your bowl;\n    If thou fillst it of the best,\n    The Lord\u2019ll send your soul to rest;\n    If thou fillst it of the small,\n    Down goes butler, bowl and all.\n    Pray, good mistress, send to me\n    One for Peter, one for Paul,\n    One for Him who made us all:\n    Apple, pear, plum, or cherry,\n    Any good thing to make us merry;\n    A bouncing buck and a velvet chair,\n    Clement comes but once a year;\n    Off with the pot and on with the pan,\n    A good red apple and I\u2019ll be gone.\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 1st. S._ vol. viii. p. 618.\n\nThe following rhyme is also sung:\n\n    \u201cClemeny, Clemeny, God be wi\u2019 you,\n    Christmas comes but once a ye-ar;\n    When it comes, it will soon be gone,\n    Give me an apple, and I\u2019ll be gone.\u201d\n\n  _Ibid. 3rd. S_. vol. iv. p. 492; See Oliver\u2019s _History of Collegiate\n  Church of Wolverhampton_, 1836, p. 16.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nAt Tenby, on St. Clement\u2019s Day, it was customary for the owners of\nfishing-boats to give a supper of roast goose and rice pudding to their\ncrews.--Mason\u2019s _Tales and Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, p. 27.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 24.] ST. CATHERINE\u2019S EVE.\n\n\nIn Strype\u2019s _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 507)\nis the following notice of this festival:\n\n\u201cThe 24th (1556) being St. Katharine\u2019s Day (or rather Eve), at six of\nthe clock at night St. Katharine went about the battlements of St.\nPaul\u2019s Church accompanied with fine singing and great lights; this was\nSt. Katharine\u2019s procession.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 25.] ST. CATHERINE\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nOn Cattern Day the lace makers hold merry-makings, and eat a sort of\ncakes called \u201cwigs\u201d[85] and drink ale. Tradition says it is in\nremembrance of Queen Catherine, who, when the trade was dull, burnt all\nher lace, and ordered new to be made. The ladies of the court could not\nbut follow her example, and the consequence was a great briskness in the\nmanufacture.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. i. p. 387.\n\n  [85] Cakes called \u201cwigs\u201d were very commonly sold in the Midland\n  counties some years ago, and they are even mentioned as allowable at\n  the collation in Lent by a Catholic writer nearly two centuries ago.\n  They were light and spongy, and something like very light gingerbread.\n  As to the derivation of the name \u201cwig\u201d as applied to them, a\n  correspondent of _Notes and Queries_ says he never dreamed of seeing\n  it any where but in the shape of these cakes, which greatly resembled\n  a wig; being round, and having a thick rim round them, which turned up\n  like the curls of a wig of the olden times.--See _N. & Q. 3rd. S._\n  vol. i. p. 436.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nA paragraph in the _Cambridge Chronicle_ (December 8th, 1860) alludes to\nthe custom of the carpenters of Chatteris, in the Isle of Ely, observing\nthe feast of their patron Saint, St. Catherine, by dining together, &c.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nThe following extract is taken from _N. & Q._ (_2nd S._ vol. v. p.\n47):--On Wednesday (the 25th) night last the towns of Chatham,\nRochester, and Brompton exhibited considerable excitement in consequence\nof a torchlight procession appearing in the streets, headed by a band of\nfifes and drums. Notwithstanding the late hour (eleven o\u2019clock) a large\nnumber of persons of both sexes, accompanied the party. The\ndemonstration was got up by the rope-makers of the dockyard, to\ncelebrate the anniversary of the founder of the ropery (Queen\nCatherine). The female representing her Majesty (who was borne in a\nchair of state by six rope-makers) was dressed in white muslin, wore a\ngilt crown, and carried in her hand a Roman banner.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nAt one time it was customary, at Peterborough, till the introduction of\nthe new poor laws, for the female children belonging to the workhouse,\nattended by the master, to go in procession round the city on St.\nCatherine\u2019s Day. They were all attired in white, and decorated with\nvarious coloured ribbons, principally scarlet; the tallest girl was\nselected to represent the Queen, and was adorned with a crown and\nsceptre. The procession stopped at the houses of the principal\ninhabitants, and they sang the following rude ballad, begging for money\nat every house as they passed along:\n\n    \u201cHere comes Queen Catherine, as fine as any queen,\n    With a coach and six horses a coming to be seen.\n            And a spinning we will go, will go, will go,\n            And a spinning we will go.\n\n    Some say she is alive, and some say she is dead,\n    And now she does appear with a crown upon her head.\n            And a spinning we will go, &c.\n\n    Old Madam Marshall she takes up her pen,\n    And then she sits and calls for all her royal men.\n            And a spinning we will go, &c.\n\n    All you that want employment, though spinning is but small,\n    Come list, and don\u2019t stand still, but go and work for all.\n            And a spinning we will go, &c.\n\n    If we set a spinning, we will either work or play,\n    But if we set a spinning we can earn a crown a day.\n            And a spinning we will go, &c.\n\n    And if there be some young men, as I suppose there\u2019s some,\n    We\u2019ll hardly let them stand alone upon the cold stone.\n            And a spinning we will go, &c.\u201d\n\nSt. Catherine being the patron of the spinners, as well as of spinsters,\nand spinning being formerly the employment of the females at the\nworkhouse, it naturally followed that they should be selected to\ncommemorate the anniversary of this Saint; and that this commemoration\nis of great antiquity appears from the early entries in the Dean and\nChapter\u2019s accounts of payments on St. Catherine\u2019s Day for wheels and\nreels for the children of the workhouse.--Baker, _Glossary of\nNorthamptonshire Words and Phrases_, 1854, vol. ii. p. 436.\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_4th S._ vol. ii. p. 332), alluding to the\nabove custom, says that it was not confined to Peterborough, but was\nobserved throughout the whole of the Northamptonshire lace-making\ndistricts, as well as in those of Bedfordshire. According to popular\ntradition the custom is derived from one of the Queens Catherine in the\ntime of Henry VIII.--probably from Catherine Parr, who was a\nNorthamptonshire woman. By some this day is called \u201cCandle Day,\u201d from\nits forming the commencement of the season for working at lace-making by\ncandle-light.\n\n\nISLE OF THANET.\n\nOn St. Catherine\u2019s Day in the Isle of Thanet, the carters place a small\nfigure on a wheel on the front of their cart sheds.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._\nvol. v. p. 235.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nIn this county the children go round to the farmhouses collecting apples\nand beer for a festival, and sing the following lines:\n\n    \u201cCatherine and Clement, be here, be here,\n    Some of your apples, and some of your beer;\n    Some for Peter, and some for Paul,\n    And some for Him that made us all.\n\n    Clement was a good man,\n    For his sake give us some,\n    Not of the worse, but some of the best,\n    And God will send your soul to rest.\u201d\n\nThe Chapter of Worcester have a practice of preparing a rich bowl of\nwine and spices, called the \u201cCathern bowl,\u201d for the inhabitants of the\ncollege upon this day.--Halliwell\u2019s _Popular Rhymes_, 1849, p. 238; see\n_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. iv. pp. 495, 496.\n\n\n\n\nNOV. 30.] ST. ANDREW\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThe commencement of the ecclesiastical year is regulated by the feast of\nSt. Andrew, the nearest Sunday to which, whether before or after,\nconstitutes the first Sunday in Advent, or the period of four weeks\nwhich heralds the approach of Christmas. St. Andrew\u2019s Day is thus\nsometimes the first and sometimes the last festival in the Christian\nYear.--_Book of Days_, vol ii. p. 636.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nHasted, in his _History of Kent_ (vol. ii. p. 757), speaking of the\nparish of Eastling, says that, on St. Andrew\u2019s Day, there is a yearly\ndiversion called squirrel-hunting in this and the neighbouring parishes,\nwhen the labourers and lower kind of people, assembling together, form a\nlawless rabble, and being accoutred with guns, poles, clubs and other\nsuch weapons, spend the greater part of the day in parading through the\nwoods and grounds, with loud shoutings, and under pretence of\ndemolishing the squirrels, some few of which they kill, they destroy\nnumbers of hares, pheasants, partridges, and, in short, whatever comes\nin their way, breaking down the hedges, and doing much other mischief,\nand, in the evening betaking themselves to the ale-houses, finish their\ncareer there as is usual with such sort of gentry.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nStrype, in his _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. pt. ii. p.\n21), says:--\u201cThe 30th November [1557] being St. Andrew\u2019s Day, was a\nprocession at Paul\u2019s, and a priest of every parish attending, each in\nhis cope, and a goodly sermon preached, and after that, the procession,\nwith _salve festa dies_.\u201d\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nTander and Tandrew are the names given to the festival of St. Andrew, of\nwhich they are corruptions.\n\nThe anniversary of this saint is, or rather was, kept by the lacemakers\nas a day of festivity and merry-making; but since the use of pillow-lace\nhas in a great measure given place to that of the loom, this holiday has\nbeen less and less observed. The day in former times was one of\nunbridled licence: village \u201cscholards\u201d barred out their master; the lace\nschools were deserted; and drinking and feasting prevailed to a riotous\nextent. Towards evening the villagers used to become suddenly smitten\nwith a violent taste for masquerading. Women might be seen walking about\nin male attire, while men and boys clothed in female dress visited each\nother\u2019s cottages, drinking hot \u201celdern wine,\u201d the staple beverage of the\nseason. Then commenced the mumming.--Sternberg, _Dialect and Folk Lore\nof Northamptonshire_, 1851, p. 183; A. E. Baker, _Glossary of\nNorthamptonshire Words and Phrases_, 1854, vol. ii. p. 326.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nA correspondent of the _Athen\u00e6um_ (No. 993) says that the custom of\nsquirrel-hunting was at one time kept up in this county, but, in\nconsequence of the inclosure of the coppices and the more strict\nobservance of the game, it has wholly dropped.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nIn Scotland this day is called Andrys Day, Androiss Mess, and Andermess.\n\nSinged sheep\u2019s heads are borne in the procession before the Scots in\nLondon on St. Andrew\u2019s Day.--Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p.\n415.\n\n\n\n\nSTIR UP SUNDAY.\n\n\nThe 25th Sunday after Trinity is called by the schoolboys \u201cStir Up\nSunday,\u201d from the collect used on that day; and they repeat the\nfollowing lines without considering their irreverent application:\n\n    \u201cStir up, we beseech thee,\n      The pudding in the pot,\n    And when we get home,\n      We\u2019ll eat it all hot.\u201d\n\n  Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1859, vol. i. p. 414; See _Times_, November\n  25th, 1863.\n\n\n\n\nADVENT.\n\n\n_Advent Bells._--Advent bells are rung in many parishes throughout\nvarious parts of England during the month of December. A correspondent\nof _N. & Q._ (_1st S._ vol. i. p. 21) says that, in his\nneighbourhood--on the western borders of Berks--he has heard their merry\npeals break gladsomely upon the dark stillness of the cold evening from\nmany a steeple round.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nTrain, in his _History of the Isle of Man_ (1845, vol. ii. p. 127),\nsays, that the fiddlers go round from house to house, in the latter part\nof the night for two or three weeks before Christmas, playing a tune\ncalled the _Andisop_. On their way they stop before particular houses,\nwish the inmates individually \u201cgood morning,\u201d call the hour, then report\nthe state of the weather, and after playing an air, move on to the next\nhalting-place.\n\n\n\n\nPICROUS DAY.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nThe Second Thursday before Christmas Day is a festival observed by the\ntinners of the district of Blackmore, and known as \u201cPicrous Day.\u201d It is\nsaid to be the feast of the discovery of tin by a man named Picrous. It\nis not at present marked by any distinctive ceremonies, but it is the\noccasion of a merry-making, and the owner of the tin stream contributes\na shilling a man towards it. Mr. T. Q. Couch says his first impression\nwas that the day took its name from the circumstance of a _pie_ forming\nthe _pi\u00e8ce de resistance_ of the supper; but this explanation is not\nallowed by tinners, nor sanctioned by the usages of the feast.--Hunt\u2019s\n_Romances of the West of England_, 1871, p. 468.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 5.] ST. NICHOLAS\u2019 EVE.\n\n\nStrype, in his _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. part. i. p.\n326), says:--\u201cOn the 5th December [1554], the which was St. Nicholas\u2019\nEve, at evensong time, came a commandment that St. Nicholas should not\ngo abroad nor about. But, notwithstanding, it seems, so much were the\ncitizens taken with the mock St. Nicholas, that is, a boy-bishop, that\nthere went about three St. Nicholases in divers parishes, as in St.\nAndrew\u2019s Holborn and St. Nicolas Olave\u2019s in Bread Street. The reason the\nprocession of St. Nicholas was forbid was because the Cardinal had this\nSt. Nicholas\u2019 Day sent for all the convocation, bishops, and inferior\nclergy, to come to him to Lambeth, there to be absolved from all their\nprejudices, schisms, and heresies.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 6.] ST. NICHOLAS\u2019 DAY.\n\n\nTHE BOY-BISHOP.\n\nSt. Nicholas was deemed the patron of children in general, but much more\nparticularly of all schoolboys, amongst whom the 6th of December (the\nsaint\u2019s festival) used to be a very great holiday for more than one\nreason. In those bygone times all little boys either sang or served\nabout the altar at church; and the first thing they did upon the eve of\ntheir patron\u2019s festival was to elect from among themselves, in every\nparish church, cathedral, and nobleman\u2019s chapel, a bishop and his\nofficials, or, as they were then called, \u201ca Nicholas and his clerks.\u201d\nThis boy-bishop and his ministers afterwards sang the first vespers of\ntheir saint, and, in the evening, arrayed in their appropriate\nvestments, walked all about the parish; all were glad to see them, and\nthose who could afford it asked them into their houses to bestow a gift\nof money, sweetmeats, or food upon them. In the year 1299 we find Edward\nI., on his way to Scotland, permitting one of these boy-bishops to say\nvespers before him in his chapel at Heton, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and\nmaking a considerable present to the said bishop and certain other boys\nthat came and sang with him on the occasion, on the 7th of December, the\nday after St. Nicholas\u2019 Day. What was the custom in the houses of our\nnobles we may learn from the _Northumberland Household Book_, which\ntells us that \u201cMy lord useth and accustomyth to gyfe yerly, upon Saynt\nNicolas-Even, if he kepe chapell for Saynt Nicolas, to the master of his\nchilderen of his chapell, for one of the childeren of his chapell,\nyerely, vi^{s.} viii^{d.}; and if Saynt Nicolas com owt of the towne\nwher my lord lyeth, and my lord kepe no chapell, than to have yerely\niii^{s.} iiij^{d.}\u201d At Eton College, it was on St. Nicholas\u2019 Day, and\nnot on Childermas, that the boy-bishop officiated, which he did not only\nat evensong, but at mass, which he began and went on with up to the more\nsolemn part at the offertory: \u201cIn festo Sancti Nicholai, in quo, et\nnullatenus in festo Sanctorum Innocentium, divina officia pr\u00e6ter miss\u00e6\nsecreta exequi et dici permittimus per episcopum puerorum scholiarium ad\nhoc de eisdem annis singulis eligendum.\u201d\n\nIt was upon this festival that some wealthy man or other of the parish\nwould make an entertainment on the occasion for his own household, and\ninvite his neighbours\u2019 children to come and partake of it; and, of\ncourse, Nicholas and his clerks sat in the highest place. The _Golden\nLegend_ tells how \u201ca man, for the love of his sone that wente to scole\nfor to lerne, halowed every year the feest of Saynt Nycholas moche\nsolemply. On a time it happed that the fader had doo make redy the\ndyner, and called many clerkes to this dyner.\u201d Individuals sometimes\nbequeathed money to find a yearly dinner on St. Nicholas\u2019 day for as\nmany as a hundred Childermas\u2019 tide scholars, who were, after meat, to\npray for the soul of the founder of the feast. In our large schools and\nuniversities the festival was kept with public sports and games. But it\nwas at Holy Innocents, or Childermas\u2019 tide, that Nicholas and his clerks\ncame forth in all their glory. The boy-bishop had a set of pontificals\nprovided for him. St. Paul\u2019s, London, had its \u201cuna mitra alba cum\nflosculis breudatis--ad opus episcopi parvulorum--baculus ad usum\nepiscopi parvulorum;\u201d York Minster, too, its \u201cuna capa de tissue pro\nepiscopo puerorum;\u201d Lincoln Cathedral, \u201ca cope of red velvet, ordained\nfor the barn-bishop;\u201d All Souls\u2019 College, Oxford, \u201cj. chem. (ches.?) j.\ncap et mitra pro episcopo Nicholao;\u201d St. Mary\u2019s Church, Sandwich, \u201ca\nlytyll chesebyll for Seynt Nicholas bysschop.\u201d For the boy-bishop\u2019s\nattendants copes were also made, and York had no fewer than \u201cnovem cap\u00e6\npro pueris.\u201d\n\nTowards the end of evensong on St. John\u2019s Day the little Nicholas and\nhis clerks, arrayed in their copes, and having burning tapers in their\nhands, and singing those words of the Apocalypse (_c._ xiv.) \u201cCentum\nquadraginta\u201d walked processionally from the choir to the altar of the\nBlessed Trinity, which the boy-bishop incensed; afterwards they all sang\nthe anthem, and he recited the prayer commemorative of the Holy\nInnocents. Going back into the choir these boys took possession of upper\ncanons\u2019 stalls, and those dignitaries themselves had to serve in the\nboys\u2019 place, and carry the candles, the thurible, and the book, like\nacolytes, thurifers, and lower clerks. Standing on high, wearing his\nmitre, and holding his pastoral staff in his left hand, the boy-bishop\ngave a solemn benediction to all present, and, while making the sign of\nthe Cross over the kneeling crowd, said:\n\n    \u201cCrucis signo vos consigno; vestra sit tuitio,\n    Quos nos emit et redemit su\u00e6 carnis pretio.\u201d\n\nThe next day, the feast itself of Holy Innocents, the boy-bishop\npreached a sermon, which of course had been written for him; and one\nfrom the pen of Erasmus, \u201cConcio de puero Iesu,\u201d spoken by a boy of St.\nPaul\u2019s School, London, is still extant, and Dean-Colet, the founder of\nthat seminary, in his statutes for it, ordained that \u201call these children\nshall, every Childermas Daye, come to Paulis Churche, and hear the\nchilde bishop sermon; and after be at the high masse, and each of them\noffer a 1^{d.} to the childe bysshop, and with them the maisters and\nsurveyors of the scole.\u201d At evensong bishop Nicholas and his clerks\nofficiated as on the day before, and until Archbishop Peckham\u2019s times,\nused to take some conspicuous part in the services of the church during\nthe whole octave of Childermas tide. About 1279 A.D. that primate\ndecreed, however, thus:--\u201cPuerilia autem solennia, qu\u00e6 in festo solent\nfieri Innocentum post vesperas S. Johannis tantum inchoari permittimus,\net in crastino in ipsa die Innocentum totaliter terminentur.\u201d This\nfestival, like St. Nicholas\u2019 Day, had its good things; and then, as now,\nwas marked by a better dinner in nunneries, wherein the little boys who\nhad served at the altars of the nuns\u2019 churches were not forgotten, as we\nsee by the expenses of St Mary de Prees: \u201cPaid for makyng of the dyner\nto the susters upon Childermas Day, iii^{s.} iiij^{d.} It. Paid for\nbrede and ale for Saint Nicholas, iii^{s.}\n\nIf schoolboys had the patron St. Nicholas, little girls had their\npatroness too, St. Catherine, who by her learning overthrew the\ncavilings of many heathen philosophers and won some of them to\nChristianity. On this holy martyr\u2019s festival, therefore, did the girls\nwalk about the towns in their procession. All this was looked upon with\na scowl by those who pulled down the Church of God in this land: hence\nCranmer, towards the end of Henry VIII.\u2019s reign, forbade these and other\nlike processions:--\u201cWhereas heretofore dyverse and many superstitious\n(?) and childysshe observations have been used, and yet to this day are\nobserved and kept in many and sondry parties of this realm, as upon\nSainte Nicolas, Sainte Catheryne, Sainte Clement, the Holy Innocentes,\nand such like; children be strangelye decked and apparelid to\ncounterfaite priestes, byshoppes, and women; and so ledde with songes\nand daunces from house to house, bleassing the people, and gatherynge of\nmonye, and boyes doo singe masse and preache in the pulpitt ... the\nKyng\u2019s majestie willith and commaundeth that from henceforth all suche\nsuperstitions be loste and clyerlye exstinguished,\u201d &c. Queen Mary\nrestored these rites, and the people were glad to see this, along with\nother of their old religious usages, given back to them; and an\neye-witness tells us that, in A.D. 1556, \u201cthe V. day of December was\nSant Necolas evyn, and Sant Necolas whentt abrod in most partt in\nLondon, syngyng after the old fassyon, and was reseyvyd with mony good\npepulle into their howses, and had mych good chere as ever they had, in\nmony plasses.\u201d\n\nSome have thought that it was owing to his early abstinence that St.\nNicholas was chosen patron of schoolboys; a better reason perhaps is\ngiven to us by a writer in the _Gent. Mag._ (1777, vol. xlvii. p. 158),\nwho mentions having in his possession an Italian life of St. Nicholas,\nfrom which he translates the following story, which explains the\noccasion of boys addressing themselves to St. Nicholas\u2019 patronage:--\n\n\u201cThe fame of St. Nicholas\u2019 virtues was so great that an Asiatic\ngentleman, on sending his two sons to Athens for education, ordered them\nto call on the bishop for his benediction; but they, getting to Myra\nlate in the day, thought proper to defer their visit till the morrow,\nand took up their lodgings at an inn, where the landlord, to secure\ntheir baggage and effects to himself, murdered them in their sleep and\nthen cut them into pieces, salting them, and putting them into a\npickling tub with some pork, which was there already, meaning to sell\nthe whole as such. The bishop, however, having a vision of this impious\ntransaction, immediately resorted to the inn, and calling the host to\nhim, reproached him for his horrid villany. The man, perceiving that he\nwas discovered, confessed his crime, and entreated the bishop to\nintercede on his behalf to the Almighty for his pardon, who being moved\nwith compassion at his contrite behaviour, confession, and thorough\nrepentance, besought Almighty God not only to pardon the murderer, but\nalso, for the glory of His name, to restore life to the poor innocents\nwho had been so inhumanly put to death. The saint had hardly finished\nhis prayer when the mangled and detached portions of the youths were, by\nDivine Power, reunited, and perceiving themselves alive, threw\nthemselves at the feet of the holy man to kiss and embrace them. But the\nbishop not suffering their humiliation, raised them up, exhorting them\nto return thanks to Almighty God for this mark of His mercy, and gave\nthem good advice for the future conduct of their lives; and then, giving\nthem the blessing, he sent them with great joy to prosecute their\nstudies at Athens.\u201d--D. Rock, _The Church of our Fathers_, 1853, vol.\niii. part. ii. p. 215.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 8.] CONCEPTION OF VIRGIN MARY.\n\n\nStrype, in his _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. part 1. p.\n327), says:--\u201cThe 8th December (1554), being the day of the Conception\nof our Blessed Lady, was a goodly procession at the Savoy by the\nSpaniards, the priest carrying the Sacrament between his hands, and one\ndeacon carrying a censer censing, and another the holy-water stock, and\na number of friars and priests singing; and every man and woman, knights\nalso and gentlemen, bearing green tapers burning, and eight trumpets\nblowing; and when they ceased, then began the sackbuts to play, and when\nthey had done, there was one who carried two drums on his back, and one\ncame after beating them. And so done, they went about the Savoy, now\nsinging, and a while after playing again, and by-and-by came singing\ninto the church, and after that they went to mass.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 13.] ST. BARCHAN\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nHis day is still celebrated at Kilbarchan by a fair, held on the 1st of\nDecember, Old Style, (13th December, New Style.) This rustic festival is\nalluded to in the Laird of Beltrees\u2019 poem on the life and death of the\nfamous piper of Kilbarchan, Habbie Simpson:\n\n    \u201cSae kindly to his neighbour\u2019s niest,\n    At Beltane and St. Barchan\u2019s feast.\n    He blew and then held up his breist,\n          As he were wead;\n    But now we needna him arreist,\n          For now he\u2019s deid!\u201d\n\n  Chambers\u2019s _Pop. Rhymes of Scotland_, 1870, p. 391.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 14.] ST. TIBBA\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nThis day was formerly celebrated in Rutlandshire by fowlers and\nfalconers, who regarded the saint as their peculiar patroness. Camden\nmentions the town of Rihall as particularly addicted to this\nsuperstitious observance,[86] and the passage, which is strongly\nexpressed, was ordered to be expunged from his _Britannia_ by the _Index\nExpurgationis_, printed at Madrid in 1612 by Louis Sanchez.--_Med. \u00c6vi\nKalend._ vol. i. p. 82.\n\n  [86] Rihall, ubi cum majores nostros ita fascinasset superstitio, ut\n  deorum multitudine Deum verum propemodum sustulisset, Tibba minorum\n  gentium diva, quasi Diana ab aucupibus utique rei accipitrari\u00e6 pr\u00e6ses\n  colebatur.--Britan. 8vo. Lond. edit. 1590, p. 419.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 17.] SOW DAY.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nAt Sandwick, in the Orkneys, it is usual for every family to kill a sow,\nwhence this day is called Sow Day. This custom probably has some\nreference to the heathen worship of the sun, to which, among the\nnorthern nations, the male of this animal was sacred.--Sinclair, _Stat.\nAcc. of Scotland_, 1793, vol. xvi. p. 460; _Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p.\n82.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 21.] ST. THOMAS\u2019 DAY.\n\n\nIn some parts of the country St. Thomas\u2019 Day is observed by a custom\ncalled _Going a Gooding_.[87] The poor people go round the parish and\ncall at the houses of the principal inhabitants, begging money or\nprovisions wherewith to celebrate the approaching festivity of\nChristmas. In return for the alms bestowed during these \u201cgooding\u201d\nperegrinations, it was customary for the recipients, in former times, to\npresent to their benefactors a sprig of holly or mistletoe.--_Book of\nDays_, vol. ii. p. 724; see _Gent. Mag._ 1794, vol. lxiv. p. 292.\n\n  [87] Northamptonshire, Kent, Sussex, Herefordshire, Worcestershire,\n  etc.\n\nGirls, says Halliwell, used to have a method of divination with a \u201cSt.\nThomas\u2019s Onion,\u201d for the purpose of ascertaining their future partners.\nThey peeled the onion, wrapped it up in a clean handkerchief, and then,\nplacing it under their heads, said the following lines:\n\n    \u201cGood St. Thomas, do me right,\n    And see my true love come to-night,\n    That I may see him in the face,\n    And him in my kind arms embrace.\u201d\n\nOne of the old cries of London was, \u201cBuy my rope of onions--white St.\nThomas\u2019s Onions.\u201d--_Popular Rhymes_, 1849, p. 224.\n\n\nBEDFORDSHIRE.\n\nAn ancient annual payment of 5_l._ out of an estate at Biddenham,\nformerly belonging to the family of Boteler, and now the property of\nLord Viscount Hampden, is regularly paid on St. Thomas\u2019s Day to the\noverseers of the poor for the purchase of a bull, which is killed, and\nthe flesh thereof given amongst the poor persons of the parish. For many\nyears past the annual fund, being insufficient to purchase a bull, the\ndeficiency has been made good out of other charities belonging to the\nparish. It was proposed some years ago by the vicar that the 5_l._ a\nyear should be laid out in buying meat, but the poor insisted on the\ncustomary purchase of a bull being continued, and the usage is\naccordingly kept up.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_,\n1842, p. 64.\n\n\nBERKSHIRE.\n\nThe cruel practice of bull-baiting was continued annually on St.\nThomas\u2019s Day, in the market place of the town of Wokingham so lately as\n1821. In 1822, upon the passing of the Act against cruelty to animals,\nthe corporation resolved on abolishing the custom. The alderman (as the\nchief magistrate is called there) went with his officers in procession,\nand solemnly pulled up the bull-ring, which had from time immemorial\nbeen fixed in the market-place. The bull-baiting at Wokingham was\nregarded with no ordinary attachment by the inhabitants; for, besides\nthe love of sport, it was here connected with something more solid,\nviz., the Christmas dinner. In 1661, George Staverton gave by will, out\nof his Staines house, after the death of his wife, 4_l._ to buy a bull\nfor the use of the poor of Wokingham parish, to be increased to 6_l._\nafter the death of his wife and her daughter, the bull to be baited, and\nthen cut up, \u201cone poor\u2019s piece not exceeding another\u2019s in bigness.\u201d\nGreat was the wrath of the populace in 1822 at the loss, not of the\nbeef--for the corporation duly distributed the meat--but of the baiting.\nThey vented their rage for successive years in occasional breaches of\nthe peace. They found out, often informed by the sympathising farmer or\nbutcher, where the devoted animal was domiciled; proceeded at night to\nliberate him from stall or meadow, and to chase him across the country\nwith all the noisy accompaniments imaginable. So long was this feeling\nkept alive that, thirteen years afterwards, viz., in 1835, the mob broke\ninto the place where one of the two animals to be divided was abiding\nand baited him, in defiance of the authorities, in the market-place; one\nenthusiastic individual, tradition relates, actually lying on the ground\nand seizing the miserable brute by the nostril with his own teeth. This\nwas not to be endured, and a sentence of imprisonment in Reading Gaol\ncooled the ardour of the ringleaders, and gave the _coup de gr\u00e2ce_ to\nthe sport. The bequest of Staverton now yields an income of 20_l._, and\nhas for several years been appropriated to the purchase of two bulls.\nThe flesh is divided and distributed annually on St. Thomas\u2019s Day by the\nalderman, churchwardens, and overseers, to nearly every poor family\n(between 200 and 300), without regard to their receiving parochial\nrelief. The produce of the offal and hide is laid out in the purchase of\nshoes and stockings for the poor women and children. The bulls\u2019 tongues\nare recognised by courtesy as the perquisites of the alderman and town\nclerk.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. v. p. 35.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nThe poor people go from farm to farm \u201ca-thomasin,\u201d and generally carry\nwith them a bag and a can, into which meal, flour, and corn, are put.\nBegging on this day is universal in this and the neighbouring\ncounties.--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1850, vol. v. p. 253.\n\n\nDORSETSHIRE.\n\nAt the village of Thornton, near Sherborne, a custom prevails amongst\nthe tenants of the manor, of depositing five shillings in a hole in a\ncertain tombstone in the churchyard, which precludes the lord of the\nmanor from taking the tithe of hay during the year. This must be done\nbefore twelve o\u2019clock on St. Thomas\u2019s Day, or the privilege is\nvoid.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ 1842, vol. i. p. 83.\n\nThere was a custom very generally practised in some parts of this\ncounty, and which may even now be practised. A few days before Christmas\nthe women, children, and old men in a parish would visit by turns the\nhouses of their wealthier neighbours, and in return for, and in\nrecognition of Christmas greetings, and their general demand of \u201cPlease\ngive me something to keep up a Christmas,\u201d would receive substantial\npieces or \u201chunks\u201d of bread and cheese, bread and meat, or small sums of\nmoney. The old and infirm of either sex were generally represented by\ntheir children or grandchildren, those only being refused the dole who\ndid not belong to the parish.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. x. p. 494.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nSt. Thomas\u2019s Day is called by the poor inhabitants of this county\n\u201cMumping Day;\u201d and the custom of going from house to house asking for\ncontributions, is termed _going a-mumping_.\n\n\nHERTFORDSHIRE.\n\nSmall pyramids, says Fosbroke (_Encyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities_, 1840, p.\n661), formed of gilt evergreens, apples, and nuts, are carried about at\nthis time in Hertfordshire for presents.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nFormerly, it was customary for the people to go to the mountains to\ncatch deer and sheep for Christmas, and in the evening always to kindle\na large fire on the top of every fingan or cliff. Hence, at the time of\ncasting peats, every one laid aside a large one, saying: \u201cFaaid mooar\nmoayney son oie\u2019l fingan,\u201d that is, \u201cA large turf for Fingan\u2019s\nEve.\u201d--Train, _History of Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 124; Cregeen\u2019s\n_Manks Dictionary_, p. 67.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nSamuel Higgs, by his will, bearing date 11th May, 1820 (as appears from\nthe church tablet), gave 50_l._ to the vicar and churchwardens of the\nparish of Farnsfield, and directed that the interest should be given\nevery year on the 21st of December, in equal proportions, to the poor\nmen and women who could repeat the Lord\u2019s prayer, the creed, and the ten\ncommandments, before the vicar or other such person as he should appoint\nto hear them. The interest is applied according to the donor\u2019s orders,\nand the poor persons appointed to partake of the charity continue to\nreceive it during their lives.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and\nCharities_, 1842, p. 209.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nAt Tainton, a quarter of barley is provided annually, at the expense of\nLord Dynevor, the lord of the manor, and made into loaves called\n\u201ccobbs.\u201d These were formerly given away in Tainton church to such of the\npoor children of Burford as attended. A sermon was preached on St.\nThomas\u2019s Day, 6_s._ 8_d._ being paid out of Lord Dynevor\u2019s estate to\nthe preacher. The children, however, made so much riot and disturbance\nin the church, that, about the year 1809, it was thought better to\ndistribute the cobbs in a stable belonging to one of the churchwardens,\nwhich course has been pursued ever since.--Edwards, _Old English Customs\nand Charities_, 1842, p. 25.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn many parts of this county not only the old women and widows, but\nrepresentatives from every poor family in the parish, go round for alms.\nThe clergyman is expected to give one shilling to each person, and\nconsequently the celebration of the day is attended with no small\nexpense. Some of the parishioners give alms in money, others in kind.\nThus, for example, some of the farmers give corn, which the millers\ngrind gratis. In some places the money collected is given to the\nclergyman and churchwardens, who, on the Sunday nearest to St. Thomas\u2019s\nDay, distribute it at the vestry. The fund is called St. Thomas\u2019s Dole,\nand the day itself Doleing Day.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. iv. pp. 103, 487.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nA sum of 15_l._ was placed in the Arundel Savings-Bank in the year 1824,\nthe interest of which is distributed on St. Thomas\u2019s Day. It is said\nthat this money was found, many years since, on the person of a beggar,\nwho died by the road-side; and the interest of it has always been\nappropriated by the parish officers for the use of the poor.--Edwards,\n_Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 129.\n\n\nWARWICKSHIRE.\n\nIn this county it is customary for the poor people to visit the\nfarm-houses to beg contributions of corn. This is called _going\na-corning_.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nAt Harvington the following rhyme is sung:\n\n    \u201cWissal, wassail through the town,\n    If you\u2019ve got any apples throw them down;\n    Up with the stocking and down with the shoe\n    If you\u2019ve got no apples money will do.\n    The jug is white and the ale is brown,\n    This is the best house in the town.\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. viii. p. 617.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nDrake, in his _Eboracum_ (1736, p. 217), gives the following account of\na custom that once existed at York on St. Thomas\u2019s Day, which he says he\nobtained from a manuscript that fell into his hands. \u201cWilliam the\nConqueror, in the third year of his reign (on St. Thomas\u2019s Day), laid\nsiege to the city of York, but finding himself unable, either by policy\nor strength, to gain it, raised the siege, which he had no sooner done,\nbut by accident he met with two fryers at a place called Skelton, not\nfar from York, and had been to seek reliefe from their fellows and\nthemselves against Christmas: the one having a wallet full of victualls\nand a shoulder of mutton in his hand, with two great cakes hanging about\nhis neck; the other having bottles of ale, with provisions, likewise of\nbeife and mutton in his wallett. The king, knowing their poverty and\ncondition, thought they might be serviceable to him towards the\nattaining York, wherefore (being accompanied with Sir George Fothergill,\ngeneral of the field, a Norman born), he gave them money, and withall a\npromise, that if they would lett him and his soldiers into their priory\nat a time appointed, he would not only rebuild their priory, but indowe\nit likewise with large revenues and ample privileges. The fryers easily\nconsented and the conqueror as soon sent back his army, which, that\nnight, according to agreement, were let into the priory by the two\nfryers, by which they immediately made themselves masters of all York;\nafter which Sir Robert Clifford, who was governor thereof, was so far\nfrom being blamed by the conqueror for his stout defence made the\npreceding days, that he was highly esteemed and rewarded for his valour,\nbeing created Lord Clifford and there knighted, with the four\nmagistrates then in office, viz., Horongate, Talbot (who after came to\nbe Lord Talbott), Lassells, and Erringham.\n\n\u201cThe arms of the city of York at that time was, argent, a cross, gules,\nviz., St. George\u2019s _cross_. The conqueror charged the cross with five\nlyons, passant gardant, _or_, in memory of the five worthy captains,\nmagistrates, who governed the city so well, that he afterwards made Sir\nRobert Clifford governour thereof and the other four to aid him in\ncounsell; and the better to keep the city in obedience he built two\ncastles, and double moated them about; and to shew the confidence and\ntrust that he put in these old, but new made, officers by him he offered\nthem freely to ask whatsoever they would of him before he went, and he\nwould grant their request, wherefore they (abominating the treachery of\nthe two fryers to their eternal infamy), desired that, on St. Thomas\u2019s\nDay for ever, they might have a fryer of the priory of St. Peter\u2019s to\nride through the city on horseback, with his face to the horse\u2019s tayle,\nand that in his hand, instead of a bridle, he should have a rope, and in\nthe other a shoulder of mutton, with one cake hanging on his back and\nanother on his breast, with his face painted like a _Jew_; and the youth\nof the city to ride with him, and to cry and shout \u201cYoul, Youl,\u201d with\nthe officers of the city rideing before and making proclamation, that on\nthis day the city was betrayed; and their request was granted them,\nwhich custom continued till the dissolution of the said fryery; and\nafterwards in imitation of the same, the young men and artizans of the\ncity on the aforesaid St. _Thomas\u2019s Day_, used to dress up one of their\nown companions like a fryer, and called him youl, which custom continued\ntill within this three-score years, there being many now living which\ncan testify the same, but upon what occasion since discontinued I cannot\nlearn: this being done in memory of betraying the city by the said\nfryers to William the Conqueror.\u201d\n\n\nWALES.\n\nWilliam Rogers, by will, June 1806, gave to the minister and\nchurchwardens of Nevern, Pembrokeshire, and their successors, 800_l._,\nThree per Cent. Consols, to be transferred by his executors within six\nmonths after his decease; and it was his will that the dividends should\nbe laid out annually, one moiety thereof in good beef, the other moiety\nthereof in good barley, the same to be distributed on every St.\nThomas\u2019s Day in each year, by the minister and churchwardens, to and\namong the poor of the said parish of Nevern.--Edwards, _Old English\nCustoms and Charities_, p. 24.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 24.] CHRISTMAS EVE.\n\n\nCHESHIRE.\n\nIn Chester, and its neighbourhood, numerous singers parade the streets\nand are hospitably entertained with meat and drink at the various houses\nwhere they call.--See _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 736.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nOn Christmas Eve, in former days, says Hunt (_Romances of the West of\nEngland_, 1871, p. 349), the small people, or the spiggans, would meet\nat the bottom of the deepest mines, and have a midnight mass. In this\ncounty the yule log is called \u201cthe mock.\u201d\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nIn some parts the village choir meet in the church on Christmas Eve, and\nthere wait until midnight, when they proceed from house to house,\ninvariably accompanied by a small keg of ale, singing \u201cChristians\nawake;\u201d and during the Christmas season they again visit the principal\nhouses in the place, and having played and sung for the evening, and\npartaken of the Christmas cheer, are presented with a sum of\nmoney.--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 208.\n\n\nDEVONSHIRE.\n\nThe ashton faggot is burned in Devonshire on Christmas Eve. The faggot\nis composed entirely of ash timber, and the separate sticks or branches\nare securely bound together with ash bands. The faggot is made as large\nas can conveniently be burned in the fire-place, or rather upon the\nfloor, grates not being in use. A numerous company is generally\nassembled to spend the evening in games and amusements, the diversions\nbeing heightened when the faggot blazes on the hearth, as a quart of\ncyder is considered due and is called for and served upon the bursting\nof every hoop or band round the faggot. The timber being green and\nelastic, each band generally bursts open with a smart report when the\nindividual stick or hoop has been partially burned through.--_N. &. Q.\n1st S._ vol. iv. p. 309.\n\nIn one or two localities, it is still customary for the farmer with his\nfamily and friends, after partaking together of hot cakes and cider (the\ncake being dipped in the liquor previous to being eaten), to proceed to\nthe orchard, one of the party bearing hot cake and cider as an offering\nto the principal apple-tree. The cake is formally deposited on the fork\nof the tree, and the cider thrown over the latter.[88]--See _Book of\nDays_, vol. ii. p. 736.\n\n  [88] In some places this custom is observed on New Year\u2019s Eve.\n\nA superstitious notion prevails in the western parts of Devonshire that,\nat twelve o\u2019clock at night on Christmas Eve, the oxen in their stalls\nare always found on their knees, as in an attitude of devotion, and that\nsince the alteration of the style they continue to do this only on the\neve of Old Christmas Day.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 473.\n\nIt appears, from a statement of charities in an old book, that John\nMartyn, by will, 28th of November, 1729, gave to the churchwardens and\noverseers of the poor of the parish of St. Mary Major, Exeter, twenty\npounds, to be put out at interest, and the profits thereof to be laid\nout every Christmas Eve in twenty pieces of beef, to be distributed to\ntwenty poor people of the parish, such as had no relief on that day, for\never.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 4.\n\n\nGLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\nIt appears by the benefaction table in the church of Ruardean, that the\nRev. Mr. Anthony Sterry, vicar of Lidney, gave by deed, in the fortieth\nyear of Queen Elizabeth, five shillings per annum, payable out of an\nestate called the Glasp, in this parish, for ringing a peal on Christmas\nEve, about midnight, for two hours, in commemoration of the\nNativity.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 6.\n\n\nHAMPSHIRE.\n\nIn the neighbourhood of the New Forest the following lines are sung on\nthe wassailing of the trees:\n\n    \u201cApples and pears with right good corn,\n    Come in plenty to every one;\n    Eat and drink good cake and hot ale,\n    Give earth to drink and she\u2019ll not fail.\u201d\n\n  _Christmas in the Olden Time_, London, 1839.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn the _Gent. Mag._ (vol. xc. pt. i. p. 33) is the following account of\na custom that formerly existed at Tretyre on Christmas Eve. The writer\nsays:--They make a cake, poke a stick through it, fasten it upon the\nhorn of an ox, and say certain words, begging a good crop of corn for\nthe master. The men and boys attending the oxen, range themselves\naround. If the ox throws the cake behind, it belongs to the men, if\nbefore, to the boys. They take with them a wooden bottle of cyder and\ndrink it, repeating the charm before mentioned.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nHasted (_History of Kent_, vol. iii. p. 380) says there was a singular\ncustom used of long time by the fishermen of Folkestone. They chose\neight of their largest and best whitings out of every boat when they\ncame home from the fishery and sold them apart from the rest, and out of\nthe money arising from them they made a feast every Christmas Eve which\nthey called a \u201cRumbald.\u201d The master of each boat provided this feast for\nhis own company. These whitings, which are of a very large size, and are\nsold all round the country as far as Canterbury, are called Rumbald\nwhitings. This custom (which is now left off, though many of the\ninhabitants still meet jovially on Christmas Eve, and call it Rumbald\nNight) might have been anciently instituted in honour of St. Rumbald,\nand at first designed as an offering to him for his protection during\nthe fishery.[89]\n\n  [89] Cole, in his _History and Antiquities of Filey_ (1828, p. 143),\n  gives the following account of a custom that existed in his time in\n  connection with the herring fishery at that place. He says, during the\n  time the boats are on the herring fishery the junior part of the\n  inhabitants seize all the unemployed waggons and carts they can find\n  and drag them down the streets to the cliff tops; then leaving them to\n  be owned and taken away by their respective proprietors on the\n  following morning; this is carried into effect about the third\n  Saturday night after the boats have sailed from Filey, under a\n  superstitious notion that it drives the herrings into the nets.\n  Previously to the fishermen setting out upon their expedition they\n  send a piece of sea-beef on shore from each boat to such of their\n  friends at the public houses as they wish \u201cweel beea;\u201d this occasions\n  \u201ca bit of a supper,\u201d at which those who are going away and those who\n  stay enjoy good cheer, heightened by mutual good-will. The Sunday\n  preceding their departure is called _Boat Sunday_, when all their\n  friends from the neighbouring villages attend to bid them farewell.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nWaldron, in his _Description of the Isle of Man_ (1859, p. 125) says\nthat on Christmas Eve every one leaves off work, and rambles about till\nthe bells begin to ring at midnight. Lord Teignmouth (_Sketches of the\nCoast of Scotland and the Isle of Man_, vol. ii. p. 264) states that\nthey then all flock to the churches, bearing the largest candle they can\nprocure. The churches are decorated with holly, and the service, in\ncommemoration of the birth of our Saviour is called _Oiel Verry_.--See\nTrain\u2019s _History of the Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 127.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nIn some parts of Norfolk libations of spiced ale used to be sprinkled on\norchards and meadows.--_Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 736.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nOn Christmas Eve, 1815, says Cole (_History of Ecton_, 1825), the\nmusicians of Ecton, accompanied by the vocalists of the church, revived\nthe custom of going round the village at midnight and singing a carol at\nthe principal houses.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nAt Nottingham, on Christmas Eve, as well as in many other of the\nvillages, it is customary to toast apples on a string until they drop\ninto a bowl of hot spiced ale, which is placed to receive them; this,\nfrom the softness of the beverage is called \u201clamb\u2019s-wool.\u201d\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nPointer, in his _Oxoniensis Academia_ (1749, p. 20), says that, at\nMerton College, Oxford, the fellows meet together in the Hall on\nChristmas Eve and other solemn times to sing a psalm and drink a\ngrace-cup to one another (called _Poculum Charitatis_), wishing one\nanother help and happiness. These grace-cups they drink to one another\nevery day after dinner and supper, wishing one another peace and good\nneighbourhood.\n\n\nSUSSEX.\n\nAt Chailey, the following doggerel is sung at the wassailing of the\napple trees:\n\n    \u201cStand fast root, bear well top,\n    Pray the God send us a good howling crop.\n    Every twig, apples big,\n    Every bough, apples enow.\n    Hats full, caps full,\n    Full quarters, sacks full.\u201d[90]\n\n  _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. v. p. 293.\n\n  [90] See Eve of Epiphany, p. 21.\n\n\nWARWICKSHIRE.\n\nA correspondent of the _Gent. Mag._ (1795, vol. lxv. p. 110) thus\ndescribes an amusement practised on Christmas Eve at Aston Hall, down to\nthe end of last century. As soon as supper is over a table is set in the\nhall. On it is placed a brown loaf, with twenty silver threepences stuck\non the top of it, a tankard of ale, with pipes and tobacco, and the two\noldest servants have chairs behind it to sit as judges if they please.\nThe steward brings the servants, both men and women, by one at a time,\ncovered with a winnow sheet, and lays their right hand on the loaf,\nexposing no other part of the body. The older of the two judges guesses\nat the person, by naming a name, then the younger judge, and lastly, the\nolder again. If they hit upon the right name, the steward leads the\nperson back again; but if they do not, he takes off the winnow sheet,\nand the person receives a threepence, makes a low obeisance to the\njudges, but speaks not a word. When the second servant was brought, the\nyounger judge guessed first and third; and this they did alternately\ntill all the money was given away. Whatever servant had not slept in the\nhouse the preceding night forfeited his right to the money. No account\nis given of the origin of this strange custom, but it has been practised\never since the family lived here. When the money is gone the servants\nhave full liberty to drink, dance, sing, and go to bed when they please.\nBrand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 472), speaking of this custom,\nsays, can it be what Aubrey, in his introduction to his _Survey of\nWiltshire_, calls \u201cCob-loaf-stealing?\u201d\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nThere is in Yorkshire a custom, which has been by the country people\nmore or less revived, ever since the alteration in the style and\ncalendar, namely, of watching, on the midnight of the new and old\nChristmas Eve, by beehives, to determine upon the right Christmas from\nthe humming noise which they suppose the bees will make when the birth\nof our Saviour took place.--_Gent. Mag._ 1811, vol. lxxxi. part. i. p.\n424.\n\nChristmas Eve in Yorkshire, says a writer in _Time\u2019s Telescope_ (1822,\np. 298), is celebrated in a peculiar manner at eight o\u2019clock in the\nevening the bells greet \u201cOld Father Christmas\u201d with a merry peal, the\nchildren parade the streets with drums, trumpets, bells, or perhaps, in\ntheir absence, with the poker and shovel, taken from their humble\ncottage fire; the yule candle is lighted, and--\n\n          \u201cHigh on the cheerful fire\n    Is blazing seen th\u2019 enormous Christmas brand.\u201d\n\nSupper is served, of which one dish, from the lordly mansion to the\nhumblest shed, is invariably furmety; yule cake, one of which is always\nmade for each individual in the family, and other more substantial\nviands are also added.\n\nAt St. Cuthbert\u2019s Church, Ackworth, a sheaf of corn was at one time\nsuspended on Christmas Eve outside the porch, for the especial benefit\nof the birds.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. ii. p. 505; see _N. & Q. 3rd S._\nvol. iii. p. 117.\n\nAt Dewsbury, one of the church bells is tolled as at a funeral; this is\ncalled the Devil\u2019s Knell, the moral of which is that \u201cthe Devil died\nwhen Christ was born.\u201d This custom was discontinued for many years, but\nrevived by the vicar in 1828.--Timbs\u2019 _Something for Everybody_, 1861,\np. 150.\n\nAt Ripon, on Christmas Eve, the grocers send each of their customers a\npound or half of currants and raisins to make a Christmas pudding. The\nchandlers also send large mould candles, and the coopers logs of wood,\ngenerally called _yule clogs_, which are always used on Christmas Eve;\nbut should it be so large as not to be all burnt that night, which is\nfrequently the case, the remains are kept till old Christmas\nEve.--_Gent. Mag._ 1790, vol. lx. p. 719.\n\nCole in his _Historical Sketches of Scalby, Burniston, and Cloughton_\n(1829, p. 45) says the village choristers belonging to Scalby assemble\non Christmas Eve, and remain out the whole night singing at the\nprincipal houses.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_3rd S._ vol. viii. p. 495) says that, in\nthe south-east of Ireland on Christmas Eve, people hardly go to bed at\nall, and the first who announces the crowing of the cock, if a male, is\nrewarded with a cup of tea, in which is mixed a glass of spirits; if a\nfemale, with the tea only, but as a substitute for the whisky she is\nsaluted with half-a-dozen of kisses.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 25.] CHRISTMAS DAY.\n\n\nSt. Chrysostom informs us that, in the primitive times, Christmas and\nEpiphany were celebrated at one and the same feast (_Homil. in Diem\nNativ. D. N. J. Christi_, Opera, edit. Monfaucon, tom. iii.), probably\nfrom a belief that the rising of the star in the East and the birth of\nChrist were simultaneous. The separation took place at the Council of\nNice, A.D. 325. The Armenians, however, continued to make but one feast\nof the two as late as the thirteenth century. The learned have long been\ndivided upon the precise day of the Nativity. Some have fixed it at the\nPassover; others, amongst whom was Archbishop Usher, at the feast of\nTabernacles; and it has been observed that, if others were watching\ntheir flocks when it occurred in the field by night, it would hardly\nhave happened in the depth of winter. Be this as it may, the 25th of\nDecember has been the day most generally fixed upon from the earliest\nages of the Church. Sir Isaac Newton, in his _Commentary on the\nProphecies of Daniel_ (Part I. chap. ii. p. 144), has a chapter, \u201cOf the\nTimes of the Birth and Passion of our Saviour,\u201d in which he accounts for\nthe choice of the 25th of December, the winter solstice, by showing that\nnot only the feast of the Nativity, but most others, were originally\nfixed at cardinal points of the year; and that the first Christian\ncalendar having been so arranged by mathematicians at pleasure, without\nany ground in tradition, the Christians afterwards took up with what\nthey found in the calendars: so long as a fixed time of commemoration\nwas solemnly appointed they were content.--See Baronii _Apparatus ad\nAnnales Ecclesiasticos_, fol. Luc\u00e6, 1740, p. 475 et seq.; Bingham\u2019s\n_Antiquities of the Christian Church_, lib. xx. cap. 4; a curious tract\nentitled, _The Feast of Feasts_, or \u2018The Celebration of the Sacred\nNativity of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, grounded upon the\nScriptures and confirmed by the Practice of the Christian Church in all\nAges;\u2019 see also Knight\u2019s _English Cyclop\u00e6dia_, 1859, vol. ii. p. 882.\n\nThe name given, says a correspondent of _Book of Days_, (vol. ii. p.\n745) by the ancient Goths and Saxons to the festival of the winter\nsolstice was _Jul_ or _Yule_, the latter term forming to the present day\nthe designation in the Scottish dialect of Christmas, and preserved also\nin the phrase of the \u201cyule log.\u201d Perhaps the etymology of no term has\nexcited greater discussions among antiquaries. Some maintain it to be\nderived from the Greek \u03bf\u03c5\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 or \u03b9\u03bf\u03c5\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2, the name of a hymn in honour of\nCeres, others say it comes from the Latin _jubilum_, signifying a time\nof rejoicing, or from its being a festival in honour of Julius C\u00e6sar;\nwhilst some also explain its meaning as synonymous with _ol_ or _oel_,\nwhich in the ancient Gothic language denotes a feast, and also the\nfavourite liquor used on such occasions whence our word _ale_. A much\nmore probable derivation, however, of the term in question is from the\nGothic _giul_ or _hiul_, the origin of the modern word _wheel_, and\nbearing the same significance. According to this very probable\nexplanation, the yule festival received its name from its being the\nturning-point of the year, or the period at which the fiery orb of day\nmade a revolution in his annual circuit and entered on his northern\njourney. A confirmation of this view is afforded by the circumstance\nthat, in the old clog almanacs, a wheel is the device employed for\nmarking the season of yule-tide.\n\nThe season of the Nativity is now no longer marked by that hospitality\nwhich characterized its observance among our forefathers. At present\nChristmas meetings are chiefly confined to family parties. The\nwassail-bowl, the yule-clog, and the lord of misrule, with a long train\nof sports and customs which formerly prevailed at this season are\nforgotten, even Christmas carols are nearly gone by; and the decking of\nchurches, and occasionally of houses, with holly and other evergreens,\nforms now almost the only indication that this great festival is at\nhand.--Knight\u2019s _English Cyclop\u00e6dia_, 1859, vol. ii. p. 882.\n\nChristmas, says P\u00e8re Cyprian (quoted by Agnes Strickland, _Lives of the\nQueens of England_, 1865, vol. iv. pp. 320, 321), was always observed in\nthis country, especially at the King\u2019s palaces, with greater ceremony\nthan in any other realm in Europe. Among other ancient ceremonies, he\ntells us how a branch of the Glastonbury thorn used to be brought up in\nprocession, and presented in great pomp to the King and Queen of England\non Christmas morning.\n\n\n_Under the Commonwealth._--In the _Diary of John Evelyn_ (1859, vol. i.\np. 297), under the date of the 25th of December, occurs the following:--\n\n\u201cChristmas Day. No sermon anywhere, no church being permitted to be\nopen, so observed it at home.\u201d\n\nAgain, under the same date in 1654 (p. 341), the statement is renewed:\n\n\u201cChristmas Day. No churches or public assembly. I was fain to pass the\ndevotions of that Blessed Day with my family at home.\u201d\n\nAlluding to the observance of Christmas Day in 1657, the same writer\nsays:--\n\n\u201cI went to London with my wife to celebrate Christmas Day, Mr. Gunning\npreaching in Exeter Chapel, on Micah, vii. 2. Sermon ended; as he was\ngiving us the Holy Sacrament the chapel was surrounded with soldiers,\nand all the communicants and assembly surprised and kept prisoners by\nthem, some in the house, others carried away. It fell to my share to be\nconfined to a room in the house, where yet I was permitted to dine with\nthe master of it, the Countess of Dorset, Lady Hatton, and some others\nof quality who invited me. In the afternoon came Colonel Whalley, Goffe,\nand others from Whitehall to examine us one by one; some they committed\nto the Marshal, some to prison. When I came before them they took my\nname and abode, examined me why, contrary to the ordinance made that\nnone should any longer observe the superstitious time of the Nativity\n(as esteemed by them), I durst offend, and particularly be at Common\nPrayers, which they told me was but the mass in English, and\nparticularly pray for Charles Stuart, for which we had no Scripture. I\ntold them we did not pray for Charles Stuart, but for all Christian\nkings, princes, and governors. They replied, in so doing we prayed for\nthe king of Spain too, who was their enemy and a Papist; with other\nfrivolous and ensnaring questions and much threatening, and, finding no\ncolour to detain me, they dismissed me with much pity of my ignorance.\nThese were men of high flight and above ordinances, and spake spiteful\nthings of our Lord\u2019s Nativity. As we went up to receive the sacrament\nthe miscreants held their muskets against us, as if they would have shot\nus at the altar, but yet suffering us to finish the office of communion,\nas perhaps not having instructions what to do in case they found us in\nthat action; so I got home late the next day, blessed be God!\u201d\n\nIn a tract entitled _Round about our Coal-Fire_, is the following\naccount of the manner in which Christmas was observed in days gone\nby:--An English gentleman at the opening of the great day, i.e., on\nChristmas Day in the morning, had all his tenants and neighbours enter\nhis hall by daybreak. The strong beer was broached, and the black-jacks\nwent plentifully about with toast, sugar, nutmeg, and good Cheshire\ncheese. The hackin (the great sausage) must be boiled by daybreak, or\nelse two young men must take the maiden (i.e., the cook) by the arms,\nand run her round the market-place till she is ashamed of her laziness.\nIn Christmas holidays, the tables were all spread from the first to the\nlast; the sirloins of beef, the minced pies, the plum-porridge, the\ncapons, turkeys, geese, and plum-puddings, were all brought upon the\nboard. Every one eat heartily, and was welcome, which gave rise to the\nproverb, \u201cMerry in the hall when beards wag all.\u201d--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._\n1849, vol. i. p. 531.\n\n\n_Boar\u2019s Head._--Aubrey, in a MS. dated 1678, says: \u201cBefore the last\ncivil wars, in gentlemen\u2019s houses at Christmas, the first diet that was\nbrought to table was a boar\u2019s head with a lemon in his mouth.\u201d\n\n\n_Christmas Book._--A book in which people were accustomed to keep an\naccount of the Christmas presents they received.--Nares\u2019 _Glossary_\n(Halliwell and Wright), 1857, vol. i. p. 11.\n\n\n_Bustard._--The bustard, says Timbs (_Something for Everybody_, 1861, p.\n148), has almost disappeared; but within memory it might be seen in the\nChristmas larders of large inns.\n\n\n_Christmas Candles._--Those were candles of an uncommon size, and the\nname has descended to the small candles which children light up at this\nseason. Hampson (_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 109), alluding to the\ncustom, says, in some places candles are made of a particular kind,\nbecause the candle that is lighted on Christmas Day must be so large as\nto burn from the time of its ignition to the close of the day, otherwise\nit will portend evil to the family for the ensuing year. The poor were\nwont to present the rich with wax tapers, and yule candles are still in\nthe north of Scotland given by merchants to their customers. At one time\nchildren at the village schools in Lancashire were required to bring\neach a mould candle before the _parting_ or separation for the Christmas\nholidays.\n\n\n_Christmas Carols._--The Christmas carol (said to be derived from\n_cantare_ to sing, and _rola_, an interjection of joy) is of very\nancient date. Bishop Taylor observes that the \u2018Gloria in Excelsis,\u2019 the\nwell-known hymn sung by the angels to the shepherds at our Lord\u2019s\nNativity, was the earliest Christmas carol. In the early ages of the\nChurch bishops were accustomed to sing these sacred canticles among\ntheir clergy. The oldest printed collections in England are those of\nWynkyn de Worde, 1521, and of Kele soon after. Warton, in his _History\nof English Poetry_, notices a licence granted in 1562 to John Tysdale\nfor printing \u201cCertayne goodly carowles to be songe to the glory of God;\u201d\nand again, \u201cCrestenmas carowles auctorisshed by my lord of London.\u201d See\n_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. x. p. 485. In the sixteenth century the popularity\nof carol-singing occasioned the publication of a duodecimo volume,\npublished in 1642, entitled, \u201cPsalmes or Songs of Sion, turned into the\nlanguage, and set to the tunes of a strange land. By W(illiam)\nS(layter), intended for Christmas carols, and fitted to divers of the\nmost noted and common but solemne tunes, everywhere in this land\nfamiliarly used and knowne.\u201d--See _Athen\u00e6um_, December 20th, 1856;\nSandy\u2019s _Christmas Carols_, 1833.\n\n\n_Decorations._--Tradition, says Phillips in his _Sylva Florifera_ (1823,\nvol. i. p. 281), asserts that the first Christian church in Britain was\nbuilt of boughs, and that this plan was adopted as more likely to\nattract the notice of the people because the heathens built their\ntemples in that manner, probably to imitate the temples of Saturn which\nwere always under the oak. The great feast of Saturn was held in\nDecember, and as the oaks of this country were then without leaves, the\npriests obliged the people to bring in boughs and sprigs of evergreens;\nand Christians, on the 20th of the same month, did likewise, from whence\noriginated the present custom of placing holly and other evergreens in\nour churches and houses to show the arrival of the feast of Christmas.\nThe name of holly is a corruption of the word _holy_, as Dr. Turner, our\nearliest writer on plants, calls it _Holy_ and _Holy tree_. It has a\ngreat variety of names in Germany, amongst which is _Christdorn_; in\nDanish it is also called _Christorn_; and in Swedish _Christtorn_,\namongst other appellations.\n\nA correspondent of _Book of Days_, speaking of this custom (vol. ii., p.\n753), says the decking of churches, houses, and shops with evergreens at\nChristmas springs from a period far anterior to the revelation of\nChristianity, and seems proximately to be derived from the custom\nprevalent during the Saturnalia of the inhabitants of Rome, ornamenting\ntheir temples and dwellings with green boughs.\n\nThe favourite plants for church decoration at Christmas are holly, bay,\nrosemary, and laurel. Ivy is rather objectionable, from its\nassociations, having anciently been sacred to Bacchus. Cypress seems\ninappropriate from its funereal relations. One plant, in special, is\nexcluded--the mistletoe. Ibid. p. 753.\n\n\n_Game Pies._--These were formerly made at the season of Christmas. In\nthe books of the Salters\u2019 Company, London, is the following--\n\n\u201cReceipt. Fit to make a moost choyce paaste of gamys to be eten at ye\nFeste of Chrystmasse\u201d (17th Richard II A.D. 1394). A pie so made by the\ncompany\u2019s cook in 1836 was found excellent. It consisted of a pheasant,\nhare, and a capon; two partridges, two pigeons, and two rabbits; all\nboned and put into paste in the shape of a bird, with the livers and\nhearts, two mutton kidneys, forced meats, and egg-balls, seasoning,\nspice, catsup and pickled mushrooms, filled up with gravy made from the\nvarious bones.--See Timbs\u2019 _Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 148.\n\n\n_Mince Pies._--These were popular under the name of \u201cmutton pies\u201d so\nearly as 1596: _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 755. They were also known as\nShred and Christmas pies. Thus, in Sheppard\u2019s _Epigrams_ (1651, p. 121),\nwe find the following:--\n\n\u201cNo matter for plomb-porridge or _Shrid_ pies;\u201d and Herrick, alluding to\nthe custom of setting a watch upon the pies the night before Christmas,\nsays:\n\n    \u201cCome guard this night the Christmas pie,\n    That the thief, though ne\u2019er so sly,\n    With his flesh-hooks don\u2019t come nigh,\n                        To catch it.\u201d\n\nBrand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 527), quoting from an old tract,\nprinted about the time of Elizabeth, or James I., says they were also\ncalled _Minched_ pies.\n\nSelden, in his _Table Talk_, tells us that mince pies were baked in a\ncoffin-shaped crust, intended to represent the cratch or manger wherein\nthe infant Jesus was laid. This statement may be regarded, however, as\nimprobable, as in old English cookery books the crust of a pie is\ngenerally called \u201cthe coffin.\u201d\n\nMinced pies, says Timbs (_Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 149), were\nderived from the paste images and sweetmeats given to the Fathers of the\nVatican at Rome on Christmas Eve. Eating minced pies at Christmas was\nformerly a test of orthodoxy against recusants.\n\n\n_Mistletoe._--At what period mistletoe came to be recognised as a\nChristmas evergreen, is not by any means certain. We have Christmas\ncarols in praise of holly and ivy of even earlier date than the\nfifteenth century, but allusion to mistletoe can scarcely be found for\ntwo centuries later, or before the time of Herrick. Coles, too, in his\n_Knowledge of Plants_, 1656, says of mistletoe, \u201cit is carried many\nmiles to set up in houses about Christmas-time, when it is adorned with\na white glistening berry.\u201d In the tract, _Round about our Coal-Fire_,\npublished early in the last century, we are told the rooms were\nembowered with holly, ivy, cypress, bays, laurel, and mistletoe. Brand\n(_Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 523) thinks that mistletoe was never\nput in churches among evergreens but by mistake or ignorance; for, says\nhe, it was the heathenish, or profane plant, as having been of such\ndistinction in the pagan rites of druidism, and it had its place\ntherefore assigned it in kitchens, where it was hung in great\nstate.--See Timbs\u2019 _Things Not Generally Known_, 1856, pp. 159-160.\n\n\n_Lord of Misrule._--His office was to preside over the festivities of\nChristmas, and his duties consisted in directing the various revels of\nthe season. In some great families, and occasionally at Court, he was\nalso called the _Abbot of Misrule_, corresponding with the French _Abb\u00e9\nde Liesse_, a word which implies merriment. Stow, in his _Survey of\nLondon_, alluding to this whimsical custom says:--\u201cIn the feast of\nChristmas there was in the king\u2019s house, wheresoever he lodged, a Lord\nof Misrule, or master of merry disports, and the like, had ye in the\nhouse of every nobleman of honour, or good worship, were he spiritual or\ntemporal. The Mayor of London, and either of the sheriffs, had their\nseveral lords of misrule, ever contending, without quarrel or offence,\nwho should make the rarest pastime to delight the beholders, these lords\nbeginning their rule at Allhallowed Eve, continued the same till the\nmorrow after the Feast of the Purification, commonly called Candlemas\nDay, in which space there were fine and subtle disguisings, masks, and\nmummeries, with playing at cards for counters, nayles, and points, in\nevery house, more for pastimes than for game.\u201d\n\nLeland (_Collectanea de Rebus Anglicis_, 1770, vol. iii., Append. p.\n256), speaking of the year 4 Henry VII., 1489, says:--\u201cThis Christmas I\nsaw no disguisings, and but right few playes; but there was an Abbot of\nMisrule that made much sport, and did right well his office.\u201d It appears\nthat large sums of money were expended by this king upon these\nmasquerades and sports, as the following extracts from his \u201cPrivy Purse\nExpenses\u201d will show:--\n\n\u201cDec. 24 (1491). To Ringley, Lorde of Mysrewle, upon a preste, 5_l._\n\n\u201cOct. 24 (1492). To Ringley, Abbot of Mysreule, 5_l._\n\n\u201cJan. 2 (1494). For playing of the Mourice daunce, 2_l._\n\n\u201cJan. 15 (1494). To Walter Alwyn, in full payment for the disguising\nmade at Christenmas, 14_l._ 3_s._ 4_d._\n\n\u201cMarch 3 (1490). To Jacques Haulte, in full payment for the disguising\nat Christenmas, 32_l._ 18_s._ 6\u00bd_d._\n\n\u201cJan. 2 (1503). To the Abbot of Misrule, in rewarde, 6_1._ 13_s._ 4_d._\n\n\u201cFeb. 12 (1503). To Lewis Adams, that made disguysings, 10_l._\u201d\n\nThe Lord or Abbot of Misrule at Court, says Hampson, (_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._\nvol. i. p. 117) was usually a writer of interludes and plays, and the\noffice was not unfrequently held by a poet of some reputation. Such, for\nexample, was George Ferrers, \u201cin whose pastimes Edward the Sixth,\u201d we\nare told by Warton, \u201chad great delight.\u201d There can be no doubt, however,\nthat scandalous abuses often resulted from the exuberant licence assumed\nby the lord of misrule and his satellites, and consequently we find\ntheir proceedings denounced in no measured terms by Prynne, and other\nzealous puritans.--See _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 742.\n\nStubbes, a morose puritan in the days of Elizabeth, denominates the lord\nof misrule \u201ca grand captaine of mischiefe,\u201d and has preserved a minute\ndescription of all his wild doings in the country, of which the\nfollowing is a summary. He says that the lord of misrule on being\nselected, takes twenty to sixty others, \u201clyke hymself,\u201d to act as his\nguard, who are decorated with ribbands and scarfs and bells on their\nlegs. Thus, all things set in order, they have their hobby-horses, their\ndragons, and other antiques, together with the gaudie pipers and\nthunderyng drummers, and strike up the devill\u2019s dance withal. So they\nmarch to the church, invading it, even though service be performing,\nwith such a confused noyse that no man can hear his own voice. Then they\nadjourn to the churchyard, where booths are set up, and the rest of the\nday spent in dancing and drinking. The followers of \u201cMy Lord\u201d go about\nto collect money for this, giving in return \u201cbadges and cognizances\u201d to\nwear in the hat: and do not scruple to insult, or even duck, such as\nwill not contribute. But, adds Stubbes, another sort of fantasticall\nfooles are well pleased to bring all sorts of food and drink to furnish\nout the feast.--See Disraeli, _Curiosities of Literature_, 1858, vol.\nii. p. 262; and Strutt\u2019s _Sports and Pastimes of the People of England_,\np. 254.\n\n\n_Mummers._--These were amusements derived from the Saturnalia, and so\ncalled from the Danish _Mumme_, or Dutch _Momme_, disguise in a mask.\nChristmas was the grand scene of mumming, and some mummers were\ndisguised like bears, others like unicorns, bringing presents. Those who\ncould not procure masks rubbed their faces with soot, or painted them.\nIn the Christmas mummeries the chief aim was to surprise by the oddity\nof the masques and singularity and splendour of the dresses. Everything\nwas out of nature and propriety. They were often attended with an\nexhibition of gorgeous machinery.--Fosbroke\u2019s _Encylop\u00e6dia of\nAntiquities_, 1840, p. 669; see Strutt\u2019s _Sports and Pastimes_, 1801,\npp. 124, 189, 190; also _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. x. pp. 464, 465, vol. xi.\np. 271, vol. xii. p. 407; _3rd S._ vol. i. p. 66, vol. iv. p. 486.\n\n\n_Pantomime._--The Christmas pantomime or harlequinade is, in its present\nshape, essentially a British entertainment, and was first introduced\ninto this country by a dancing master of Shrewsbury named Weaver in\n1702. One of his pantomimes, entitled _The Loves of Mars and Venus_,\nmet with great success. The arrival, in the year 1717, in London of a\ntroupe of French pantomimists with performing dogs, gave an impetus to\nthis kind of drama, which was further developed in 1758 by the arrival\nof the Grimaldi family, the head of which was a posture-master and\ndentist. Under the auspices of this family the art of producing\npantomimes was greatly cultivated, and the entertainment much relished.\nJoseph Grimaldi, the son of the dentist, was clever at inventing tricks\nand devising machinery, and _Mother Goose_, and others of his\nharlequinades, had an extended run. At that time the wit of the clown\nwas the great feature, but, by-and-by, as good clowns became scarce,\nother adjuncts were supplied, such as panoramas or dioramic views; and\nnow the chief reliance of the manager is on scenic effects, large sums\nof money being lavished on the _mise en sc\u00e8ne_. This is particularly the\ncase as regards the transformation scene--i.e., the scene where the\ncharacters are changed into clown, harlequin, &c., as much as 1000_l._\nbeing frequently spent on this one effort. In London alone a sum of\n40,000_l._ is annually expended at Christmas time on pantomimes. The\n_King of the Peacocks_, a pantomime produced at the London Lyceum\nTheatre during the management of Madame Vestris, cost upwards of \u00a33000.\nEven provincial theatres, such as those of Manchester or Edinburgh,\nconsider it right to go to considerable expense in the production of\ntheir Christmas pantomime.--Chambers\u2019 _Encyclop\u00e6dia_, 1874, vol. vii. p.\n237; see Disraeli\u2019s _Curiosities of Literature_, 1858, pp. 116-130; _N.\n& Q. 4th S._ vol. v. pp. 193-95.\n\n\n_Plum-Porridge._--This, says Misson, was a \u201csort of soup with plumbs,\nwhich is not at all inferior to the pye.\u201d Dr. Rimbault says, was not\nthis the same as _plum-pudding_? Pudding was formerly used in the sense\nof stuffing or force-meat, as we now say black-puddings. Porridge, on\nthe other hand, was used in the sense of our pudding. Thus Shakspeare\ntalks of \u201cporridge after meat,\u201d meaning _pudding_ after meat.--_N. & Q.\n2nd S._ vol. xii. p. 489.\n\n\n_Snapdragon._--A very favourite pastime at this season. Although so\nprevalent in England, it is almost unknown in Scotland.--See _Book of\nDays_, vol. ii. p. 738.\n\nA writer in the _Pantalogia_ (1813, vol. x.) thus describes this\nsport:--It is a kind of play, in which brandy is set on fire, and\nraisins thrown into it, which those who are unused to the sport are\nafraid to take out, but which may be safely snatched by a quick motion\nand put blazing into the mouth, which being closed, the fire is at once\nextinguished. A correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_2nd S._ vol. vii. p. 277)\nsuggests as a derivation the German _schnapps_, spirit, and _drache_,\ndragon, and that it is equivalent to spirit-fire. The game has also been\ncalled _flap-_ and _slap-dragon_ at different times. Shakspeare, for\nexample, in the second part of _Henry IV._ act ii. sc. 4, makes Falstaff\nanswer:\n\n    \u201cAnd drinks off candles\u2019 ends for _flap-dragons_.\u201d\n\nAnd in _Love\u2019s Labours Lost_, act v. sc. 1:\n\n    \u201cThou art easier swallowed than a _flap-dragon_.\u201d\n\nSee also the _Tatler_, No. 85.\n\n\n_Christmas Sports._--Among the various games and sports of an olden\nChristmas, says Dr. Rimbault, were card-playing, chess, and draughts,\njack-pudding in the hall; fiddlers and musicians, who were regaled with\na black-jack of beer and a Christmas pie; also singing the wassail,\nscrambling for nuts, cakes, and apples; dancing round standards\ndecorated with evergreens in the streets; the famous old hobby-horse,\nhunting owls and squirrels, the fool plough, hot cockles, and the game\nof hoodman-blind.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. xii. p. 489.\n\n\n_Christmas Tree._--Various suggestions have been made as to the origin\nof the Christmas tree. Mr. Timbs, in his _Something for Everybody_\n(1861, p. 127), suggests its being traceable to the ancient Egyptians\nand their palm-tree, which produces a branch every month, and therefore\nheld to be emblematical of the year. The Germans may be said to claim it\nas peculiar to themselves, as being indicative of their attachment to\nChristianity; they identify it with the apostolic labours of St.\nMaternus, one of the earliest, if not the very first, of the preachers\nof the Gospel among them. They have a legend of his sleeping under a\nfir-tree, and of a miracle that occurred on that occasion. Mr. MacCabe\n(_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. viii. p. 489), however, thinks the Christmas tree\nis traceable to the Roman Saturnalia, and was not improbably first\nimported into Germany with the conquering legions of Drusus. The\nChristmas tree, such as we now see it, with its pendent toys and\nmannikins, is distinctly portrayed in a single line of Virgil (Georg.\nii. 389):\n\n    \u201cOscilla ex alta suspendunt mollia pinu.\u201d\n\nConsult Smith\u2019s _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_ (1849, 2nd\ned. p. 846, in verb. \u201coscillum\u201d), where there is given an engraving\n\u201cfrom an ancient gem (Maffei, Gem. Ant. iii. 64) representing a tree\nwith four oscilla hung upon its branches.\u201d Any one looking into that\nvaluable work will see at once that it is an exact picture of a\nChristmas tree.\n\nA correspondent of _Book of Days_ (vol. ii. p. 787) says, within the\nlast twenty years, and apparently since the marriage of Queen Victoria\nwith Prince Albert, previous to which time it was almost unknown in this\ncountry, the Christmas tree has been introduced into England with the\ngreatest success.\n\n\n_The Vessel-Cup._--There is a very pretty custom, now nearly obsolete,\nof bearing the \u201cvessel,\u201d or, more properly the wassail-cup, at\nChristmas. This consists of a box containing two dolls, dressed up to\nrepresent the Virgin and the Infant Christ, decorated with ribbons and\nsurrounded by flowers and apples; the box has usually a glass lid, is\ncovered over by a white napkin, and carried from door to door on the\narms of a woman; on the top, or in the box, a china bason is placed, and\nthe bearer on reaching a house, uncovered the box and sung the carol\nknown as the \u201cSeven Joys of the Virgin.\u201d\n\nThe carrying of the \u201cvessel-cup\u201d is a fortuitous speculation, as it is\nconsidered so unlucky to send any one away unrequited, that few can be\nfound whose temerity is so great as to deter them from giving some\nhalfpence to the singer.\n\nIn Yorkshire, formerly, only one image used to be carried about--that of\nthe Saviour, which was placed in a box surrounded by evergreens, and\nsuch flowers as could be procured at the season. The party to whose\nhouse the figure was carried were at liberty to take from the\ndecorations of the image a leaf or a flower, which was carefully\npreserved and regarded as a sovereign remedy for the toothache.--_Jour.\nof Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. viii. p. 38; _Book of Days_, 1864, vol. ii.\np. 725; Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ vol. i. p. 454.\n\n\n_Turkey._--The turkey has graced the Christmas table from the date of\nits introduction into England, about the year 1524. Tusser mentions the\nbird as forming part of the Christmas fare in 1587:\n\n    \u201cBeefe, mutton, and porke, shred pies of the best;\n    Pig, veale, goose, and capon, and turkie well drest.\u201d\n\n\n_Waits._--Musicians who play by night for two or three weeks before\nChristmas, terminating their performances generally on Christmas Eve. It\nis uncertain, says a correspondent of _Book of Days_ (vol ii. p. 742),\nwhether the term _Waits_ denoted originally musical instruments, a\nparticular kind of music, or the persons who played under certain\nspecial circumstances. There is evidence in support of all these views.\nAt one time the name of waits was given to minstrels attached to the\nking\u2019s court, whose duty it was to guard the streets at night and\nproclaim the hour, something in the same manner as the watchmen were\nwont to do in London before the establishment of the metropolitan\npolice. Down to the year 1820, perhaps later, says the same writer (p.\n743), the waits had a certain degree of official recognition in the\ncities of London and Westminster. In London, the post was purchased; in\nWestminster, it was an appointment under the control of the high\nconstable and the court of burgesses. A police inquiry about Christmas\ntime in that year brought the matter in a singular way under public\nnotice. Mr. Clay had been the official leader of the waits for\nWestminster, and, on his death, Mr. Monro obtained the post. Having\nemployed a number of persons in different parts of the city and\nliberties of Westminster to serenade the inhabitants, trusting to their\nliberality at Christmas as a remuneration, he was surprised to find that\nother persons were, unauthorized, assuming the right of playing at\nnight, and making applications to the inhabitants for Christmas boxes.\nSir R. Baker, the police magistrate, promised to aid Mr. Munro in the\nassertion of his claims, and the result, in several cases, showed that\nthere really was this \u201cvested right\u201d to charm the ears of the citizens\nwith nocturnal music. At present, however, there is nothing to prevent\nany number of such itinerant minstrels from plying their midnight\ncalling. See two interesting articles on the subject by Mr. Chappell in\n_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. vi. pp. 489, 509.\n\n\n_Yule-clog or Yule-log._--This was generally lighted on Christmas Eve,\nand was, says Soane, as large as the hearth would admit of, or the means\nof the rejoicers could supply; and, in some of the northern counties of\nEngland, so long as the log lasted, the servants were entitled to ale at\ntheir meals. At one time custom prescribed that it should be lighted\nwith a brand of the last year\u2019s block, which had been carefully put by\nand preserved for that purpose, as we find it recorded by Herrick:\n\n    \u201cCome bring with a noise,\n      My merrie, merrie boys,\n    The Christmas log to the firing;\n      While my good dame, she\n    Bids ye all be free,\n      And drink to your heart\u2019s desiring.\n\n    With the last year\u2019s brand\n      Light the new block, and\n    For good success in his spending,\n      On your psalteries play\n    That sweet luck may\n      Come while the log is a tiending.\u201d[91]\n\n  [91] To _Teend_ is to kindle, or to _burn_, from the Anglo-Saxon\n  _Tendan_ to set on fire.\n\nIt is also requisite that the maidens who blow a fire, should come to\nthe task with clean hands:\n\n    \u201cWash your hands, or else the fire\n    Will not tiend to your desire;\n    Unwash\u2019d hands, ye maidens, know,\n    Dead the fire though ye blow.\u201d\n\n\nBERKSHIRE.\n\nAt Cumnor the parishioners, who paid vicarial tithes, claimed a custom\nof being entertained at the vicarage, on the afternoon of Christmas Day,\nwith four bushels of malt brewed into ale and beer, two bushels of wheat\nmade into bread, and half a hundred weight of cheese. The remainder was\ngiven to the poor the next morning after divine service.--Lysons\u2019 _Magna\nBritannia_, 1813, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 271.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nBy the will of John Popple, dated the 12th of March, 1830, 4_l._ yearly\nis to be paid unto the vicar, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor\nof the parish of Burnham, to provide for the poor people who should be\nresiding in the poorhouse, a dinner, with a proper quantity of good ale\nand likewise with tobacco and snuff.--_Old English Customs and\nCharities_, 1842, p. 4.\n\nUp to about 1813, a bull and boar, a sack of wheat, and a sack of malt\nwere given away to the poor by the lord of the manor of Prince\u2019s\nRisborough about six o\u2019clock every Christmas morning. This practice was\nthen discontinued, and for about five or six years after the\ndiscontinuance, beef and mutton were distributed to the poor about\nChristmas in lieu of the above articles.--_Ibid._ p. 66.\n\nThe following extract is taken from the _Gent. Mag._ (1753, vol. xxiii.\np. 49):--At Quainton, above two thousand people went, with lanterns and\ncandles, to view a blackthorn in that neighbourhood, and which was\nremembered to be a slip from the famous Glastonbury thorn, and that it\nalways budded on the 24th, was full blown the next day, and went all off\nat night. The people finding no appearance of a bud, it was agreed by\nall that December 25th (New Style) could not be the right Christmas Day,\nand accordingly refused going to church, and treating their friends on\nthat day as usual. At length the affair became so serious, that the\nministers of the neighbouring villages, in order to appease them,\nthought it prudent to give notice that the _Old_ Christmas Day should be\nkept holy as before.\n\nThis famous hawthorn was supposed to be sprung from the staff of Joseph\nof Arimathea, who having fixed it in the ground with his own hand on\nChristmas Day, it took root immediately, put forth leaves, and the next\nday was covered with milk-white blossoms.[92]--See Hearne\u2019s _History and\nAntiquities of Glastonbury_, 1722.\n\n  [92] Collinson, in his _History of Somersetshire_ (1791), alludes to\n  the miraculous walnut-tree, which grew in the Abbey churchyard of\n  Glastonbury, and never budded forth before the feast of St. Barnabas,\n  viz., 11th June, and on that very day shot forth leaves, and\n  flourished.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nAt Clare Hall, in Cambridge, a collar of brawn is always provided for\nthe Fellows\u2019 table on Christmas Day, which comes up every day during the\ntwelve days and then makes another and last appearance on Candlemas Day.\nA sprig of ivy with berries is stuck in the centre of the top; the\nberries are first dipped in flour, probably to represent the hoar\nfrost.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1863, p. 338.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nHitchins, in his _History of Cornwall_ (1824, vol. i. p. 718), gives the\nfollowing account of the Christmas plays, which at one time were\nperformed in this county at Christmas. He says, the lads who engage in\nthese theatrical representations appear fantastically dressed, decorated\nwith ribbons and painted paper, with wooden swords, and all the equipage\nnecessary to support the several characters they assume. To entertain\ntheir auditors, they learn to repeat a barbarous jargon, in the form of\na drama, which has been handed down from distant generations. War and\nlove are the general topics, and St. George and the Dragon are always\nthe most prominent characters. Interludes, expostulations, debate,\nbattle, and death, are sure to find a place among the mimicry; but a\nphysician who is always at hand immediately restores the dead to life.\nIt is generally understood that these Christmas plays derived their\norigin from the ancient crusades, and hence the feats of chivalry and\nthe romantic extravagance of knight-errantry that are still preserved in\nall the varied pretensions and exploits.--See _Every Day Book_, 1827,\nvol. ii. p. 122.\n\nIt was customary at one time in Cornwall on the last Thursday that was\none clear week before Christmas Day, which was anciently called\n_jeu-nhydn_, or White Thursday, for the tinners to claim a holiday,\nbecause, according to tradition, on this day black tin or ore was first\nmelted or turned into white tin or metal in these parts.--Hitchins,\n_History of Cornwall_, 1824, vol. i. p. 725.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nIn this county, and in all the great towns in the North of England,\nabout a week before Christmas, what are called _Honey-Fairs_ are held,\nin which dancing forms the leading amusement.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1824,\np. 297.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nChristmas festivities are well observed in Derbyshire; mummers or\nguisers go from house to house, and perform a play of St. George. They\nare dressed up in character and decorated with ribbands, tinsel, and\nother finery, and on being admitted into the house commence their\nperformance by St. George announcing himself by beginning his oration:\n\n    \u201cI am St. George, the noble champion bold,\n    And with my glittering sword\n    I\u2019ve won three crowns of gold;\n    It\u2019s I who fought the fiery dragon,\n    And brought it to the slaughter;\n    And so I won fair Sabra,\n    The king of Egypt\u2019s daughter.\n    --Seven have I won, but married none,\n    And bear my glory all alone,\n    --With _my_ Sword in my hand,\n    Who dare against me stand?\n    I swear I\u2019ll cut him down\n    With my victorious brand.\u201d\n\nA champion is soon found in the person of Slasher, who accepts the\nchallenge. St. George then replies in a neat speech, when they sing,\nshake hands, and fight with their wooden swords, and Slasher is slain.\nThe King then enters, saying:--\u201cI am the King of England, the greatest\nman alive,\u201d and after walking round the dead body, calls for, \u201cSir Guy,\none of the chiefest men in the world\u2019s wonder,\u201d who shows his wonderful\ncourage and prowess in calling for a doctor. The doctor, on making his\nappearance, gives a long and quaint account of his birth, parentage,\neducation, and travels, whilst perambulating around the fallen Slasher,\nand ends his oration by saying:\n\n    \u201cHere take a little out of my bottle,\n    And put it down thy throttle.\u201d\n\nThe dead man is thus cured, and having received the advice of, \u201cRise,\nJack, and fight again, the play is ended.\u201d--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._\n1852, vol. vii. p. 206.\n\n\nDORSETSHIRE.\n\nIt appears that in some parts of this county the mummers still go round\nat Christmas-tide, performing a species of play.--See _N. & Q. 5th S._\nvol. ii. p. 505.\n\n\nESSEX.\n\nOn Christmas day at Hornchurch the lessee of the tithes, which belong to\nNew College, Oxford, supplies, says Hone, (_Every Day Book_, 1827, vol.\nii. p. 1649), a boar\u2019s head dressed and garnished with bayleaves, &c. In\nthe afternoon it is carried in procession into the mill-field adjoining\nthe churchyard, where it is wrestled for and afterwards feasted upon at\none of the public-houses by the rustic conqueror and his friends with\nall the merriment peculiar to the season.\n\nThe following appeared in the _Daily News_ of January 5th, 1852:--By\nancient charter or usage in Hornchurch a boar\u2019s head is wrestled for in\na field adjoining the church, a boar, the property of the parish, having\nbeen slaughtered for the purpose. The boar\u2019s head, elevated on a pole\nand decorated with ribbons, was brought into the ring where the\ncompetitors entered, and the prize was awarded.--See Morant, _History of\nEssex_, 1768, vol. i. p. 74.\n\n\nGLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\nIt was formerly the custom of the city of Gloucester to present to the\nSovereign at Christmas a lamprey-pie with a raised crust. The custom is\nof great antiquity, and as Henry I., of lamprey-loving celebrity,\nfrequently held his Court during Christmas at Gloucester, it may have\noriginated in his time. In 1530 the Prior of Lanthony at Gloucester sent\n\u201ccheese, carp, and baked lampreys\u201d to Henry VIII. at Windsor, for which\nthe bearer received twenty shillings.--Tighe and Davis, _Annals of\nWindsor_, p. 562.\n\nDuring the Commonwealth it appears from the following entry in the\ncorporation minutes that the pie was sent to the members for the city:--\n\n\u201c_Item._--Paid to Thomas Suffield, cook, for lamprey-pies sent to our\nParliament men, \u00a308 00_s._ 00_d._\u201d\n\nIn 1752 it appears to have been the custom to present a lamprey-pie to\nthe Prince of Wales, as appears by Mr. Jesse\u2019s book, _George Selwyn and\nhis Contemporaries_ (vol. i. p. 153), where is printed the following\nletter from Mr. Alderman Harris to George Selwyn, then M.P. for\nGloucester:--\n\n  \u201c_Gloucester, 15th January, 1752._\n\n  \u201cSIR,--At the request of Mr. Mayor, whose extraordinary hurry of\n  business will not afford him leisure to direct himself, I am desired\n  to acquaint you that by the Gloucester waggon this week is sent the\n  usual present of a lamprey-pie from this Corporation to His Royal\n  Highness the Prince of Wales. It is directed to you; and I am further\n  to request the favour of you to have the same presented with the\n  compliments of this body, as your late worthy father used to do.\n\n  \u201cSir, your most obedient humble servant,\n\n  \u201cGAB. HARRIS.\n\n  \u201cP.S.--The waggoner\u2019s inn is the King\u2019s Head, in the Old\n  Change.\u201d[93]--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ix. p. 184.\n\n  [93] Another correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_2nd S._ vol. ix. p. 185)\n  says that it was formerly the custom to send to the King the first\n  lamprey caught in the river at the commencement of the season; it was\n  stewed, that being the best way of cooking this fish.\n\n\nHEREFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn this county, and also in Worcestershire, it is considered very\nunlucky for new shoes or tanned leather to be received into the house\nduring the Christmas week or on New Year\u2019s Day.--See _N. & Q. 5th S._\nvol. iii. p. 7.\n\n\nKENT.\n\nAt one time the festivities of Christmas were commenced at Ramsgate by a\ncurious musical procession. The following account is taken from Busby\u2019s\n_Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes_ (1825, vol. i. p. 73):--\n\nA party of young people procure the head of a dead horse, which is\naffixed to a pole about four feet in length, a string is tied to the\nlower jaw, a horsecloth is then attached to the whole, under which one\nof the party gets, and by frequently pulling the string keeps up a loud\nsnapping noise, and is accompanied by the rest of the party grotesquely\nhabited and ringing hand-bells. They thus proceed from house to house,\nsounding their bells and singing carols and songs. They are commonly\ngratified with beer and cake, or perhaps with money. This is\nprovincially called a _hodening_; and the figure above described a\n\u201choden,\u201d or wooden horse.\n\nThis curious ceremony is also observed in the Isle of Thanet on\nChristmas Eve, and is supposed to be an ancient relic of a festival\nordained to commemorate our Saxon ancestors\u2019 landing in that island.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE.\n\nThe following description of primitive manners in the houses of the\ngentry at Christmas is extracted by Baines (_Hist. of Lancashire_, vol.\niii. p. 294) from a family manuscript of the Cunliffes, of Wycoller, in\nLancashire, and refers to an age antecedent to the wars of the\nParliament:--\u201cAt Wycoller-Hall the family usually kept open house the\ntwelve days at Christmas. Their entertainment was a large hall of\ncurious ashler wood, a long table, plenty of _furmerty_, like new milk,\nin a morning, made of husked wheat boiled, roasted beef with fat goose\nand a pudding, with plenty of good beer for dinner. A roundabout\nfire-place, surrounded with stone benches, where the young folks sat and\ncracked nuts, and diverted themselves; and in this manner the sons and\ndaughters got matching without going much from home.\u201d--See _Med. \u00c6vi\nKalend._ vol. i. p. 91.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nTrain, in his _History of the Isle of Man_ (1845, vol. ii. p. 127),\nsays:--The Christmas festival is introduced by young persons\nperambulating the various towns and villages in the evenings,\nfantastically dressed, and armed with swords, calling as they proceed,\n\u201cWho wants to see the White Boys act?\u201d When their services are engaged\nthey, like the Scotch _guisards_ or _Quhite boys of Yule_, perform a\nrude drama, in which St. George, Prince Valentine, King of Egypt, Sambo,\nand the Doctor are the _dramatis person\u00e6_.\n\nIt was customary in the Isle of Man for every family that could afford\nit to have a brewing called _Jough-ny-nollick_, i.e., Christmas drink,\nprepared for the festivities of the season. On such occasions one\nbrewing-kettle generally served a whole neighbourhood, which gave rise\nto the monk\u2019s proverb, \u201cTo go about like a brewing-pan.\u201d--_Ibid._ p.\n127.\n\n\nMIDDLESEX.\n\nMalcolm, in his _Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London_ (1811,\np. 259), speaking of Christmas Day, says:--\u201cIt was a day of grand\ndifference in the judgment of some, and in the City of London some\nopened their shops, but to stop mutinying they were shut up again; yet\ndo very few understand what the difference is that is now embraced in\nthe judgments of those who desire the reformation from Popish\ninnovation, but to give such further satisfaction herein, it is the\nopinion of these that it is a day wherein it is very fit for the people\nof God to congregate in the church to hear the Word of God preached, but\nnot a holiday or such a day as is of absolute necessity to be kept holy;\nit is a day wherein it is no sin for a man to follow his calling, and he\nmust not by a Popish innovation adore the day.\u201d\n\n_Inns of Court._--There were anciently great doings in the halls of the\nInns of Court at Christmas. At the Inner Temple early in the morning the\ngentlemen of the Inn went to church, and after the service they repaired\ninto the hall to breakfast with brawn, mustard, and malmsey. At the\nfirst course at dinner was \u201cserved in, a fair and large _Bore\u2019s head_\nupon a silver platter, with minstralsye.\u201d--Dugdale\u2019s _Orig. Jurid._\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_5th S._ vol. ii. p. 507), alluding to the\ntime-honoured custom of the Boar\u2019s Head Feast at St. John\u2019s Gate,\nClerkenwell, says the boar\u2019s head is still served up at Queen\u2019s College,\nOxford (see p. 477), but I do not think it can be more enjoyable than\nthe Christmas custom used to be at Clerkenwell, with the hall strewn\nwith rushes, the gigantic yule-log drawn in by the sons of the host (the\nlate proprietor), with the accompanying announcement, by bugles, and the\nbringing in of the boar\u2019s head, the \u201ccook dressed all in white,\u201d singing\nthe good old carol (printed by Wynkyn, de Worde, 1521), copies of which\nbeing in the hands of the guests, who joined in the chorus, rendering\nthe whole scene so pleasant as never to be forgotten. The loving cup was\nnever omitted, and of course wassail was duly brought in, \u201cy^{e} Lorde\nof Mysrewle doing his duty \u2018passing well.\u2019\u201d The following is an exact\ncopy of the carol:\n\n\n\u201cCAROLL AT YE BRYNGYNE IN YE BORE\u2019S HEED.\n\n      _Caput apri differo\n      Reddens laudem Domino._\n\n    The bore\u2019s heed in hande bringe I,\n    With garlens gay and rosemarie,\n    I pray you all synge merrilie,\n          _Qui estis in convivio_.\n\n    The bore\u2019s heed I understande,\n    Is the chefe servyce in this lande,\n    Loke wherever it be fonde,\n          _Servite cum cantico_.\n\n    Be gladde lordes, both more and lesse,\n    For this hath ordeyned our stewarde\n    To chere you all this Christmasse,\n    The bore\u2019s heed with mustarde.\u201d\n\nSubjoined is a copy of the invitation the late host and his predecessor\nused to issue, which is a curious production:\n\n    \u201cWe\u2019ll passe aboute y^{e} lovynge cuppe,\n      And sende ye wassaile rounde;\n    With myrthe and songes of chyvalrie,\n      These goodlye Halles shall sounde.\n\n[Here is an illustration of the north side of the Gate.]\n\n\u201cSamuel Wickens, ye Grande Mayester of ye Priorye of Sainte John,\nGreetinge welle hys ryght trustye and welle beloved friends, dothe\nherebye summon them to hys councill to be holden in y^{e} Greate Halle\nof y^{e} Priorye, aforesaide, on y^{e} ninthe daye of Ianuarie, anno\nDomini, one thousande eighte hundrede and seventie-three, to adjudycate\non y^{e} qualitie of hys viandes: that is to saye, roaste beefe and\nplumbe puddynge, and with a cordialle greetinge in y^{e} wassaile boule\nand y^{e} lovynge cuppe, perpetuate to alle tyme and to tyme oute of\nmynde a ryghte goodlye and lastynge fellowshipe. Ye Boare\u2019s heade will\nbe broughte into ye halle, and y^{e} chante will be sange, at sixe of\nthe clocke, at which tyme y^{e} Feast will begine.\u201d\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nAt Yarmouth before the Reformation it was a custom for the prior and\nmonks, and afterwards for the dean and chapter, or the farmer of their\nparsonage, to provide a breakfast for the inhabitants of the town every\nyear on Christmas Day, which custom continued till the 21st of\nElizabeth, when, on account of a grievous plague which carried off two\nthousand of the inhabitants in one year, and on consideration of the\nruinous condition of the parsonage-house, it was agreed that Thomas\nOsborne, who was then farmer of the parsonage, should pay 5_l._ a year\nto the churchwardens for the use of the town in lieu of the said\nbreakfast. After the plague had ceased, the breakfast was resumed and\ncontinued as usual, till the reign of James I., when William Gostlynge,\nthen farmer, absolutely refused to provide it or to pay an equivalent\ncomposition, upon which the town preferred a complaint to the dean and\nchapter, who promised not to countenance him in such a non-conformity to\nthe terms of the lease by which he held of them. Finally, Mr. Gostlynge\nwas obliged to sign an agreement, whereby he engaged to pay yearly to\nthe town in lieu of the breakfast, 10_l._, which was distributed to poor\nfishermen, &c., and 5_l._ for his default, in before refusing to provide\nthe breakfast. This continued till the making of a new agreement,\nbetween the corporation and Mr. Gostlynge, of a grant of nomination and\nappointment of preachers and ministers in the town, since which it seems\nthat both breakfast and composition shared the fate of all human\ninstitutions and sank into oblivion.--Parkin, _History of Great\nYarmouth_, 1776, p. 330.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nCole, in his _History of Weston Favell_ (1827, p. 60), says Christmas\nDay is ushered in by the ringing of the bells of the church, precisely\nat twelve o\u2019clock, called the midnight peal, till which time many of the\ninhabitants sit round the jovial fire, whence at twelve o\u2019clock they\nemerge into the midnight air to listen to the peals of the bells of the\nneighbouring churches.\n\n\nNORTHUMBERLAND.\n\nIn Alnwick a custom existed of giving sweetmeats to children at\nChristmas time, called Yule Babies, in commemoration of our Saviour\u2019s\nnativity.--_History of Alnwick_, 1822, p. 262.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nThe inhabitants of North Clifton were formerly ferry free. In\nconsequence, the ferryman and his dog were indulged with a dinner each\nat the vicar\u2019s at Christmas. The ferryman also on that day received of\nthe inhabitants a prime loaf of bread.--_N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. ii. p.\n509.\n\nNear Raleigh there is a valley said to have been caused by an earthquake\nseveral hundred years ago, which swallowed up a whole village, together\nwith the church. Formerly, it was the custom of the people to assemble\nin this valley every Christmas Day morning to listen to the ringing of\nthe bells of the church beneath them. This, it was positively stated,\nmight be heard by placing the ear to the ground and hearkening\nattentively. As late as 1827 it was usual on this morning for old men\nand women to tell their children and young friends to go to the valley,\nstoop down, and hear the bells ring merrily. The villagers heard the\nringing of the bells of a neighbouring church, the sound of which was\ncommunicated by the surface of the ground. A similar belief exists, or\ndid a short time ago, at Preston, in Lancashire.--_Ibid._ p. 509.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn the buttery of St. John\u2019s College, Oxford, an ancient candle socket\nof stone still remains, ornamented with the figure of the Holy Lamb. It\nwas formerly used to burn the Christmas candle in, on the high table at\nsupper during the twelve nights of this festival.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._\n1849, vol. i. p. 467.\n\nIt was formerly a custom for the butcher of Merton College, about\nChristmas time, to invite the scholars to a treat at his house, when he\nused to provide a _bull_ for the steward to knock down with his own\nhands, whence this treat was called _The Kill-Bull_.--Pointer,\n_Oxoniensis Academia_, 1749, p. 23.\n\nThe following account of the ancient custom of bringing in a boar\u2019s head\nat Queen\u2019s College, Oxford, is taken from a MS., in the Bodleian\nLibrary, quoted in the _Antiquary_ (1873, vol. iii. p. 47):--\n\nThere is a custom at Queen\u2019s College to serve up every year a boar\u2019s\nhead, provided by the manciple against Christmas Day. This boar\u2019s head\nbeing boyl\u2019d or roasted, is laid in a great charger, covered with a\ngarland of bays or laurell as broad at bottom as the brims of the\nchargers. When the first course is served up in the refectory on\nChristmas Day, in the said college, the manciple brings the said boar\u2019s\nhead from the kitchen up to the high table, accompanied with one of the\ntabarders (i.e., the scholars), who lays his hand on the charger. The\ntabarder sings a song, and when he comes to the chorus all the scholars\nthat are in the refectory joyn together and sing it:\n\n    I.\n\n    \u201cThe boar\u2019s head in hand bear I,\n    Bedeck\u2019d with bays and rosemary,\n    And I pray you master merry be,\n          _Quotquot estis in convivio_.\n\n                        CHORUS. _Caput apri defero_\n                                _Reddens laudes Domino_.\n\n    II.\n\n    The boar\u2019s head, as I understand,\n    Is the bravest dish in the land,\n    Being thus bedeck\u2019d with a gay garland,\n          Let us _servire convivio_.\n\n                        CHORUS. _Caput apri, &c._\n\n    III.\n\n    Our steward has provided this\n    In honour of the King of bliss,\n    Which on this day to be served is,\n          In _Reginensi atrio_.\n\n                    CHORUS. _Caput apri,\u201d &c._\n\nAccording to Mr. Wade (_Walks in Oxford_, 1817, vol. i. p. 128) the\nusage is in commemoration of an act of valour performed by a student of\nthe college, who, while walking in the neighbouring forest of Shotover,\nand reading Aristotle, was suddenly attacked by a wild boar. The furious\nbeast came open-mouthed upon the youth, who, however, very courageously,\nand with a happy presence of mind, rammed in the volume, and crying\n_Gr\u00e6cum est_, fairly choked the savage.\n\nIn an audit-book of Trinity College for the year 1559, Warton found a\ndisbursement \u201c_pro prandio Principis natalicii_.\u201d A Christmas prince, or\nLord of Misrule, he adds, corresponding to the Imperator at Cambridge,\nwas a common temporary magistrate in the colleges of Oxford.--See\nBrand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 498; _The Antiquary_, 1873, vol.\niii. p. 53; Wood, in his _Athen\u00e6 Oxonienses_, alludes to the Christmas\nprince at St. John\u2019s and Merton Colleges.\n\nMummings at Christmas are common in Oxfordshire. At Islip some of the\nmummers wear masks, others, who cannot get masks, black their faces and\ndress themselves up with haybands tied round their arms and bodies. The\nsmaller boys black their faces, and go about singing--\n\n    \u201cA merry Christmas and a happy new year,\n    Your pockets full of money, and your cellars full of beer.\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 466.\n\nDr. Lee, in _N. & Q._ (_5th S._ vol. ii. pp. 503-505), has given a\ncurious old miracle play, the text of which he says was taken down by\nhimself from the lips of one of the performers in 1853.\n\nAubrey informs us that in several parts of Oxfordshire it was the custom\nfor the maidservant to ask the man for ivy to decorate the house, and if\nhe refused or neglected to fetch in a supply the maids stole a pair of\nhis breeches, and nailed them up to the gate in the yard or highway. A\nsimilar usage prevailed in other places, when the refusal to comply with\nsuch a request incurred the penalty of being debarred from the\nwell-known privilege of the mistletoe.--See _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p.\n753.\n\n\nSCILLY ISLES.\n\nTroutbeck, in his _State of the Scilly Isles_ (1796, p. 172), gives the\nfollowing account of how Christmas was celebrated in his time. The young\npeople, he says, exercise a sort of gallantry among themselves, which\nthey call goose-dancing, when the maidens are dressed up for young men\nand the young men for maidens. In the day time they dance about the\nstreets in masquerade, vieing with each other who can appear the most\nuncouth. In the evenings they visit their neighbours in companies, where\nthey dance and make their jokes upon what has happened in the islands.\nBy this sort of sport according to yearly custom and toleration, there\nis a spirit of wit and drollery kept up among the people. The maidens,\nwho are sometimes dressed up for sea captains and other officers,\ndisplay their alluring graces to the ladies, who are young men equipped\nfor that purpose; and the ladies exert their talents to them in courtly\naddresses, their hangers are sometimes drawn, &c., after which, and\nother pieces of drollery, the scene shifts to music and dancing, which\nbeing over they are treated with liquor and then go to the next house of\nentertainment.\n\nThey have a custom also of singing carols at church on Christmas Day, to\nwhich the congregation make contributions by dropping money into a hat\ncarried about the church when the performance is over.--Heath\u2019s _Account\nof the Scilly Isles_, p. 125.\n\n\nSOMERSETSHIRE.\n\nAt West Hatch the reeve or bailiff to the manor provided at the lord\u2019s\nexpense a feast on Christmas Day, and distributed to each householder a\nloaf of bread, a pound and a half of beef, and the like quantity of\npork, undressed, and the same evening treated them with a\nsupper.--Collinson, _History of County of Somerset_, 1791, vol. ii. p.\n186.\n\nThe following lines are sung at the Christmas mummings in this county:\n\n    \u201cHere comes I, liddle man Jan,\n    With my zword in my han!\n    If you don\u2019t all do,\n      As you be told by I,\n    I\u2019ll zend you all to York,\n      Vor to make apple-pie.\u201d\n\n  Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 466.\n\n\nSTAFFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn Shaw\u2019s _History of Staffordshire_ (1798-1801) is mentioned a custom\nformerly prevalent in the parish of Great Barr, for the rector on every\nChristmas Day to give to each person, great and small, of his parish\nthat came to his house, so much bread, beef, mustard, and vinegar as\nthey could eat. Latterly, however, money was given instead.\n\nPlot, in his _Natural History of Staffordshire_ (1686, p. 434), gives\nthe following account of a jocular custom celebrated in olden times at\nBromley Abbots. He says:--Within memory, at Abbots or Pagets Bromley,\nthey had a sort of sport which they celebrated at Christmas (on New Year\nand Twelfth Day) called the _Hobby-horse Dance_ from a person who\ncarried the image of a horse between his legs, made of thin boards, and\nin his hands a bow and arrow which, passing through a hole in the bow\nand stopping upon a shoulder it had in it, he made a snapping noise as\nhe drew it to and fro, keeping time with the musick; with this man\ndanced six others, carrying on their shoulders as many reindeer heads,\nthree of them painted white, with three red, with the arms of the chief\nfamilies (viz., of Paget, Bagot, and Wells), to whom the revenues of the\ntown chiefly belonged, depicted on the _palms_ of them, with which they\ndanced the hays and other country dances. To this hobby-horse dance\nthere also belonged a pot, which was kept by turns by four or five of\nthe chief of the town, whom they called reeves, who provided cake and\nale to put into this pot; all people who had any kindness for the good\nintent of the institution of the sport, giving pence a piece for\nthemselves and their families, and so foreigners too that came to see\nit, with which money (the charge of the cakes and ale being defrayed)\nthey not only repaired their church, but kept the poor too, which\ncharges are not now perhaps so cheerfully borne.\n\nThere is an ancient payment made by the chamberlain of the corporation\nof Stafford, of an annual sum of money, generally six shillings, at\nChristmas, for the purchasing of plums, to be distributed among the\ninhabitants of certain old houses in the liberty of Forebridge.\n\nThe origin of this payment is ascribed by general reputation to the\nbounty of some individual who heard from some poor children a complaint\non Christmas Day that they had no plums for a pudding; and it is\nreported that he counted the houses then in the place, and made\nprovision for the supply of a pound of plums for each house. The money\nreceived is laid out in plums, which are divided into equal quantities,\nand made up into parcels, one for each of the houses, fifteen or sixteen\nin number, entitled by the established usage to receive a portion,\nwithout reference to the circumstances of the inhabitants.--_Old English\nCustoms and Charities_, p. 5.\n\n\nSUFFOLK.\n\nBrand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 489) alludes to a custom practised\nin the neighbourhood of Bury St. Edmunds among the young men, of hunting\nowls and squirrels on Christmas Day.\n\nIn 1358, at Hawstead, the customary tenants paid their lord at Christmas\na small rent, called _offering silver_. Eleven of them paid in all\nxviij^{d.} In 1386 the Christmas offerings made by the master for his\ndomestics amounted to xiiij^{d.} for seven servants.--Cullum, _History\nof Hawstead_, 1813, pp. 13-14.\n\n\nWESTMORELAND.\n\nAt Kendal, if a man be found at work in Christmas week his\nfellow-tradesmen lay violent hands on him, and carry him on a pole to\nthe ale-house, where he is to treat them.--Southey\u2019s _Common Place\nBook_, 1851, 4th series, p. 354.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nAt Bewdley it was the custom for the bellman to go round on Christmas\nmorning, ringing his bell in several parts of the town, and singing the\nfollowing doggerel, first saying, \u201cGood morning, masters and mistresses\nall, I wish you all a merry Christmas\u201d:\n\n    \u201cArise mistress, arise,\n    And make your tarts and pies,\n      And let your maids lie still;\n    For if they should rise and spoil your pies\n      You\u2019d take it very ill.\n    Whilst you are sleeping in your bed,\n      I the cold wintry nights must tread,\n      Past twelve o\u2019clock. Ehe!\u201d\n\n  _Kidderminster Shuttle_, Dec. 2nd, 1871.\n\nAt Yardley such of the poor as are excluded from partaking of certain\ndoles on account of receiving regular weekly relief, are allowed one\nshilling each out of a general charity fund at Christmas, under the name\nof plum-pudding money, to the extent of about 4_l._--Edwards, _Old\nEnglish Customs and Charities_, p. 23.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nBlount tells us that, in Yorkshire and other northern parts, after\nsermon or service on Christmas Day, the people will, even in the\nchurches, cry \u201c_Ule! Ule!_\u201d as a token of rejoicing; and the common sort\nrun about the streets singing:\n\n    \u201c_Ule! Ule! Ule! Ule!_\n    Three puddings in a pule,\n    Crack nuts and cry _Ule_!\u201d\n\n  See Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. pp. 476-477.\n\nOne never-failing remnant of the olden time observed in this county,\nsays Soane (_Curiosities of Literature_), was the _cheese_, which had\nbeen especially made and preserved for the season. It was produced with\nmuch ceremony by every rustic dame, who, before she allowed it to be\ntasted, took a sharp knife and scored upon it rude resemblances to the\ncross. To this were added the mighty wassail bowl brimming with\n_lamb\u2019s-wool_, and furmity made of barley-meal, which last was also an\nessential of the breakfast-table.\n\nBetween Christmas Day and the New Year it is customary in the North\nRiding of Yorkshire to give every visitor a slice of \u201cpepper cake\u201d (a\nspiced gingerbread cake) and cheese and a glass of gin.\n\nIn the North Riding of Yorkshire it is also the custom for the\nparishioners, after receiving the Sacrament on Christmas Day, to go from\nchurch directly to the ale-house, and there drink together as a\ntestimony of charity and friendship.--Aubrey, MS. quoted in _Time\u2019s\nTelescope_, 1826, p. 293.\n\nAt Filey, on Christmas morning before break of day, there existed\nformerly the greatest uproar, by numbers of boys going round from house\nto house, rapping at every door, and roaring out, \u201cI wish you a merry\nChristmas and a happy new year,\u201d which words were vociferated again and\nagain till the family awoke and admitted the clamorous visitor; who, if\nhe were the _first_,[94] was treated with money or cheese and\ngingerbread, which were also distributed, but less liberally, to\nsubsequent visitors. No persons (boys excepted) ever presumed to go out\nof doors till the threshold had been consecrated by the entrance of a\nmale. Females had no part in this matter, and if a damsel, lovely as an\nangel, entered _first_, her fair form was viewed with horror as an image\nof death.--Cole, _Antiquities of Filey_, 1828, p. 137.\n\n  [94] The custom of _first footing_ seems to have been confined in\n  other places to New Year\u2019s Morning.\n\nAt Huddersfield the children carry about a \u201cwessel-bob,\u201d or large bunch\nof evergreens hung with oranges and apples, and coloured ribbons,\nsinging the following carol:\n\n    \u201cHere we come a wassailing\n      Among the leaves so green,\n    Here we come a wandering\n      So fair to be seen.\n\n                  _Chorus._\n          For it is in Christmas time\n            Strangers travel far and near,\n          So God bless you and send you a happy\n            New year.\n\n    We are not daily beggars,\n      That beg from door to door,\n    But we are neighbours\u2019 children,\n      Whom you have seen before.\n\n    Call up the butler of this house,\n      Put on his golden ring,\n    Let him bring us a glass of beer,\n      And the better we shall sing.\n\n    We have got a little purse\n      Made of stretching leather skin,\n    We want a little of your money\n      To line it well within.\n\n    Bring us out a table\n      And spread it with a cloth;\n    Bring out a mouldy cheese,\n      Also your Christmas loaf.\n\n    God bless the master of this house,\n      Likewise the mistress too,\n    And all the little children\n      That round the table go.\n\n    Good master and mistress,\n      While you\u2019re sitting by the fire,\n    Pray think of us poor children\n      Who are wandering in the mire.\u201d\n\n  _N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. xi. p. 144.\n\nSome years ago it was the custom in Leeds, and the neighbourhood, for\nchildren to go from house to house singing and carrying what they called\na \u201cwesley-bob.\u201d This they kept veiled in a cloth till they came to a\nhouse door, when they uncovered it.\n\nThe wesley-bob was made of holly and evergreens, like a bower, inside\nwere placed a couple of dolls, adorned with ribbons, and the whole\naffair was borne upon a stick. Whilst the wesley-bob was being\ndisplayed, a song or ditty was sung.\n\nAt Aberford, near Leeds, two dolls are carried about in boxes in a\nsimilar way, and such an affair here is called a wesley-box.--_N. & Q.\n3rd S._ vol. vi. p. 494.\n\nAt Ripon, on Christmas Day, says a correspondent of the _Gent. Mag._\n(1790, vol. lx. p. 719), the singing boys come into the church with\nlarge baskets full of red apples, with a sprig of rosemary stuck in\neach, which they present to all the congregation, and generally have a\nreturn made them of 2_d._, 4_d._, or 6_d._, according to the quality of\nthe lady or gentleman.\n\nThe sword or morisco dance used to be practised at Richmond, during the\nChristmas holidays, by young men dressed in shirts ornamented with\nribbons folded into roses, having swords, or wood cut in the form of\nthat weapon. They exhibited various feats of activity, attended by an\nold fiddler, by Bessy in the grotesque habit of an old woman, and by the\nfool almost covered with skins, a hairy cap on his head, and the tail of\na fox hanging from his head. These led the festive throng, and diverted\nthe crowd with their droll antic buffoonery. The office of one of these\ncharacters was to go about rattling a box, and soliciting money from\ndoor to door to defray the expenses of a feast and a dance in the\nevening.--_History of Richmond_, 1814, p. 296.\n\nIn Sheffield, a male must be the first to enter a house on the morning\nof both Christmas Day and New Year\u2019s Day; but there is no distinction as\nto complexion or colour of hair. In the houses of the more opulent\nmanufacturers, these first admissions are often accorded to choirs of\nwork-people, who, as \u201cwaits,\u201d proceed at an early hour and sing before\nthe houses of their employers and friends Christmas carols and hymns,\nalways commencing with that beautiful composition:\n\n    \u201cChristians, awake, salute the happy morn,\n    Whereon the Saviour of mankind was born.\u201d\n\nOn expressing their good wishes to the inmates, they are generally\nrewarded with something warm and occasionally with a pecuniary present.\n\nAmong the class called \u201crespectable,\u201d but not manufacturers, a previous\narrangement is often made; that a boy, the son of a friend, shall come\nand be first admitted, receiving for his good wishes a Christmas-box of\nsixpence or a shilling. The houses of the artisans and poor are\nsuccessively besieged by a host of _gamins_, who, soon after midnight,\nspread themselves over the town, shouting at the doors, and through\nkeyholes, as follows:\n\n    \u201cAu wish ya a murry Chrismas,--\n      A \u2019appy new year,--\n    A\u2019 pockit full of munny,\n      An\u2019 a celler full a\u2019 beer.\n\n    God bless the maester of this \u2019ouse--\n      The mistriss all-so,\n    An\u2019 all the little childrun\n      That round the table go.\n\n    A apple, a pare, a plom, an\u2019 a cherry;\n    A sup a\u2019 good ale mak\u2019 a man murry,\u201d &c.\n\nThe same house will not admit a second boy. One is sufficient to protect\nit from any ill-luck that might otherwise happen. A penny is the usual\ngratuity for this service.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. v. p. 395.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nA custom prevails in Wales of carrying about at Christmas time a horse\u2019s\nskull dressed up with ribbons, and supported on a pole by a man who is\nconcealed under a large white cloth. There is a contrivance for opening\nand shutting the jaws, and the figure pursues and bites everybody it can\nlay hold of, and does not release them except on payment of a fine. It\nis generally accompanied by some men dressed up in a grotesque manner,\nwho, on reaching a house, sing some extempore verses requesting\nadmittance, and are in turn answered by those within, until one party or\nthe other is at a loss for a reply. The Welsh are undoubtedly a\npractical people, and these verses often display a good deal of\ncleverness. This horse\u2019s head is called _Mari Lwyd_, which I have heard\ntranslated \u201cGrey mare.\u201d _Lwyd_ certainly is grey, but _Mari_ is not a\nmare in Welsh.[95]--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. i. p. 173.\n\n  [95] This custom was also practised in one or two places in Lancashire\n  about the year 1840. The horse was played in a similar way, but the\n  performer was called \u201cOld Ball.\u201d It is no doubt a vestige of the old\n  \u201chobby-horse.\u201d--_Ibid._ p. 245.\n\nUpon Christmas Day, about three o\u2019clock in the morning, the Welsh in\nmany parts used to assemble in church, and after prayers and a sermon,\ncontinue there singing psalms and hymns with great devotion, till it was\ndaylight; and if, through age or infirmity, any were disabled from\nattending, they never failed having prayers at home, and carols on our\nSaviour\u2019s nativity. This act of devotion was called _Pulgen_, or the\n_crowning of the cock_. It was a general belief among the superstitious\nthat instantly--\n\n                  \u201cAt his warning,\n    Whether in sea, or fire, in earth, or air,\n    Th\u2019 extravagant, and erring spirit, hies\n    To his confine--\u201d\n\nDuring Christmas time, the cock was supposed to exert his power\nthroughout the night, from which no doubt originated the Welsh word\n\u201cPulgen\u201d as applied to this custom.--Bingley\u2019s _Tour Round North Wales_,\n1800, vol. ii. p. 226.\n\nAt Tenby it was customary at 4 o\u2019clock on Christmas morning for the\nyoung men of the town to escort the rector with lighted torches from his\nresidence to church.--Mason\u2019s _Tales and Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, p.\n4.\n\nSometimes also before or after Christmas Day the fishermen of Tenby\ndressed up one of their number whom they called the \u201cLord Mayor of\nPennyless Cone,\u201d with a covering of evergreens and a mask over his face;\nthey would then carry him about, seated on a chair, with flags flying,\nand a couple of violins playing before him. Before every house the \u201cLord\nMayor\u201d would address the occupants, wishing them a merry Christmas and a\nhappy new year. If his good wishes were responded to with money his\nfollowers gave three cheers, the masquer would himself return thanks,\nand the crowd again cheered.--_Ibid._ p. 5.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nIn some parts of Scotland, he who first opens the door on Yule Day\nexpects to prosper more than any other member of the family during the\nfuture year because, as the vulgar express it, \u201cHe lets in yule.\u201d On\nopening the door, it is customary with some to place in the doorway a\ntable or chair covered with a clean cloth; and, according to their own\nlanguage, to \u201cset on it bread and cheese to yule.\u201d Early in the morning,\nas soon as any one of the family gets out of bed, a new besom is set\nbehind the outer door, the design being to \u201clet in yule.\u201d These\nsuperstitions, in which yule is not only personified, but treated as a\ndeity, are evidently of heathen origin. It is common also to have a\ntable covered in the house, from morning until evening, with bread and\ndrink upon it, that every one who calls may take a portion, and it is\nconsidered particularly inauspicious if any one comes into a house and\nleaves it without doing so. Whatever number of persons call on this day,\nall must partake of the good cheer.--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 48;\nsee Jamieson, _Etymol. Dict._, Art. _Yule_.\n\nAny servant who is supposed to have a due regard to the interests of the\nfamily, and is not at the same time emancipated from the yoke of\nsuperstition, is careful to go early to the well on Christmas morning to\ndraw water, pull the corn out of the sack, and also to bring kale from\nthe kitchen garden. This is intended to insure prosperity to the family\n(_Ibid._ p. 99). It is in fact the same as the _Usque Cashrichd_, which\nwas noticed among the superstitious customs of the first of\nJanuary.--See p. 17.\n\nThe doings of the guisards (that is, masquers), says Chambers (_Pop.\nRhymes_, 1870, p. 169), form a conspicuous feature in the New Year\nproceedings throughout Scotland. The evenings on which these personages\nare understood to be privileged to appear, are those of Christmas,\nHogmanay, New Year\u2019s Day, and Handsel Monday. Dressed up in quaint and\nfantastic attire, they sing a selection of songs which have been\npractised by them some weeks before. There were important doings,\nhowever, one of a theatrical character. There is one rude and grotesque\ndrama (called Galatian) which they are accustomed to perform on each of\nthe four above-mentioned nights, and which in various fragments or\nversions exists in every part of Lowland Scotland. The performers, who\nare never less than three, but sometimes as many as six, having dressed\nthemselves, proceed in a band from house to house, generally contenting\nthemselves with the kitchen for an arena, whither in mansions, presided\nover by the spirit of good humour, the whole family will resort to\nwitness the scene of mirth.--See Chambers\u2019 _Pop. Rhymes_, p. 170.\n\n\nANGUS-SHIRE.\n\nAt Christmas and the New Year, the opulent burghers begin to feast with\ntheir friends, and go a round of visits, which takes up the space of\nmany weeks. Upon such occasions the gravest is expected to be merry, and\nto join in a cheerful song.--Sinclair, _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1793,\nvol. v. p. 48.\n\n\nFORFARSHIRE.\n\nFrom the same authority we learn that, in the parish of Kirkden, on\nChristmas Day, the servant is free from his master, and goes about\nvisiting his friends and acquaintances. The poorest man must have beef\nor mutton on the table, and what they call a dinner with their friends.\nThey amuse themselves with various diversions, particularly with\nshooting for prizes, called here _wad-shooting_, and many do but little\nbusiness all the Christmas week.--_Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 509.\n\n\nABERDEENSHIRE.\n\nChristmas morn is welcomed at St. Fergus by liberal libations of\n_drinking-sowins_, or, as they are called by the old people,\n_knotting-sowins_; and by the gathering of friends and neighbours around\nthe social hearth. That the humblest householder in the parish may have\nhis Christmas cakes, a distribution of meal, the gift of a benevolent\nindividual, is annually made by the kirk-session on Christmas Day, to\nthe poor on the roll.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1845, vol. xii. p. 198.\n\nIn certain parts also of the county of Aberdeen, the custom of not\nworking during the three days of Christmas (Old Style) is still kept up.\nStraw, termed \u201cyule straw,\u201d is gathered beforehand, and everything\nneeded for food and fuel prepared in a similar way, so that the festival\nmay be kept in peace.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. ii. p. 483.\n\n\nBANFFSHIRE.\n\nIn the account of Keith, given in the _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_ (1793,\nvol. v. p. 428), the inhabitants are said to have no pastimes or\nholidays except dancing on Christmas and New Year\u2019s Day.\n\n\nBERWICK-UPON-TWEED.\n\nFuller, in his _History of Berwick upon Tweed_ (1799, p. 446), alluding\nto the customs of that place, says, there are four men called town\nwaits, who belong to the borough. Their business is to walk before the\nmayor, recorder, and justices, playing on violins, all the way to and\nfrom church on Christmas Day, the day of the election of a mayor, and\nNovember the 5th. They also are obliged to attend these gentlemen at\ntheir four public dinners.\n\n\nTHE HIGHLANDS.\n\nAs soon as the brightening glow of the eastern sky warns the anxious\nhousemaid of the approach of Christmas Day, she rises, full of anxiety,\nat the prospect of her morning labours. The meal, which was steeped in\nthe _sowans-bowie_ a fortnight ago to make the _Prechdacdan sour_ or\n_sour scones_, is the first object of her attention. The gridiron is put\non the fire, and the sour scones are soon followed by hard cakes, soft\ncakes, buttered cakes, bannocks, and pannich perm. The baking being once\nover, the sowans pot succeeds the gridiron, full of new sowans, which\nare to be given to the family, agreeably to custom, this day in their\nbeds. The sowans are boiled into the consistence of molasses, when the\n_lagan-le-vrich_ or yeast-bread, to distinguish it from boiled sowans,\nis ready. It is then poured into as many bickers as there are\nindividuals to partake of it, and presently served to the whole, both\nold and young. As soon as each despatches his bicker, he jumps out of\nbed--the elder branches to examine the ominous signs of the day, and the\nyounger to enter on its amusements. Flocking to the swing, a favourite\namusement on this occasion, the youngest of the family gets the first\n\u201cshouder,\u201d and the next oldest to him in regular succession. In order to\nadd more to the spirit of the exercise, it is a common practice with the\nperson in the _swing_ and the person appointed to swing him to enter\ninto a very warm and humorous altercation. As the swinged person\napproaches the swinger, he exclaims, \u201c_Ei mi tu chal_,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll eat your\nkail.\u201d To this the swinger replies, with a violent shove, \u201c_Cha ni u mu\nchal_,\u201d \u201cYou shan\u2019t eat my kail.\u201d These threats and repulses are\nsometimes carried to such a height as to break down or capsize the\nthreatener, which generally puts an end to the quarrel.\n\nAs the day advances those minor amusements are terminated at the report\nof the gun or the rattle of the ball clubs--the gun inviting the\nmarksman to the \u201c_kiavamuchd_,\u201d or prize shooting, and the latter to\n\u201c_Luchd-vouil_,\u201d or the ball combatants--both the principal sports of\nthe day. Tired at length of the active amusements of the field, they\nexchange them for the substantial entertainment of the table. Groaning\nunder the \u201c_Sonsy-haggis_\u201d and many other savoury dainties unseen for\ntwelve months before, the relish communicated to the company by the\nappearance of the festive board is more easily conceived than described.\nThe dinner once despatched, the flowing bowl succeeds and the sparkling\nglass flies to and fro like a weaver\u2019s shuttle. The rest of the day is\nspent in dancing and games.--Grant, _Popular Superstitions of the\nHighlands_.\n\n\nORKNEY.\n\nA writer in the _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_ (1845, vol. xv. p. 127),\nspeaking of Westray, says:--One custom in this parish and common to\nOrkney at large, is that of allowing the servants four or five days\u2019\nliberty at Christmas to enjoy themselves, only the most necessary part\nof domestic work, with due attention to the bestial on the farm, is done\non these days. The master of the house has also to keep up a\nwell-furnished table for all his servants at this season.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nAt Culdaff, previous to Christmas, it is customary with the labouring\nclasses to raffle for mutton, when a sufficient number can subscribe to\ndefray the cost of a sheep. During the Christmas holidays they amuse\nthemselves with a game of kamman, which consists in impelling a wooden\nball with a crooked stick to a given point, while an adversary\nendeavours to drive it in a contrary direction.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of\nIreland_, 1814, vol. ii. p. 160.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 26.] ST. STEPHEN\u2019S DAY.\n\n\nFor some unexplained reason St. Stephen\u2019s Day was a great period with\nour ancestors for bleeding their horses, which was practised by people\nof all ranks, and recommended by the old agricultural poet Tusser, in\nhis _Five Hundred Points of Husbandry_ (chap. xxii. st. 16), who says:\n\n    \u201cYer, Christmas be passed, _let horsse be let blood_,\n    For manie a purpose it dooth him much good;\n    The day of S. Steeven old fathers did use;\n    If that do mislike thee, some other day chuse.\u201d\n\nMr. Douce says that the practice was introduced into this country by the\nDanes.\n\nNaogeorgus, according to his translator, Barnaby Googe, refers to it,\nand assigns a reason:\n\n    \u201cThen followeth Saint Stephen\u2019s Day, whereon doth every man,\n    His horses jaunt and course abrode, as swiftly as he can,\n    Until they doe extreemely sweate, and then they let them blood;\n    For this being done upon this day, they say doth do them good,\n    And keepes them from all maladies, and sicknesse through the yeare,\n    As if that Steven any time took charge of horses heare.\u201d\n\nIn explanation, it may be stated that the Saint was the patron of\nhorses, and that on this day, which the Germans call _Der grosse\nPferdstag_, the Pope\u2019s stud was physicked and bled for the sake of the\nblood which was supposed to be a remedy in many disorders.\n\nAubrey, in his _Remains of Gentilisme_ (MS. Lansd. 226), says: \u201cOn St.\nStephen\u2019s day, the farrier came constantly and blouded all our\ncart-horses.\u201d In the \u201cReceipts and Disbursements of the canons of St.\nMary in Huntingdon,\u201d is the following entry: \u201cItem, for letting our\nhorses blede in Chrystmasse weke, iiij^{d}.\u201d--_Med. \u00c6vi Kalend._ 1841,\nvol. i. p. 118.\n\n_Christmas Boxes_ is a term now applied to gifts of money at Christmas\ngiven away on St. Stephen\u2019s Day, commonly called Boxing Day, whereas,\nanciently, it signified the boxes in which gifts were deposited. These\nboxes closely resembled the Roman _Paganalia_, for the reception of\ncontributions at rural festivals; from which custom, with certain\nchanges, is said to have been derived our Christmas Boxes. At Pompeii\nhave been found earthen boxes, in which money was slipped through a\nhole. Aubrey found one filled with Roman denarii.--Timbs\u2019 _Something for\nEverybody_, 1861, p. 152; see _N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. xi. pp. 65, 107,\n164, 245; see also Fosbroke\u2019s _Enclyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities_, 1840, p.\n662.\n\n\nBEDFORDSHIRE.\n\nIn Bedfordshire there formerly existed a custom of the poor begging the\nbroken victuals the day after Christmas Day.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1822,\np. 298.\n\n\nBUCKINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nIt is stated in the Parliamentary Returns in 1786, that some land, then\nlet at 12_l._ per annum, was given by Sir Hugh Kite for the poor of the\nparish of Clifton Reynes. It appears from a book, in the custody of the\nminister, dated 1821, compiled by an antiquary for a history of the\ncounty, that the rector holds a close of pasture-ground called Kites,\nwhich had been formerly given to support a lamp burning in the church of\nClifton Reynes, but which was subject to a charge of finding one small\nloaf, a piece of cheese, and a pint of ale to every married person, and\nhalf-a-pint for every unmarried person, resident in Clifton on the feast\nof St. Stephen, when they walked in the parish boundaries in Rogation\nweek. The close was annexed to the rectory in the 12th of\nElizabeth.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 120.\n\nThere was formerly a custom in the parish of Drayton Beauchamp called\n_Stephening_. All the inhabitants used to go on St. Stephen\u2019s Day to the\nrectory, and eat as much bread and cheese and drink as much ale as they\nchose at the expense of the rector.\n\nThe usage gave rise to so much rioting that it was discontinued, and an\nannual sum was distributed instead in proportion to the number of the\nclaimants. In time, the number of inhabitants, however, increased so\nconsiderably, that about the year 1827 the custom was dropped.--_Ibid._\np. 121.\n\n\nCAMBRIDGESHIRE.\n\nSt. Stephen\u2019s Day was formerly observed at Cambridge. Slicer, a\ncharacter in the old play of the _Ordinary_ says,\n\n                    \u201cLet the Corporal\n    Come sweating under a breast of mutton, stuffed\n    With pudding.\u201d\n\nThis, says the annotator, was called St. Stephen\u2019s pudding; it used\nformerly to be provided at St. John\u2019s College, Cambridge, uniformly on\nSt. Stephen\u2019s Day.--Dodsley\u2019s _Old Plays_, 1721, vol. x. p. 229; _Med.\n\u00c6vi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 119.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nHunting the wren has been a pastime in the Isle of Man from time\nimmemorial. In Waldron\u2019s time it was observed on the 24th of December,\nthough afterwards it was observed on St. Stephen\u2019s Day. This singular\nceremony is founded on a tradition that, in former times, a fairy of\nuncommon beauty exerted such undue influence over the male population,\nthat she, at various times, induced, by her sweet voice, numbers to\nfollow her footsteps, till by degrees she led them into the sea where\nthey perished. This barbarous exercise of power had continued for a\ngreat length of time, till it was apprehended that the island would be\nexhausted of its defenders, when a knight-errant sprang up, who\ndiscovered some means of countervailing the charms used by this siren,\nand even laid a plot for her destruction, which she only escaped at the\nmoment of extreme hazard by taking the form of a _wren_. But though she\nevaded instant annihilation, a spell was cast upon her by which she was\ncondemned, on every succeeding New Year\u2019s Day, to reanimate the same\nform with the definite sentence that she must ultimately perish by\nhuman hand. In consequence of this legend, on the specified anniversary,\nevery man and boy in the island (except those who have thrown off the\ntrammels of superstition) devote the hours between sunrise and sunset to\nthe hope of extirpating the fairy, and woe be to the individual birds of\nthat species who show themselves on this fatal day to the active enemies\nof the race; they are pursued, pelted, fired at, and destroyed, without\nmercy, and their feathers preserved with religious care, it being an\narticle of belief that every one of the relics gathered in this laudable\npursuit is an effective preservative from shipwreck for one year; and\nthat fisherman would be considered extremely foolhardy who should enter\nupon his occupation without such a safeguard; when the chase ceases, one\nof the little victims is affixed to the top of a long pole with its\nwings extended, and carried in front of the hunters, who march in\nprocession to every house, chanting the following rhyme:\n\n    \u201cWe hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin,\n    We hunted the wren for Jack of the Can,\n    We hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin,\n    We hunted the wren for every one.\u201d\n\nAfter making the usual circuit and collecting all the money they could\nobtain, they laid the wren on a bier and carried it in procession to the\nparish churchyard, where, with a whimsical kind of solemnity, they made\na grave, buried it and sang dirges over it in the Manks language, which\nthey call her knell. After the obsequies were performed, the company,\noutside the churchyard wall, formed a circle and danced to music which\nthey had provided for the occasion.\n\nAt present there is not a particular day for pursuing the wren: it is\ncaptured by boys alone, who follow the old custom principally for\namusement. On St. Stephen\u2019s Day a group of boys go from door to door\nwith a wren suspended by the legs, in the centre of two hoops crossing\neach other at right angles, decorated with evergreens and ribbons,\nsinging lines called _Hunt the Wren_. If at the close of this rhyme they\nare fortunate enough to obtain a small coin, they give in return a\nfeather of the wren; and before the close of the day the little bird may\nsometimes be seen hanging about featherless. The ceremony of the\ninterment of this bird in the churchyard, at the close of St. Stephen\u2019s\nDay, has long since been abandoned; and the sea-shore or some waste\nground was substituted in its place.\n\n\nNORFOLK.\n\nIt is an old custom in the town of East Dereham, to ring a muffled peal\nfrom the church tower on the morning of St. Stephen\u2019s Day.--_N. & Q. 3rd\nS._ vol. iii. p. 69.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nThe three vicars of Bampton, give beef and beer on the morning of St.\nStephen\u2019s Day to those who choose to partake of it. This is called St.\nStephen\u2019s breakfast.--Southey\u2019s _Common Place Book_, _4th S._ 1851, p.\n395.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nA correspondent of the _Gent. Mag._ (1811, vol. lxxxi. pt. i. p. 423)\nsays, that in the North Riding of Yorkshire on the feast of St. Stephen\nlarge goose pies are made, all of which they distribute among their\nneedy neighbours, except one, which is carefully laid up, and not tasted\ntill the Purification of the Virgin, called Candlemas.\n\nOn this day, also, six youths, clad in white and bedecked with ribbands,\nwith swords in their hands, travel from one village to another,\nperforming the \u201csword dance.\u201d They are attended by a fiddler, a youth\nwhimsically dressed, named \u201cBessy,\u201d and by one who personates a\nphysician. One of the six youths acts the part of a king in a sort of\nfarce, which consists chiefly of music and dancing, when the \u201cBessy\u201d\ninterferes while they are making a hexagon with their swords, and is\nkilled.--_Time\u2019s Telescope_, 1814, p. 315.\n\n\nWALES.\n\nOn St. Stephen\u2019s Day, everybody is privileged to whip another person\u2019s\nlegs with holly, and this is often reciprocally done till the blood\nstreams down.--Southey\u2019s _Common Place Book_ (1851, _4th S._ p. 365). In\nMason\u2019s _Tales and Traditions of Tenby_ (1858, p. 5) this custom is\nalluded to as being celebrated at that place.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nOn the anniversary of St. Stephen it is customary for groups of young\nvillagers to bear about a holly-bush adorned with ribbons, and having\nmany wrens depending from it. This is carried from house to house with\nsome ceremony, the \u201cwren-boys\u201d chanting several verses, the burthen of\nwhich may be collected from the following lines of their song:\n\n    \u201cThe wren, the wren, the king of all birds,\n    St. Stephen\u2019s Day was caught in the furze,\n    Although he is little, his family\u2019s great,\n    I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat.\n\n    My box would speak if it had but a tongue,\n    And two or three shillings would do it no wrong;\n    Sing holly, sing ivy--sing ivy, sing holly,\n    A drop just to drink, it would drown melancholy.\n\n    And if you draw it of the best,\n    I hope in Heaven your soul may rest;\n    But if you draw it of the small,\n    It won\u2019t agree with the wren-boys at all;\u201d &c., &c.\n\nA small piece of money is usually bestowed on them, and the evening\nconcludes in merry-making with the money thus collected.--Croker,\n_Researches in the South of Ireland_, 1824, p. 233.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 28.] HOLY INNOCENTS\u2019 DAY.\n\n\nIn consequence probably of the feelings of horror attached to such an\nact of atrocity as Herod\u2019s murder of the children, Innocents\u2019 Day used\nto be reckoned about the most unlucky throughout the year; and in former\ntimes no one who could possibly avoid it began any work or entered on\nany undertaking on this anniversary.[96] To many Childermas Day was\nespecially inauspicious. It is said of the equally superstitious and\nunprincipled monarch, Louis XI., that he would never perform any\nbusiness, or enter into any discussion about his affairs, on this day,\nand to make to him then any proposal of the kind was certain to\nexasperate him to the utmost. We are informed too that, in England, on\nthe occasion of the coronation of King Edward IV., that solemnity which\nhad been originally intended to take place on Sunday, was postponed till\nthe Monday, owing to the former day being in that year the festival of\nChildermas. This idea of the inauspicious nature of the day was long\nprevalent, and is even yet not wholly extinct. To the present hour the\nhousewives in Cornwall, and probably also in other parts of the country,\nrefrain scrupulously from scouring or scrubbing on Innocents\u2019\nDay.--_Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 776.\n\n  [96] In the play of _Sir John Oldcastle_, the prevalence of this\n  belief is instanced by an objection urged to an expedition proposed on\n  a Friday:--\u201cFriday, quoth\u2019a, a dismal day; Candlemas-day this year was\n  Friday.\u201d\n\nIt was, moreover, not considered lucky upon this day to put on new\nclothes or pare the nails.\n\nIn 1517, however, King Henry VIII., by an order, enjoined, \u201cthat the\n_King of Cockneys_, on _Childermas Day_, should sit and have due\nservice; and that he and all his officers should use honest manner and\ngood order, without any waste or destruction making in wine, brawn,\nchely, or other vitails; and also that he and his marshal, butler, and\nconstable marshal, should have their lawful and honest commandments by\ndelivery of the officers of Christmas, and that the said King of\nCockneys, he, none of his officers, medyl neither in the buttery nor in\nthe stuard of Christmass, his officer, upon pain of 40_s._ for every\nsuch meddling; and lastly, that Jack Straw and all his adherents should\nbe thenceforth utterly banisht, and no more to be used in this house,\nupon pain to forfeit, for every time, five pounds, to be levied on every\nfellow happening to offend against this rule.\u201d--_Every Day Book_, 1862,\nvol. i. p. 1648; Dugdale\u2019s _Orig. Jurid._\n\nIt was at one time customary on this day to whip the juvenile members of\na family. Gregory remarks that \u201cit hath been a custom, and yet is\nelsewhere, to whip up the children upon Innocents\u2019 Day morning, that the\nmemorie of this murther might stick the closer; and, in a moderate\nproportion, to act over the crueltie again in kind.\u201d Gregory also states\nanother custom, on the authority of an old ritual belonging to the\nAbbey of Oseney, communicated to him by his friend, Dr. Gerard Langbain,\nthe Provost of Queen\u2019s College, Oxford, from which it appears that, at\nthe church of Oseney, \u201cthey were wont to bring out, upon this day, the\nfoot of a child prepared after their fashion, and put upon with red\nand black colours, as to signify the dismal part of the day. They\nput this up in a chest in the vestry, ready to be produced at the time,\nand to be solemnly carried about the church to be adored by the\npeople.\u201d--Gregorie\u2019s Works, _Episcopus Puerorum in Die Innocentium_,\n1684, p. 113.\n\n\nGLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\nAt Woodchester a muffled peal is rung on this day.--_Kalendar of the\nEnglish Church_, 1866, p. 194.\n\n\nNORTHAMPTONSHIRE.\n\nIn Northamptonshire this festival was called \u201cDyzemas Day.\u201d Miss Baker,\nin her _Glossary of Northamptonshire Words_ (1854, vol. i. p. 207), says\nshe was told by a sexagenarian on the southern side of the county that,\nwithin his remembrance, this day was kept as sacred as the Sabbath, and\nit was considered particularly unlucky to commence any undertaking, or\neven to wash, on the same day of the week throughout the year on which\nthe anniversary of this day last fell, and it was commonly said, \u201cWhat\nis begun on Dyzemas Day will never be finished.\u201d\n\nThe source of the ill-omened _Dyzemas_ has not been settled: its origin\nhas been suggested from Greek _dus_, and _mass_, as being expressive of\nmisfortune, evil, peril, in allusion to the massacre of the Innocents. A\ncorrespondent of _N. & Q._ (_2nd S._ vol. iii. pp. 289 and 495) asks if\nit has not reference to the name _Desmas_, given to one of the thieves\ncrucified with our Lord; universal tradition seeming to attach Desmas to\nthe penitent, and Gestas (or Yesmas) to the impenitent thief? And if the\nlocal tradition has any reference to these names, it would seem as if\nDesmas was the name of ill-omen. It has also been suggested that Dyzemas\nDay is tithe day: in Portuguese, _dizimas_, _dizimos_, tenths, tithes;\nin law Latin, _decimae_, the same. Timbs thinks it referable to the old\nnorth-country word _disen_, i.e., to dress out in holiday finery,\nespecially at this festive season.--_Something for Everybody_, (1861, p\n154).\n\n\nSOMERSETSHIRE.\n\nFrom time immemorial a muffled peal has been rung on this festival at\nLeigh-upon-Mendip. At Wells, also, on this day, the bells of the\ncathedral ring out a muffled peal in commemoration of the martyrdom of\nthe Innocents.--_Kalendar of the Church of England_, 1866, p. 194.\n\n\nWORCESTERSHIRE.\n\nAt Norton, near Evesham, it is customary, says a correspondent of _N. &\nQ._ (_1st S._ vol. viii. p. 617), to ring first a muffled peal for the\nslaughter of the Holy Innocents, and then an unmuffled peal of joy for\nthe deliverance of the Infant Christ.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nHoly Innocents\u2019 Day is with the Irish \u201cthe cross day of the year,\u201d which\nthey call in their own tongue \u201cLa crosta na bliana,\u201d or sometimes \u201cDiar\ndaoin darg,\u201d the latter phrase signifying \u201cblood Thursday.\u201d On this day\nthe Irish housewife will not warp thread, or permit it to be warped; and\nthe Irish say that anything begun on this day must have an unlucky\nending. The following legend regarding the day is current in the county\nof Clare:--\n\nBetween the parishes of Quin and Tulla in this county is a lake called\nTurlough. In the lake is a little island, and among a heap of loose\nstones in the middle of the island rises a white thorn-bush, which is\ncalled \u201cScagh an Earla\u201d (the earl\u2019s bush). A suit of clothes made for a\nchild on the \u201cCross day,\u201d or \u201cDiar daoin darg,\u201d was put on the\nchild--the child died. The clothes were put on a second and on a third\nchild--they also died. The parent of the children at length put out the\nclothes on the \u201cScagh an Earla,\u201d and when the waters fell which for a\ntime covered the bush, the clothes were found to be full of dead eels.\nSuch is the story; and other stories like it are freely told of the\nconsequences of commencing work on \u201cthe cross day of the year\u201d in\nIreland.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. xii. p. 185.\n\n\n\n\nDEC. 31.] NEW YEAR\u2019S EVE.\n\n\nThe last night of the old year has been called _Singing-E\u2019en_, from the\ncustom of singing carols on the evening of this day.\n\nThis eve is called by the Wesleyan Methodists _Watch Night_, because at\ntheir principal chapels the ministers and congregations hold a service\nto watch out the old year, i.e., they pray until about five minutes to\ntwelve o\u2019clock, and then observe a profound silence until the clock\nstrikes, when they exultingly burst forth with a hymn of praise and joy.\nLatterly, this service has been very generally observed by evangelical\nchurchmen.--See Timbs\u2019 _Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 156.\n\n_Wassail-bowl._--Formerly, at this season, the head of the house\nassembled his family around a bowl of spiced ale, from which he drank\ntheir healths, then passed it to the rest, that they might drink too.\nThe word that passed amongst them was the ancient Saxon phrase, _wass\nhael_; that is, _to your health_. Hence this came to be recognised as\nthe Wassail or Wassel-bowl. The poorer class of people carried a bowl\nadorned with ribbons round the neighbourhood, begging for something\nwherewith to obtain the means of filling it.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p.\n27; See Nare\u2019s _Glossary_ (Halliwell and Wright), 1859, vol. ii. p. 943;\n_Antiquarian Repertory_, vol. i. p. 218; Ritson\u2019s _Ancient Songs_, 1790,\np. 304.\n\n\nCORNWALL.\n\nNew Year\u2019s Day and Eve are holidays with the miners. It has been said\nthey refuse to work on these days from superstitious reasons.--Hunt\u2019s\n_Romances of the West of England_, 1871, p. 350.\n\n\nCUMBERLAND.\n\nAt Muncaster, on the eve of the new year, the children used to go from\nhouse to house singing a ditty which craves the bounty \u201cthey were wont\nto have in old King Edward\u2019s days.\u201d No tradition exists as to the origin\nof this custom. The donation was twopence or a pie at every\nhouse.--Hutchinson, _History of Cumberland_, 1794, vol. i. p. 570,\n_note_.\n\n\nDERBYSHIRE.\n\nOn New Year\u2019s Eve a cold possett, as it is called, made of milk, ale,\neggs, currants, and spice, is prepared, and in it is placed the\nwedding-ring of the hostess; each of the party takes out a ladle full,\nand in doing so takes every precaution to fish up the ring, as it is\nbelieved that whoever is fortunate enough to \u201ccatch\u201d the ring will be\nmarried before the year is out. On the same night it is customary in\nsome districts to throw open all the doors of the house just before\nmidnight, and to wait for the coming year, as for an honoured guest, by\nmeeting him as he approaches, and crying, \u201cWelcome!\u201d--_Jour. of the\nArch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 201.\n\n\nGLOUCESTERSHIRE.\n\nOn New Year\u2019s Eve the wassailers go about carrying with them a large\nbowl, dressed up with garlands and ribbons, and repeat the following\nsong:\n\n    \u201cWassail! wassail! all over the town,\n    Our toast it is white, our ale it is brown,\n    Our bowl it is made of a maplin tree;\n    We be good fellows all, I drink to thee.\n\n    Here\u2019s to our horse, and to his right ear,\n    God send our maister a happy New Year;\n    A happy New Year as e\u2019er he did see--\n    With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.\n\n    Here\u2019s to our mare and to her right eye,\n    God send our mistress a good Christmas pye:\n    A good Christmas pye as e\u2019er I did see--\n    With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.\n\n    Here\u2019s to Fil\u2019pail [cow] and to her long tail,\n    God send our measter us never may fail\n    Of a cup of good beer, I pray you draw near,\n    And our jolly wassail it\u2019s then you shall hear.\n\n    Be here any maids? I suppose there be some,\n    Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone;\n    Sing hey, O maids, come trole back the pin,\n    And the fairest maid in the house let us all in.\n\n    Come, butler, come bring us a bowl of the best:\n    I hope your soul in heaven will rest;\n    But if you do bring us a bowl of the small,\n    Then down fall butler, bowl and all.\u201d\n\n  See _Dixon\u2019s Ancient Poems_, 1846, p. 199.\n\n\nISLE OF MAN.\n\nIn many of the upland cottages it is customary for the housewife, after\nraking the fire for the night, and just before stepping into bed, to\nspread the ashes smooth over the floor with the tongs in the hope of\nfinding in it, next morning, the tract of a foot; should the toes of\nthis ominous print point towards the door, then it is believed a member\nof the family will die in the course of that year; but should the heel\nof the fairy foot point in that direction, then it is firmly believed\nthat the family will be augmented within the same period.--Train,\n_History of Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 115.\n\n\nNOTTINGHAMSHIRE.\n\nOf the New Year\u2019s customs observed in this county the wassail was until\nrecently observed to a considerable extent. This friendly custom was\nobserved by the young women of the village, who accustomed themselves to\ngo about from door to door on New Year\u2019s Eve, neatly dressed for the\noccasion, and bearing a bowl richly decorated with evergreens and\nribbands, and filled with a compound of ale, roasted apples, and toast,\nand seasoned with nutmeg and sugar. The bowl was offered to the inmates\nwith the singing of the following amongst other verses:\n\n    \u201cGood master, at your door,\n      Our wassail we begin;\n    We all are maidens poor,\n      So we pray you let us in,\n    And drink our wassail.\n      All hail, wassail!\n      Wassail, wassail!\n    And drink our wassail!\u201d\n\n  _Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. viii. p. 230.\n\nOn this night also, in many parts of this county, as well as in\nDerbyshire, a muffled peal is rung on the church bells till twelve\no\u2019clock, when the bandages are removed from the bells whilst the clock\nis striking, and a merry peal is instantly struck up; this is called\n\u201cringing the old year out and the new year in.\u201d--_Jour. of the Arch.\nAssoc._, 1853, vol. viii. p. 230.\n\n\nOXFORDSHIRE.\n\nIt is a custom at Merton College, says Pointer, in his _Oxoniensis\nAcademia_ (1749, p. 24), on the last night in the year (called Scrutiny\nNight), for the college servants, all in a body, to make their\nappearance in the hall before the warden and fellows (after supper), and\nthere to deliver up the keys, so that if they have committed any great\ncrime in the year their keys are taken away, and consequently their\nplaces, otherwise they are of course delivered to them again.\n\nAt the opening of the scrutiny the senior Bursar makes this short\nspeech:\n\n    In hoc scrutinio h\u00e6c tria sunt proponenda,\n    Mores servientium--numerus Portionistarum,\n    Electio Hortulanorum.\n\n\nISLE OF WIGHT.\n\nAt Yarmouth the following doggerel is sung at the season of the new\nyear:\n\n    \u201cWassal, wassal to our town!\n    The cup is white and the ale is brown;\n    The cup is made of the ashen tree,\n    And so is the ale of the good barley;\n    Little maid, little maid, turn the pin,\n    Open the door and let us come in;\n    God be here, God be there,\n    I wish you all a Happy New Year.\u201d\n\n  Halliwell\u2019s _Popular Rhymes_, 1849, p. 236.\n\n\nYORKSHIRE.\n\nAt Bradford it is the practice of men and women, dressed in strange\ncostumes, with blackened faces, and besoms in hand, to enter houses on\nNew Year\u2019s Eve so as to \u201csweep out the old year.\u201d--_N. & Q. 5th S._ vol.\ni. p. 383.\n\n\nSCOTLAND.\n\nHogmanay is the universal popular name in Scotland for the last day of\nthe year. It is a day of high festival among young and old--but\nparticularly the young, who do not regard any of the rest of the Daft\nDays with half so much interest. It is still customary, in retired and\nprimitive towns, for the children of the poorer class of people to get\nthemselves on that morning swaddled in a great sheet, doubled up in\nfront, so as to form a vast pocket, and then to go along the streets in\nlittle bands, calling at the doors of the wealthier classes for an\nexpected dole of oaten bread. Each child gets one quadrant section of\noat-cake (sometimes, in the case of particular cases, improved by an\naddition of cheese), and this is called their _hogmanay_. In expectation\nof the large demands thus made upon them, the housewives busy themselves\nfor several days beforehand in preparing a suitable quantity of cakes.\nThe children, on coming to the door, cry \u201cHogmanay!\u201d which is in itself\na sufficient announcement of their demands; but there are other\nexclamations, which either are or might be used for the same purpose.\nOne of these is:\n\n                        \u201cHogmanay,\n                        Trollolay,\n    Give us of your white bread, and none of your grey!\u201d\n\nWhat is precisely meant by the word _hogmanay_, or by the still more\ninexplicable _trollolay_, has been a subject fertile in dispute to\nScottish antiquaries, as the reader will find by an inspection of the\n_Arch\u00e6ologia Scotica_. A suggestion of the late Professor Robison of\nEdinburgh seems the best, that the word hogmanay was derived from _Au\nqui menez_, (\u201cTo the misletoe go\u201d), which mummers formerly cried in\nFrance at Christmas. Another suggested explanation is, _Au queux\nmenez_--that is, bring to the beggars. At the same time, it was\ncustomary for these persons to rush unceremoniously into houses, playing\nantic tricks, and bullying the inmates, for the money and choice\nvictuals, crying: _Tire-lire_ (referring to a small money-box they\ncarried), _maint du blanc, et point du bas_.\u201d These various cries, it\nmust be owned, are as like as possible to \u201cHogmanay, trollolay, give us\nof your white bread, and none of your grey.\u201d--Chambers\u2019 _Pop. Rhymes of\nScotland_, 1870, pp. 164-165; see Hales\u2019s _Analysis of Chronoloqy_,\n1830, vol. i. pp. 50, 51, also _N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. ii. pp. 329, 517.\n\nIn Scotland also, upon the last of the old year, the children go about\nfrom door to door, asking for bread and cheese, which they call\n\u201cNog-money,\u201d in these words:\n\n    \u201cGet up, gude wife, and binno sweir (i.e., be not lazy),\n    And deal your cakes and cheese while you are here;\n    For the time will come when ye\u2019ll be dead,\n    And neither need your cheese nor bread.\u201d\n\n  Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 14.\n\n\nLANARKSHIRE.\n\nAt the town of Biggar (in the upper ward of Lanarkshire) it has been\ncustomary from time immemorial among the inhabitants to celebrate what\nis called \u201cburning out the old year.\u201d For this purpose, during the day\nof the 31st of December, a large quantity of fuel is collected,\nconsisting of branches of trees, brushwood, and coals, and placed in a\nheap at the \u201ccross;\u201d and about nine o\u2019clock at night the lighting of the\nfire is commenced, surrounded by a crowd of lookers-on, who each think\nit a duty to cast into the flaming mass some additional portion of\nmaterial, the whole being sufficient to maintain the fire till next or\nNew Year\u2019s Day morning is far advanced. Fires are also kindled on the\nadjacent hills to add to the importance of the occasion.\n\nIt is considered unlucky to give out a light to any one on the morning\nof the new year, and therefore if the house-fire has been allowed to\nbecome extinguished, recourse must be had to the embers of the pile.\nThis then accounts for the maintenance of the fire up to a certain time\non New Year\u2019s Day.\n\nSome consider these fires to be the relics of Pagan or of Druidical\nrites of the dark ages; perhaps of a period as remote as that of the\n_Beltaine fires_, the change of circumstances having now altered these\nfires, both as to the particular season of year of their celebration,\nand of their various religious forms.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ix. p. 322.\n\n\nMORAYSHIRE.\n\nIn the village of Burghead, situated on the southern shore of the Moray\nFrith, about nine miles from Elgin, the county town of Morayshire, the\nfollowing curious custom is observed:\n\nOn the evening of the last day of December (Old Style), the youths of\nthe village assemble about dusk, and make the necessary preparations for\nthe celebration of the \u201cClavie.\u201d Proceeding to some shop they demand a\nstrong empty barrel, which is usually given at once, but if refused\ntaken by force. Another for breaking up, and a quantity of tar are\nlikewise procured at the same time. Thus furnished they repair to a\nparticular spot close to the sea-shore, and commence operations. A hole\nabout four inches in diameter is first made in the bottom of the\nstronger barrel, into which the end of a stone pole, five feet in\nlength, is firmly fixed: to strengthen their hold a number of supports\nare nailed round the outside of the former, and also closely round the\nlatter. The tar is then put into the barrel, and set on fire, and the\nremaining one being broken up, stave after stave is thrown in until it\nis quite full. The \u201cClavie,\u201d already burning fiercely, is now shouldered\nby some strong man, and borne away at a rapid pace. As soon as the\nbearer gives signs of exhaustion, another willingly takes his place; and\nshould any of those who are honoured to carry the blazing load meet with\nan accident, as sometimes happens, the misfortune incites no pity even\namong his near relatives. In making the circuit of the village they are\nsaid to confine themselves to its old boundaries. Formerly, the\nprocession visited all the fishing-boats, but this has been discontinued\nfor some time. Having gone over the appointed ground, the \u201cClavie\u201d is\nfinally carried to a small artificial eminence near the point of the\npromontory, and interesting as being a portion of the ancient\nfortifications, spared probably on account of its being used for this\npurpose, where a circular heap of stones used to be hastily piled up, in\nthe hollow centre of which the \u201cClavie\u201d was placed still burning. On\nthis eminence, which is termed the \u201cdurie,\u201d the present proprietor has\nlately erected a small round column, with a cavity in the centre for\nadmitting the fire end of the pole, and into this it is now placed.\nAfter being allowed to burn on the \u201cdurie\u201d for a few minutes, the\n\u201cClavie\u201d is most unceremoniously hurled from its place, and the smoking\nembers scattered among the assembled crowd, by whom, in less enlightened\ntimes, they were eagerly caught at and fragments of them carried home\nand carefully preserved as charms against witchcraft. At one time\nsuperstition invested the whole proceedings with all the solemnity of a\nreligious rite, the whole population joining in it as an act necessary\nto the welfare and prosperity of the little community during the year\nabout to commence.\n\nThe \u201cClavie\u201d has now, however, degenerated into a mere frolic, kept up\nby the youngsters more for their own amusement than for any benefit\nwhich the due performance of the ceremony is believed to secure.--_N. &\nQ. 2nd S._ vol. ix. p. 38; see also _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ix. pp. 106,\n169, 269; and _Book of Days_, vol. ii. pp. 789-791.\n\n\nORKNEY.\n\nIt was formerly the custom in Orkney for large bands of the common class\nof people to assemble on New Year\u2019s Eve, and pay a round of visits,\nsinging a song which commenced as follows:\n\n    \u201cThis night it is guid New\u2019r E\u2019en\u2019s night,\n      We\u2019re a\u2019 here Queen Mary\u2019s men;\n    And we\u2019re come here to crave our right,\n      And that\u2019s before our Lady.\u201d\n\n  Brand\u2019s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 9; see Chambers\u2019 _Pop. Rhymes\n  of Scotland_, 1870, pp. 167, 168, 324.\n\n\nIRELAND.\n\nOn the last night of the year a cake is thrown against the outside door\nof each house by the head of the family, which ceremony is said to keep\nout hunger during the ensuing one.--Croker, _Researches in the South of\nIreland_, 1824, p. 233.\n\nA correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_5th S._ vol. iii. p. 7) says, on New\nYear\u2019s Day about the suburbs at the County Down side of Belfast, the\nboys run about carrying little twisted wisps of straw, which they offer\nto persons whom they meet, or throw into their houses, as New Year\u2019s\nofferings, and expect to get in return any small present, such as a\nlittle money or a piece of bread.\n\nAbout Glenarm, on the coast of County Antrim, the \u201cwisp\u201d is not used,\nbut on this day the boys go about from house to house, and are regaled\nwith bannocks of oaten bread, buttered; these bannocks are baked\nspecially for the occasion, and are commonly small, thick, and round,\nand with a hole through the centre. Any person who enters a house on New\nYear\u2019s Day must either eat or drink before leaving it.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n  Abb\u00e9 de Liesse, 459\n\n  Abbot of Misrule, 459\n\n  Acres Fair, 388\n\n  Advent Bells, 431\n\n  Agatha (St.), 374\n\n  Agnes\u2019 (St.) Day, 47\n\n  Agnes\u2019 (St.) Eve, 46\n\n  Agnes\u2019 (St.) Fast, 46\n\n  Alaf-mass, 347\n\n  Ale, the Whitsun, 278\n\n  Allan Day, 395\n\n  Alleluia, Funeral of the, 45\n\n  All Fools\u2019 Day, 184\n\n  All Hallows\u2019 Day, 397\n\n  All Hallow Mass, 55\n\n  All Saints\u2019 Day, 404\n\n  All Souls\u2019 Day, 409\n\n  All Souls\u2019 Eve, 405\n\n  Andermess, 430\n\n  Andisop, 431\n\n  Andrew\u2019s (St.), Day, 429\n\n  Andrew\u2019s (St.), Under Shaft, 247\n\n  Androis Mess, 430\n\n  Andrys Day, 430\n\n  Anne\u2019s (St.) Day, 346, 357\n\n  Annunciation, Festival of, 180\n\n  Apparition of St. Michael, 275\n\n  Apples, given away on New Year\u2019s Day, 5\n\n  Apples, ducking for, on Halloween, 394\n\n  Apple-trees, wassailing of, 450\n\n  April Gouks, 187\n\n  Apprentices\u2019 Feast, 355\n\n  Array, Court of, 287\n\n  Ascension Day, 210\n\n  Ash Wednesday, 84\n\n  Ashton faggot, 446\n\n  Ass-ridlin, 199\n\n  Assumption of the Virgin Mary, 357\n\n  Aughrim, battle of, 340\n\n  August, Gule of, 347\n\n  Auld Handsel Monday, 19\n\n  Avage or Avisage, 416\n\n\n  Bacchus, Verses written in honour of, 58\n\n  Bacon, gammon of, eaten at Easter, 162\n\n  Bairn bishop, 291\n\n  Baker\u2019s Clem, 423\n\n  Balmoral Castle, Halloween at, 401\n\n  Bannich Bruader, 90\n\n  Bannich Junit, 89\n\n  Barchan\u2019s (St.) Day, 437\n\n  Barnabas\u2019 (St.) Day, 310\n\n  Barring out, 72\n\n  Bartholomew\u2019s (St.) Day, 361\n\n  Barton Fair, 379\n\n  Bay, used as a decoration at Christmas, 458\n\n  Beans, kings created by, 20\n\n  Bear-baiting, 385\n\n  Beating the Bounds, 210\n\n  Beating the Cross, 213\n\n  Becket, Thomas-\u00e0-, 338\n\n  Becket\u2019s Fair, 339\n\n  Bedfordshire, 151, 205, 290, 374, 439, 493\n\n  Bees, Superstition regarding, 451\n\n  Bells, 5, 62, 82, 87, 476, 496, 499, 500, 504\n\n  Beltein, 223, 269\n\n  Berkshire, 119, 152, 191, 194, 233, 346, 377, 439, 466\n\n  Bezant, festival at Shaftesbury, 207\n\n  Bible, opening of, on New Year\u2019s Day, 5\n\n  Biddenham Cakes, 165\n\n  Binding Tuesday, 188\n\n  Birch, used as a decoration at Whitsuntide, 281\n\n  Black Cherry Fair, 357\n\n  Blaize\u2019s (St.) Day, 60\n\n  Blasius (St.), 60\n\n  Blayse (St.) Night, 62\n\n  Blessing of the Brine, 210\n\n  Blood Thursday, 500\n\n  Bloody Thursday, 148\n\n  Bluecoats, worn on St. George\u2019s Day, 193\n\n  Boar\u2019s Head, at Christmas, 455, 470, 473, 477\n\n  Boat Sunday, 443\n\n  Boggons, 32\n\n  Bonfires, 22, 61, 313, 395\n\n  Bounds, beating of the, 210\n\n  Bounds Thursday, 210\n\n  Boxing Day, 493\n\n  Boy\u2019s Bailiff, 287\n\n  Boy Bishop, 291, 432\n\n  Boyne, battle of, 337\n\n  Braggot, 117\n\n  Braggot Sunday, 117\n\n  Bread, baked on Good Friday, 149\n\n  Bread Mass, 347\n\n  Brices\u2019 (St.) Day, 421\n\n  Bride-Ale, 278\n\n  Bridget\u2019s (St.) Eve, 344\n\n  Brine, blessing of the, 210\n\n  Buckinghamshire, 6, 58, 69, 135, 169, 210, 234, 290, 291, 314, 323,\n  331, 354, 373, 390, 419, 426, 467, 493\n\n  Bull-baiting, 369, 439\n\n  Bull-running, 421\n\n  Buns, made on Good Friday, 150, 157\n\n  Burning out the Old Year, 506\n\n  \u2018Buryin\u2019 Peter,\u2019 333\n\n  Burying the Mace, 380\n\n  Bustard, eaten at Christmas, 456\n\n\n  Cake Night, 398\n\n  Cambridgeshire, 39, 105, 123, 234, 323, 334, 343, 419, 423, 426, 468,\n  494\n\n  Candles offered to St. Blayse, 62\n\n  Candle Bearing, 54\n\n  Candle Day, 428\n\n  Candlemas Ba\u2019, 57\n\n  Candlemas bleeze or blaze, 56\n\n  Candlemas Candle, 55\n\n  Candlemas Day, 54\n\n  Candlemas Eve, 52\n\n  Card-playing at Christmas, 463\n\n  Careing Fair, 118\n\n  Careing Sunday, 119\n\n  Care Sunday, 121\n\n  Carl Sunday, 122\n\n  Carlings, 122\n\n  Carling Groat, 123\n\n  Carling Sunday, 122\n\n  Carol Singing, 456\n\n  \u2018Catching,\u2019 109\n\n  Catherine\u2019s (St.) Day, 426\n\n  Cathern bowl, 429\n\n  Cattern Day, 426\n\n  Chalk-back-Day, 370\n\n  Chare Thursday, 139\n\n  Charles I., King of England, execution of, 50\n\n  Charles II., King of England, celebration of Twelfth Night by, 29;\n    his Restoration, 301\n\n  Charlton Fair, 387\n\n  Cheese, given away at Christmas, 482\n\n  Cheshire, 69, 169, 195, 210, 234, 283, 314, 324, 405, 409, 441, 446\n\n  Childermas Day, 498\n\n  Children\u2019s Day, 177\n\n  Chimney Sweepers\u2019 Dance, 231\n\n  Chopping at the Tree, 167\n\n  Christ\u2019s Bed, making of, 158\n\n  Christ\u2019s Hospital, London, 179, 311, 374, 422\n\n  Christ\u2019s Presentation, 54\n\n  Christmas under the Commonwealth, 454\n\n  Christmas Book, 456\n\n  Christmas Box, 19, 493\n\n  Christmas Candles, 456\n\n  Christmas Carols, 457\n\n  Christmas Clog, 52, 452\n\n  Christmas Day, 452\n\n  Christmas Decorations, 457\n\n  Christmas Drink, 473\n\n  Christmas Eve, 446\n\n  Christmas Presents, 19\n\n  Christmas Sports, 403\n\n  Christmas Tree, 463\n\n  Clome, the, used in wassailing, 21\n\n  Cloth Fair, 363\n\n  Church-porch, watching in the, 200\n\n  Churches decorated, 157, 162, 280, 281, 457\n\n  Claudius Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, 204\n\n  \u2018Clavie,\u2019 the burning of, 507\n\n  Clement\u2019s (St.) Day, 423\n\n  Clipping the Church, 176\n\n  Cob loaf stealing, 451\n\n  Cobbs, given away on St. Thomas\u2019 Day, 442\n\n  Cocks and Dumps, 67\n\n  Cock Crower, 92\n\n  Cock Fighting, 65, 177\n\n  \u2018Cock in the pot,\u2019 39\n\n  \u2018Cock on the dunghill,\u2019 39\n\n  Cock Penny, 79\n\n  Cock running, 78\n\n  Cock throwing, 78\n\n  Cocque\u2019els, 81\n\n  Coelcoeth, 398\n\n  Coffin Crusts, 458\n\n  Cold Possett, 502\n\n  Collar of Brawn, 468\n\n  Collop Monday, 57\n\n  Columbkill, 310\n\n  Columb\u2019s (St.) Well, 310\n\n  Commencement Day, 334\n\n  Compostella, Shrine of St. James at, 345\n\n  Coquerells, 81\n\n  Coquilles, 81\n\n  Corn Showing, 172\n\n  \u2018Corning, going a-,\u2019 443\n\n  Cornwall, 47, 58, 73, 120, 121, 128, 162, 216, 235, 275, 279, 302,\n  315, 324, 338, 339, 378, 395, 431, 446, 468, 501\n\n  Corpus Christi Day, 297\n\n  Corpus Christi Eve, 297\n\n  Coteswold Games, 292\n\n  Court of Array, 287\n\n  Coventry Show Fair, 300\n\n  Crab-Apples, gathered on Michaelmas Day, 376\n\n  Crabbing the Parson, 341\n\n  Crack-nut Sunday, 375\n\n  Cracklin Friday, 153\n\n  Cramp Rings, 49\n\n  Cresset-light, 317\n\n  Creeping to the Cross, 148\n\n  Crispin\u2019s (St.) Day, 388\n\n  Cross, Invention of the, 275\n\n  Cross Day of the Year, 500\n\n  Crowdie, 88\n\n  Crowning of the Cock, 487\n\n  Croyland Abbey, knives given away at, on St. Bartholomew\u2019s Day, 367\n\n  Cuckoo, 187, 192\n\n  Cuckoo Ale, 192\n\n  Cumberland, 29, 72, 159, 163, 279, 291, 310, 315, 356, 419, 469, 501\n\n  Curfew Bell, 78\n\n  Cushion Dance, 253\n\n  Cuthbert\u2019s (St.) Day, 371\n\n  \u2018Cutting off the fiddler\u2019s head,\u2019 34\n\n  Cymhortha, 110\n\n  Cypress, used as decoration at Christmas, 458\n\n\n  Daft Days, 505\n\n  \u2018Dart, throwing the,\u2019 370\n\n  David\u2019s (St.) Day, 110\n\n  \u2018Dead and Living Ford,\u2019 17\n\n  Decoration of Churches, 157, 162, 280, 281, 457\n\n  Deptford Fair, 296\n\n  Derbyshire, 30, 39, 74, 99, 105, 128, 165, 170, 211, 237, 283, 302,\n  404, 409, 412, 446, 469, 502\n\n  Desmas, one of the thieves crucified with our Lord, 499\n\n  Devils\u2019 Knell, 452\n\n  Devonshire, 20, 59, 76, 100, 152, 212, 217, 237, 302, 308, 324, 348,\n  446\n\n  \u2018Dipping,\u2019 5\n\n  Dipping Day, 235\n\n  Dirge Loaf, 410\n\n  Dish Fair, 387\n\n  Dismal Day, the, 275\n\n  Distaff\u2019s (St.) Day, 36\n\n  Doggett, Thomas, 349\n\n  Dogs, Whipping of, 386, 387\n\n  Dole Bread, 401\n\n  Doleing Day, 443\n\n  Dorsetshire, 30, 55, 152, 159, 205, 385, 441, 470\n\n  Dough-nut Day, 78\n\n  Dover, Robert, 292\n\n  Drinking Sowins, 489\n\n  Druids, 1, 223\n\n  Duck-under-water, 253\n\n  Dulce Domum, sung at Winchester School, 284\n\n  Dumb-cake, 199, 312, 384\n\n  Durham, 303, 371\n\n  Dutton, family of, privileged to license the Cheshire minstrels, 324\n\n  Dyzemas Day, 499\n\n\n  Easter Day, 161\n\n  Easter Eve, 159\n\n  Easter Monday, 169\n\n  Easter Tuesday, 179\n\n  Eccles Cakes, 369\n\n  Eccles Wake, 369\n\n  Edward IV. of England, his Coronation, 498\n\n  Eel Fair, 293\n\n  Egg-hopping, 329\n\n  Egg Saturday, 52\n\n  Elecampane, 171\n\n  Election of kings by beans, 24\n\n  Elizabeth, Queen of England, her accession observed, 422\n\n  Epiphany, 24\n\n  Epping Hunt, 171\n\n  Erconwald\u2019s (St.) Day, 422\n\n  Essex, 6, 94, 153, 171, 212, 237, 280, 378, 416, 470\n\n  Eton Montem, 290\n\n  Eve of the Epiphany, 20\n\n  Eve of Paul\u2019s Tide, 47\n\n  Evelyn, John, 183, 454\n\n  Evil May-day, 248\n\n  Execution of Charles I., King of England, 50\n\n\n  Fad\u00e9-dance, 276\n\n  Fag-pies, 119\n\n  Fairchild Lecture, 291\n\n  Faith\u2019s (St.) Day, 384\n\n  Farthing Loaf Day, 319\n\n  Fastren\u2019s E\u2019en, 88\n\n  Fastyngonge Tuesday, 81\n\n  Fern, superstitions connected with, 312\n\n  Ferrers, George, 460\n\n  Festival of Kings, 20\n\n  Fiddler\u2019s Head, cutting off of the, 34\n\n  Fig-one, 15\n\n  Fig-pies, 119\n\n  Fig-pie Wake, 119\n\n  Fig-sue, 15, 153\n\n  Fig-Sunday, 128, 133\n\n  Fires, lighting of, on Eve of the Epiphany, 22;\n    on St Blaize\u2019s Day, 61;\n    on St. John\u2019s Eve, 313;\n    on Hallow Eve, 395\n\n  \u2018First Foot,\u2019 5, 17, 483\n\n  Flag Day, 332\n\n  Flap-dragon, 463\n\n  Flap-jack, 63\n\n  Flitting Day, 301\n\n  Floralia, 223, 245\n\n  Flower of the Well, 17\n\n  Flower Sermon, 291\n\n  Flowering Sunday, 134\n\n  Font-hallowing, 159\n\n  Fool-plough, 37\n\n  Foot ball, 75, 83, 87, 401\n\n  Freemen\u2019s Well, the, 201\n\n  Friars\u2019 Girdles, worn by ladies, 94\n\n  Friday in Lide, 120\n\n  Fritter Bell, 78\n\n  Fritter Thursday, 96\n\n  Fruttors Thursday, 96\n\n  Funeral of the Alleluia, 45\n\n  Furmity, 117, 472, 483\n\n  Furry Festival, 275\n\n\n  Gammon of Bacon, eaten at Easter, 162\n\n  Gang Monday Land, 210\n\n  Gangweek, 204\n\n  Ganging Day, 380\n\n  Garland Day, 243\n\n  Garland Sunday, 376\n\n  Garlic Sunday, 376\n\n  Gaunt, John of, 358\n\n  George\u2019s (St.) Day, 192\n\n  Gerard\u2019s Hall, 247\n\n  Gestas, one of the thieves crucified with our Lord, 499\n\n  Giants, display of, at Chester, 314\n\n  Gregory\u2019s (St.) Day, 125\n\n  Glastonbury thorn, 34, 454, 467\n\n  Gloucestershire, 22, 238, 280, 292, 379, 388, 447, 470, 499, 502\n\n  Gloves, at Fairs, 297, 348\n\n  Glove Money, 4\n\n  Glove Silver, 348\n\n  God Cakes, 12\n\n  Goddes Day, 148\n\n  God\u2019s Day, 148\n\n  God\u2019s Friday, 148\n\n  \u2018God speed the Plough,\u2019 41\n\n  Goluan, 315\n\n  Good Friday, 148\n\n  Good Friday Bread, 149\n\n  \u2018Gooding, going-a,\u2019 438\n\n  Goodish Tuesday, 86\n\n  \u2018Good Morrow, Valentine,\u2019 109\n\n  Good Pas Day, 118\n\n  Goose, eaten at Michaelmas, 376\n\n  Goose Fair, Nottingham, 383\n\n  Goose-pies, 196\n\n  Gosling, May, 233, 265\n\n  Gospel Trees, 208\n\n  Gowk, hunting the, 188\n\n  Grace Cup, 450\n\n  Grass Week, 204\n\n  Green Bower Feast, 289\n\n  Greenock Fair, 337\n\n  Grimaldi, Joseph, 461\n\n  \u2018Grotto, pray remember the,\u2019 345\n\n  Guisards, 488\n\n  Guisings, 181\n\n  Gule of August, 347\n\n  Gunpowder Plot, 410\n\n  Guy Fawkes, his day, 410\n\n  Gyst Ale, 181\n\n\n  Hackin, the, at Christmas, 456\n\n  Hailing the Lamb, 212\n\n  Halgaver Court, 389\n\n  Hall\u2019 Monday, 58\n\n  Hallow Eve, 394\n\n  Hampshire, 77, 119, 187, 238, 281, 284, 296, 304, 305, 372, 448\n\n  Handsel Monday, 19, 488\n\n  Harlequinade, 461\n\n  Harrow School, shooting at, 357\n\n  Hay, strewn in churches, 327, 338\n\n  Hays, the, 34\n\n  Heaving, 173, 177\n\n  Heaving Days, 175\n\n  Heavy Cake, 216, 236\n\n  Helen\u2019s (St.) Day, 274, 360\n\n  Hempseed, divination by, 99, 313, 400\n\n  Hen-threshing, 68\n\n  Hentzner, Paul, visits Bartholomew Fair, 361\n\n  Herb-pudding, 151\n\n  Herefordshire, 7, 22, 106, 128, 281, 409, 441, 448, 471\n\n  Heriot\u2019s Hospital, 309\n\n  Hertfordshire, 78, 128, 181, 238, 380, 442\n\n  Het Pint, 15\n\n  Hilary\u2019s (St.) Day, 44\n\n  Hirings, for servants, 279\n\n  Hobby-horse, 236, 461, 463, 486\n\n  Hobby-horse Dance, 480\n\n  Hobby-horsing, 262\n\n  Hock Day, 180\n\n  Hock Money, 191\n\n  Hock-tide, 188\n\n  Hocktide play at Chester, 189\n\n  Hock Tuesday, 188\n\n  Hodening, 472\n\n  Hogmanay, 488, 505\n\n  Hoke Day, 189\n\n  Holiday of St. Simeon, 54\n\n  Hollantide Eve, 396\n\n  Holly, used as a decoration at Christmas, 458\n\n  Holly, its derivation, 457\n\n  Holly Boy, 107\n\n  Holly Bussing, 180\n\n  Holly Night, 35\n\n  Holy Cross Day, 372\n\n  Holy Innocents\u2019 Day, 497\n\n  Holy Rood Day, 372\n\n  Holy Thursday, 215\n\n  Holy Saturday, 160\n\n  Honey Fairs, 469\n\n  Hood, throwing the, 32\n\n  Hoofing-place, 12\n\n  Horns, blown on May Day, 260\n\n  Horses, bled on St. Stephen\u2019s Day, 492\n\n  Horses, decorated on May Day, 243\n\n  Hot Cockles, 463\n\n  Hot Cross Buns, 150, 157\n\n  Hot Pint, 15, 17\n\n  Hunting the Gowk, 188\n\n  Hunting the Ram, 354\n\n  Hunting the Squirrel, 404, 429, 430, 463, 481\n\n  Hunting the Wren, 494\n\n  Huntingdonshire, 40, 78, 217, 241, 334\n\n\n  Inns of Court, 396, 473\n\n  Ireland, 23, 75, 91, 96, 125, 136, 139, 158, 160, 168, 178, 183, 198,\n  222, 270, 282, 300, 310, 321, 329, 337, 340, 344, 370, 375, 383, 403,\n  408, 420, 452, 491, 497, 500, 508\n\n  Irving, Washington, his remarks on seeing a Maypole, 234\n\n  Isle of Axholme, 30\n\n  Isle of Man, 8, 33, 80, 154, 221, 246, 316, 325, 348, 395, 431, 442,\n  449, 472, 494, 503\n\n  Isle of Thanet, 183, 428\n\n  Isle of Wight, 87, 504\n\n  Ivy, used as a decoration at Christmas, 458, 478\n\n  Ivy Girl, 107\n\n\n  Jack and Joan Fair, 385\n\n  Jack of Hilton, 10\n\n  Jack O\u2019Lent, 93\n\n  Jack of May, 264\n\n  Jack-pudding, 463\n\n  James\u2019 (St.) Day, 344\n\n  James (St.) the Less, his day, 234\n\n  James\u2019 (St.) Palace, 153\n\n  Jeu-nhydn, 468\n\n  John\u2019s (St.) Day, 323\n\n  John\u2019s (St.) Eve, 311\n\n  John O Gaunt\u2019s Day, 191\n\n  Jolly Lads, 134\n\n  Joseph of Arimathea, legend regarding his staff, 467\n\n  Judas Iscariot, flogging of, 155\n\n  Jough-ny-nollick, 473\n\n  Juniper, burnt before cattle, 18\n\n\n  Kenelm\u2019s (St.) Day, 341\n\n  Kenilworth Castle, Queen Elizabeth\u2019s visit to, 189\n\n  Kent, 78, 107, 165, 207, 242, 296, 332, 339, 345, 385, 423, 427, 429,\n  448, 471\n\n  Ket Bank, 220\n\n  Kill Bull, the, 477\n\n  Kings created by Beans, 20\n\n  King\u2019s Cock Crower, 92\n\n  King of the Bean, 26\n\n  King of Cockneys, 498\n\n  King of the Millers, 285\n\n  Kit-dressing, 231\n\n  Knappan, 184\n\n  Knives, given away on St. Bartholomew\u2019s Day, 367\n\n  Knotting-sowins, 489\n\n\n  Laa\u2019l Brushey, 51\n\n  Lad\u2019s Valentine, 99\n\n  Lady Day, 180\n\n  Lady Godiva, 280, 300\n\n  Lady of the Lamb, 297\n\n  Lamb Ale, 278\n\n  Lambert Simmel, 115\n\n  Lambs\u2019 Wool, 23, 449, 483\n\n  Lammas Day, 347\n\n  Lammas Towers, 351\n\n  Lamprey-pies, 470\n\n  Lancashire, 7, 79, 119, 134, 153, 181, 213, 217, 243, 284, 316, 334,\n  345, 355, 368, 369, 384, 385, 395, 406, 472\n\n  La Sheachanna na bleanagh, 275\n\n  Lating or Leeting the Witches, 395\n\n  Laurel, used as a Christmas decoration, 458\n\n  Lawless Court, at King\u2019s Hill, 378\n\n  Lawless Hour, at Kidderminster, 379\n\n  Leaping the Well, 201\n\n  Leeks, worn on St. David\u2019s Day, 110, 113\n\n  Leek Pasties, 83\n\n  Leet Ale, 278\n\n  Leicestershire, 40, 79, 197, 284, 338\n\n  Leith Races, 335\n\n  Lent Crocking, 76\n\n  Leonard\u2019s (St.) Day, 416\n\n  Lide, Friday in, 120\n\n  Lifting, 173\n\n  Lincolnshire, 30, 40, 128, 154, 220, 245, 294, 367, 372, 412, 421\n\n  Loaf Mass, 347\n\n  Looe Fair Day, 236\n\n  Long Rope Day, 157\n\n  \u201cLooking through the keyhole,\u201d 105\n\n  Lord Mayor\u2019s Day, 417, 459\n\n  Lord Mayor of Pennyless Cone, 487\n\n  Lord of Misrule, 339, 459, 474, 478\n\n  Louis XI. of France, his superstition regarding Holy Innocents\u2019 Day,\n  498\n\n  Lotts, the, 350\n\n  Low Easter Day, 184\n\n  Low Sunday, 183\n\n  Luke\u2019s (St.) Day, 386\n\n\n  Mace Board, 246\n\n  Mace, burying the, 380\n\n  Mace Monday, 346\n\n  Mainstyr Fiddler, 34\n\n  Mallard Night, 44\n\n  Mandate Thursday, 140\n\n  Margaret\u2019s (St.) Day, 343\n\n  Mari Lwyd, 486\n\n  Mark\u2019s (St.) Day, 200, 203\n\n  Mark\u2019s (St.) Eve, 199, 200\n\n  Marlings, 181\n\n  Marlocking, 181\n\n  Mart, its meaning, 418\n\n  Martinmas, 347\n\n  Martin\u2019s (St.) Day, 418\n\n  Mary\u2019s (St.) Day, in Lent, 180\n\n  Matthew\u2019s (St.) Day, 373\n\n  Maternus (St.), 463\n\n  Maundy Loaves, 140\n\n  Maundy Money, 140\n\n  Maundy Thursday, 139\n\n  May Bough, 243\n\n  May Day, 223\n\n  May Dew, 225, 242\n\n  May Dolls, 216\n\n  May Eve, 215\n\n  May Fair, 249\n\n  May Feast, 263\n\n  May Gads, 245\n\n  May Games, 225\n\n  May Gosling, 233, 265\n\n  May Lady, 234\n\n  May Music, 216\n\n  Maypoles, 228\n\n  May Queen, 238, 246, 251, 255\n\n  May Songs, 232, 233, 238, 240, 242, 251, 255, 257, 259, 261, 262, 263,\n  273\n\n  May Syllabub, 257\n\n  \u2018Maying, going a,\u2019 224\n\n  Michael (St.), Apparition of, 275\n\n  Michaelmas Cake, 383\n\n  Michaelmas Day, 376\n\n  Michaelmas Eve, 375\n\n  Michaelmas Goose, 376\n\n  Michael\u2019s (St.) Bannock, 383\n\n  Middlesex, 32, 48, 80, 113, 147, 154, 160, 166, 174, 179, 187, 213,\n  247, 291, 297, 305, 316, 326, 344, 345, 316, 349, 355, 357, 361, 374,\n  396, 406, 413, 429, 473\n\n  Midlent Sunday, 113, 116\n\n  Midsummer Day, 323\n\n  Midsummer Eve, 311\n\n  Midsummer Men, 312\n\n  Midsummer Watch, 316, 318\n\n  Milk Maids\u2019 Dance, 231\n\n  Millers, King of the, 285\n\n  Mince-pies, 458\n\n  Minched pies, 458\n\n  Minstrels\u2019 Festival, 358\n\n  Miracle Plays, 283, 298, 343, 478\n\n  Mischief Night, 217\n\n  Misrule, Lord of, 339, 459, 474, 478\n\n  Mistletoe, 458, 459\n\n  Mock, the, 446\n\n  Modwen\u2019s (St.) Day, 390\n\n  Molly Grime, figure in Glentham Church, 154\n\n  Monmouthshire, 407\n\n  Morris-dancers, 30, 227, 258\n\n  Moseley\u2019s Dole, 10\n\n  \u2018Mothering, going a,\u2019 116\n\n  Mothering Sunday, 116\n\n  Mummers, 430, 461, 469, 478, 480\n\n  Mumping Day, 441\n\n  \u2018Mumping, going a,\u2019 441\n\n  Mutton-pies, 458\n\n  Myche, a kind of bread, 96\n\n\n  Nativity of the Virgin Mary, 372\n\n  Newark Raffling Day, 51\n\n  New Year\u2019s Day, 1\n\n  New Year\u2019s Eve, 501\n\n  New Year\u2019s Gifts, 1\n\n  New Year\u2019s Ode, 4\n\n  New Year\u2019s Offerings, 509\n\n  New Year\u2019s Song, 19\n\n  Newton, Sir Isaac, on the time of Christ\u2019s birth, 453\n\n  Nicholas (St.), tradition relating to, 436\n\n  Nicholas\u2019 (St.) Day, 432\n\n  Nicholas\u2019 (St.) Eve, 432\n\n  Nickanan Night, 58\n\n  Nicking, of Swans, 346\n\n  Nod Beuno, 295\n\n  Nog Money, 506\n\n  Norfolk, 42, 81, 95, 100, 107, 166, 183, 293, 298, 344, 370, 449, 475,\n  496\n\n  Northamptonshire, 42, 82, 108, 132, 199, 213, 251, 281, 286, 305, 306,\n  327, 332, 340, 413, 427, 430, 449, 476, 499, 503\n\n  Northumberland, 9, 83, 175, 180, 201, 214, 257, 282, 294, 298, 306,\n  318, 327, 332, 335, 389, 476\n\n  Nottinghamshire, 9, 51, 54, 83, 109, 124, 175, 214, 257, 306, 318,\n  380, 383, 397, 413, 442, 449, 476\n\n  Nut Crack Night, 394\n\n  \u2018Nutting, going a,\u2019 373\n\n\n  Oak Apple Day, 301\n\n  Offering Days, 5\n\n  Offering Silver, 481\n\n  Oiel Verry, 449\n\n  Olave\u2019s (St.) Day, 346\n\n  \u2018Old Ball,\u2019 486\n\n  Old Christmas Day, 30, 34, 467\n\n  \u2018Old Clem,\u2019 432\n\n  Old Michaelmas Day, 380\n\n  Old Midsummer Day, 328\n\n  Old Year, burning out the, 506\n\n  Onion Fair, 373\n\n  Oswald\u2019s (St.) Day, 355\n\n  Oxen, superstition regarding, 447\n\n  Oxfordshire, 9, 43, 52, 84, 97, 110, 113, 123, 124, 133, 134, 156,\n  167, 208, 214, 222, 258, 282, 287, 297, 319, 327, 414, 442, 450, 476,\n  496, 504\n\n  Oysters, eaten on St. James\u2019 Day, 344\n\n\n  Pace Eggs, 163\n\n  Pack Monday Fair, 385\n\n  Paganalia, 493\n\n  Paignton Fair, 308\n\n  Palm Saturday, 126\n\n  Palm Sunday, 126\n\n  \u2018Palming, going a,\u2019 127\n\n  Pan-burn-Bell, 82\n\n  Pancakes, 63, 375\n\n  Pancake Bell, 62, 87\n\n  Pancake Month, 65\n\n  Pantomime, 461\n\n  Parish Clerks\u2019 Meeting, 177\n\n  Parkin, 416\n\n  Paschal Day, 148\n\n  Paschal Taper, 159\n\n  Passion-dock, 151\n\n  Passion Sunday, 121\n\n  Paste-Egg Day, 118\n\n  Patrick\u2019s Crosses, 136\n\n  Patrick\u2019s (St.) Day, 135\n\n  Patrick\u2019s Pot, 137\n\n  Paul\u2019s (St.) Cathedral, 49\n\n  Paul\u2019s (St.) Day, 49\n\n  Paul\u2019s (St.) Eve, 47\n\n  Paul Pitcher Night, 48\n\n  Penderell, Richard, his monument decorated on Oak Apple Day, 305\n\n  Penny Hedge, the, 209\n\n  Penny Loaf Day, 125\n\n  Pepper Cake, 483\n\n  Pershore Fair Day, 192\n\n  Peter\u2019s (St.) Day, 331\n\n  Peter-Pence, 347\n\n  Philip\u2019s (St.) Day, 234\n\n  Picrous Day, 431\n\n  Piepowder, Court of, 364\n\n  Pin-money, 4\n\n  Pippins, divination by, 397\n\n  Piran\u2019s (St.) Day, 121\n\n  Plough Bullocks, 39\n\n  Plough-lights, 37\n\n  Plough Monday, 37\n\n  Plough Witchers, 40\n\n  Plough Witching, 40\n\n  Plowlick Monday, 42\n\n  Plum porridge, 462\n\n  Plumb-pudding, 462\n\n  Plumb-pudding Money, 482\n\n  Poisson d\u2019Avril, 184\n\n  Pope Joan, 181\n\n  Pope-Ladies, 181\n\n  Pork Acre, 413\n\n  Pot-fair, 323\n\n  Preston Guild, 368\n\n  \u2018Progging, going a,\u2019 414\n\n  Procession Week, 204\n\n  Processioning, 208, 213\n\n  Psalm Caking, 406\n\n  \u2018Pudding-pieing, going a,\u2019 172\n\n  Pulgen, 487\n\n  Purification of the Virgin Mary, 54\n\n  Push-penny, 303\n\n\n  Quaaltagh, 8\n\n\n  Raffling-Day, at Newark, 51\n\n  Ram, hunting the, 354\n\n  Ram Feast, 257\n\n  Ravenglass Fair, 356\n\n  Rayer, or Rahere, founder of Bartholomew Fair, 361\n\n  Ream of the Well, 17\n\n  Red Spear Knights, 291\n\n  Reed Day, 332\n\n  Relic Sunday, 340\n\n  Restoration Day, 301\n\n  Rhyne Toll, the, 390\n\n  Richard\u2019s (St.) Day, 188\n\n  \u2018Riding of the George,\u2019 197\n\n  \u2018Riding the Marches,\u2019 292, 307\n\n  \u2018Rising Peter,\u2019 333\n\n  Robin Hood, 220, 257\n\n  Roche\u2019s (St.) Day, 350\n\n  Rock Day, 36\n\n  Rogation Sunday, 204\n\n  Rope-pulling, at Ludlow, 85\n\n  Rosemary, used as decoration at Christmas, 458\n\n  Rowan-tree, use of, 154, 394\n\n  Rowan-tree Day, 274\n\n  Rowan-tree Gads, 274\n\n  Royal Oak Day, 301\n\n  Rumbald Night, 448\n\n  Running Lands, 242\n\n  Rushes, strewn in churches, 280, 294\n\n  Rush-bearing, 334, 367\n\n\n  Salmon, superstition regarding, 270\n\n  Salt-Silver, 418\n\n  Saturnalia, 458, 463\n\n  Sauin, 395\n\n  Scalding Thursday, 375\n\n  Scambling Days, 95\n\n  Scarlet Days, at Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 278\n\n  Scholastica\u2019s (St.) Day, 97\n\n  Scilly Isles, 84, 479\n\n  Scotland, 14, 19, 43, 46, 56, 88, 120, 126, 177, 188, 267, 275, 292,\n  301, 307, 309, 320, 334, 335, 351, 382, 394, 399, 408, 410, 430, 437,\n  438, 487, 505\n\n  Scrutiny Night, 504\n\n  Septuagesima, 45\n\n  \u2018Setting the Colne,\u2019 213\n\n  \u2018Seven joys of the Virgin,\u2019 464\n\n  Shaftesbury Bezant, 205\n\n  Shamrock, 136, 139\n\n  Sharp Tuesday, 86\n\n  Sheelah\u2019s Day, 139\n\n  Sher, Shere, Sheere, Thursday, 146\n\n  Shier Thursday, 146\n\n  Shig-Shag, 305\n\n  Shrewsbury Show, 300\n\n  Shrid-pies, 458\n\n  Shropshire, 82, 262, 287, 301, 407, 410\n\n  Shrove Tuesday, 39\n\n  Shying at Leaden Cocks, 67\n\n  \u2018Shy for Shy,\u2019 67\n\n  Simeon (St.), holiday of, 54\n\n  Simnel Bread, 115\n\n  Simnel, Lambert, 115\n\n  Simnels, 114\n\n  Simnel Sunday, 113\n\n  Singed Sheeps\u2019 Heads, carried on St. Andrew\u2019s Day, 430\n\n  Singing E\u2019en, 501\n\n  Slap-dragon, 463\n\n  Sloe Fair, 351\n\n  Smock Race, 214\n\n  Smuchdan, 18\n\n  Smugging, 68\n\n  Snap-dragon, 462\n\n  Sollaghyn, 80\n\n  Somersetshire, 34, 86, 95, 262, 282, 328, 479, 500\n\n  Song of the Mallard, 44\n\n  Song of the Wren, 35\n\n  Sonsy-haggis, 491\n\n  Soul Cakes, 405\n\n  Souling, going a, 405, 407\n\n  Soul Mass Cakes, 409\n\n  Sow Day, 438\n\n  Sowans-bowie, 490\n\n  Spirit Fire, 463\n\n  Squirrels, hunting of, 404, 429, 430, 481\n\n  Staffordshire, 10, 23, 34, 86, 203, 208, 215, 263, 287, 340, 358, 390,\n  407, 425, 443, 480\n\n  Stagg, offering of, on St. Cuthbert\u2019s Day, 371\n\n  Staylaces, given to the Clergy on Ascension Day, 213\n\n  Stephening, 493\n\n  Stephen\u2019s (St.) Day, 492\n\n  Stephen\u2019s (St.) Pudding, 494\n\n  Stir-up-Sunday, 431\n\n  Subterranean Christmas Bells, 476\n\n  Suffolk, 86, 215, 263, 481\n\n  Sugar-Cupping, 165\n\n  Surrey, 86, 133, 156, 263, 293, 341, 357, 373, 375\n\n  Sussex, 11, 157, 264, 381, 389, 414, 430, 443, 450\n\n  Swan-upping, 346\n\n  Swarf Penny, 420\n\n  \u2018Sweeping the Girls,\u2019 106\n\n  Swig, 113\n\n  Swithin\u2019s (St.) Day, 341\n\n  Swithin\u2019s (St.) Farthings, 341\n\n  Sword-dance, 485\n\n\n  Tander, Tandrew, name given to St. Andrew\u2019s Day, 430\n\n  Tansy Cake, 167\n\n  Tenbury Fair Day, 192\n\n  Terminalia, 204\n\n  Tharve Cake, 30\n\n  Thomas\u2019 (St.) Day, 438\n\n  Thomas\u2019 (St.) Onion, 439\n\n  \u2018Thomasin, going a,\u2019 441\n\n  Threshing the Hen, 68\n\n  Throwing at Cocks, 66\n\n  \u2018Throwing the Dart,\u2019 370\n\n  \u2018Throwing the Hood,\u2019 32\n\n  Tibba\u2019s (St.) Day, 438\n\n  Timber Waits, 203\n\n  Timbrel Waits, 203\n\n  Tindles, 409\n\n  Tinley, 405\n\n  Toothache, remedy for, 464\n\n  Tooting-horn, 352\n\n  Trap and ball, 86\n\n  Trinity Monday, 296\n\n  Trinity Sunday, 294\n\n  Trolollay, derivation of, 505\n\n  Trundling of Eggs, 178\n\n  Turkey, 148, 465\n\n  Tuth Day, 192\n\n  Twelfth Cake, 24\n\n  Twelfth Day, 24\n\n  Twelfth Night, 24\n\n  Twelfth Night Cards, 25\n\n  Tynwald Day, 325\n\n\n  Usque-Cashrichd, 488\n\n\n  Valentine\u2019s (St.) Day, 375\n\n  Valentine\u2019s (St.) Eve, 98\n\n  Valentines, 101\n\n  Valentine dealing, 105\n\n  Valentining, 105\n\n  Vessel Cup, 464\n\n  Vitus\u2019 (St.) Day, 311\n\n  Virgin Mary, Annunciation of, 180;\n    Assumption of, 357;\n    Nativity of, 372;\n    Purification of, 54\n\n\n  Wad-Shooting, 489\n\n  Waits, 465, 485\n\n  Wakes Monday, 404\n\n  Wales, 35, 88, 113, 134, 158, 168, 177, 184, 222, 265, 289, 295, 297,\n  320, 390, 398, 410, 425, 445, 486, 496\n\n  Walk Money, 183\n\n  \u2018Walking the Fair,\u2019 203\n\n  Walnut-tree, legend of a miraculous, 467\n\n  Ward Penny, 420\n\n  Warwickshire, 12, 175, 300, 419, 443, 450\n\n  Wrath Money, 420\n\n  Wassail Bowl, 501\n\n  Wassail Eve, 23\n\n  Wassaile, 28\n\n  Wastel, the, 115\n\n  Watch Night, 501\n\n  Weaver, introduces the Pantomime, 461\n\n  Well-dressing, 211\n\n  Wesley Bob, 483\n\n  Westminster School, tossing the pancake at, 80\n\n  Westmoreland, 6, 35, 264, 415, 481\n\n  \u2018Wetting the Block,\u2019 119\n\n  Wheel, its origin, 454\n\n  Whip-dog Day, 387\n\n  Whipping Toms, 79\n\n  Whirlin Cakes, 123\n\n  Whirlin Sunday, 123\n\n  White Sunday, 183\n\n  White Thursday, 468\n\n  Whitsun Ale, 278\n\n  Whitsunday, 278\n\n  Whitsun Monday, 283\n\n  Whitsun Mysteries, 283\n\n  Whitsuntide, 278, 281\n\n  Whitsun Tuesday, 290\n\n  Whitsun Tryste Fair, 282\n\n  \u2018Wigs,\u2019 a sort of Cake, 426\n\n  Wilfrid\u2019s (St.) Feast, 351\n\n  Wiltshire, 76, 133, 295, 309, 329, 415\n\n  Wives\u2019 Feast, 54\n\n  Worcestershire, 12, 157, 176, 188, 192, 215, 265, 306, 319, 341, 416,\n  428, 443, 482, 500\n\n  Wren, hunting of, 494\n\n  Wren-boys, 497\n\n  Wroth Money, 420\n\n  Wycoller Hall, Christmas at, 472\n\n\n  Yarrow, divination connected with, 273\n\n  Yew, Churches decorated with, on Good Friday, 156\n\n  Yorkshire, 12, 23, 43, 56, 87, 96, 110, 123, 133, 148, 157, 160, 167,\n  200, 209, 274, 299, 320, 329, 331, 333, 341, 351, 367, 386, 398, 416,\n  420, 444, 451, 482, 496, 504\n\n  Yorkshire Hagmena Song, 14\n\n  Youling, 207\n\n  Yule, derivation of the term, 453\n\n  Yule of August, 347\n\n  Yule Babies, 476\n\n  Yule Candle, 451\n\n  Yule Clog, 452, 465\n\n  Yule Day, 487\n\n  Yule Log, 453, 465\n\n  Yule Straw, 489\n\n  Yule-tide, 453\n\n\n  LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,\n  DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.\n\n\n\n\n  AN\n  ALPHABETICAL LIST\n  OF BOOKS CONTAINED IN\n  BOHN\u2019S LIBRARIES.\n\n\n_Detailed Catalogue, arranged according to the various Libraries, will\nbe sent on application._\n\n=ADDISON\u2019S Works.= With the Notes of Bishop Hurd, Portrait, and 8 Plates\nof Medals and Coins. Edited by H. G. Bohn. 6 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=\u00c6SCHYLUS, The Dramas of.= Translated into English Verse by Anna\nSwanwick. 4th Edition, revised. 5_s._\n\n---- =The Tragedies of.= Newly translated from a revised text by Walter\nHeadlam, Litt.D., and C. E. S. Headlam, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =The Tragedies of.= Translated into Prose by T. A. Buckley, B.A.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=ALLEN\u2019S (Joseph, R. N.) Battles of the British Navy.= Revised Edition,\nwith 57 Steel Engravings. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS.= History of Rome during the Reigns of\nConstantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and Valens. Translated by\nProf C. D. Yonge, M.A. 7_s._ 6_d._\n\n=ANDERSEN\u2019S Danish Legends and Fairy Tales.= Translated by Caroline\nPeachey. With 120 Wood Engravings. 5_s._\n\n=ANTONINUS (M. Aurelius), The Thoughts of.= Trans, literally, with Notes\nand Introduction by George Long, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=APOLLONIUS RHODIUS. \u2018The Argonautica.\u2019= Translated by E. P. Coleridge,\nB.A. 5_s._\n\n=APPIAN\u2019S Roman History.= Translated by Horace White, M.A., LL.D. With\nMaps and Illustrations 2 vols. 6_s._ each.\n\n=APULEIUS, The Works= of Comprising the Golden Ass, God of Socrates,\nFlorida, and Discourse of Magic. 5_s._\n\n=ARGYLL (Duke of). The Life of Queen Victoria.= Illustrated. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=ARIOSTO\u2019S Orlando Furioso.= Translated into English Verse by W. S.\nRose. With Portrait, and 24 Steel Engravings. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=ARISTOPHANES\u2019 Comedies.= Translated by W. J. Hickie. 2 vols, 5_s._\neach.\n\n=ARISTOTLE\u2019S Nicomachean Ethics.= Translated, with Introduction and\nNotes, by the Venerable Archdeacon Browne. 5_s._\n\n---- =Politics and Economics.= Translated by E. Walford, M.A., with\nIntroduction by Dr. Gillies. 5_s._\n\n---- =Metaphysics.= Translated by the Rev. John H. M\u2019Mahon, M.A. 5_s._\n\n---- =History of Animals.= Trans. by Richard Cresswell, M.A. 5_s._\n\n---- =Organon=; or, Logical Treatises, and the Introduction of Porphyry.\nTranslated by the Rev. O. F. Owen, M.A. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Rhetoric and Poetics.= Trans. by T. Buckley, B.A. 5_s._\n\n=ARRIAN\u2019S Anabasis of Alexander=, together with the =Indica=. Translated\nby E. J. Chinnock, M.A., LL.D. With Maps and Plans. 5_s._\n\n=ATHEN\u00c6US. The Deipnosophists=; or, the Banquet of the Learned. Trans.\nby Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=BACON\u2019S Moral and Historical Works=, including the Essays, Apophthegms,\nWisdom of the Ancients, New Atlantis, Henry VII., Henry VIII.,\nElizabeth, Henry Prince of Wales, History of Great Britain, Julius\nC\u00e6sar, and Augustus C\u00e6sar. Edited by J. Devey, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Novum Organum and Advancement of Learning.= Edited by J. Devey,\nM.A. 5_s._\n\n=BASS\u2019S Lexicon to the Greek Testament.= 2_s._\n\n=BAX\u2019S Handbook of the History of Philosophy=, for the use of Students.\nBy E. Belfort Bax. 5_s._\n\n=BEAUMONT and FLETCHER=, their finest Scenes, Lyrics, and other\nBeauties, selected from the whole of their works, and edited by Leigh\nHunt. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=BECHSTEIN\u2019S Cage and Chamber Birds=, their Natural History, Habits,\nFood, Diseases, and Modes of Capture. Translated, with considerable\nadditions on Structure, Migration, and Economy, by H. G. Adams. Together\nwith SWEET BRITISH WARBLERS. With 43 coloured Plates and Woodcut\nIllustrations. 5_s._\n\n=BEDE\u2019S (Venerable) Ecclesiastical History of England.= Together with\nthe ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE. Edited by J. A. Giles, D.C.L. With Map. 5_s._\n\n=BELL (Sir Charles). The Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression, as\nconnected with the Fine Arts.= By Sir Charles Bell, K.H. 7th edition,\nrevised. 5_s._\n\n=BERKELEY (George), Bishop of Cloyne, The Works of.= Edited by George\nSampson. With Biographical Introduction by the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour,\nM.P. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=BION.= _See_ THEOCRITUS.\n\n=BJ\u00d6RNSON\u2019S Arne and the Fisher Lassie.= Translated by W. H. Low, M.A.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=BLAIR\u2019S Chronological Tables= Revised and Enlarged. Comprehending the\nChronology and History of the World, from the Earliest Times to the\nRussian Treaty of Peace, April 1856. By J. Willoughby Rosse. Double vol.\n10_s._\n\n=BLEEK\u2019S Introduction to the Old Testament.= By Friedrich Bleek. Edited\nby Johann Bleek and Adolf Kamphausen. Translated by G. H. Venables,\nunder the supervision of the Rev. Canon Venables. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=BOETHIUS\u2019S Consolation of Philosophy.= King Alfred\u2019s Anglo-Saxon\nVersion of. With a literal English Translation on opposite pages, Notes,\nIntroduction, and Glossary, by Rev. S. Fox, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=BOHN\u2019S Dictionary of Poetical Quotations.= 4th edition. 6_s._\n\n=BOHN\u2019S Handbooks of Games.= New edition. In 2 vols., with numerous\nIllustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n  Vol. I.--TABLE GAMES:--Billiards, Bagatelle, Chess, Draughts,\n  Backgammon, Dominoes, Solitaire, Reversi, Go-Bang, Rouge et Noir,\n  Roulette, E.O., Hazard, Faro.\n\n  Vol. II.--CARD GAMES:--Whist, Solo Whist, Poker, Piquet, Ecart\u00e9,\n  Euchre, B\u00e9zique, Cribbage, Loo, Vingt-et-un, Napoleon, Newmarket, Pope\n  Joan, Speculation, &c., &c.\n\n=BOND\u2019S A Handy Book of Rules and Tables= for verifying Dates with the\nChristian Era, &c. Giving an account of the Chief Eras and Systems used\nby various Nations; with the easy Methods for determining the\nCorresponding Dates. By J. J. Bond. 5_s._\n\n=BONOMI\u2019S Nineveh and its Palaces.= 7 Plates and 294 Woodcut\nIllustrations. 5_s._\n\n=BOSWELL\u2019S Life of Johnson=, with the TOUR IN THE HEBRIDES and\nJOHNSONIANA. Edited by the Rev. A. Napier, M.A. With Frontispiece to\neach vol. 6 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=BRAND\u2019S Popular Antiquities of England, Scotland, and Ireland.=\nArranged, revised, and greatly enlarged, by Sir Henry Ellis, K.H.,\nF.R.S., &c., &c. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=BREMER\u2019S (Frederika) Works.= Translated by Mary Howitt. 4 vols. 3_s._\n6_d._ each.\n\n=BRIDGWATER TREATISES.= =Bell (Sir Charles) on the Hand.= With numerous\nWoodcuts. 5_s._\n\n  =Kirby on the History, Habits, and Instincts of Animals.= Edited by T.\n  Rymer Jones. With upwards of 100 Woodcuts. Vol. I., 5_s._ Vol. II. out\n  of print.\n\n  =Kidd on the Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition\n  of Man.= 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n  =Chalmers on the Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and\n  Intellectual Constitution of Man.= 5_s._\n\n=BRINK (B. ten) Early English Literature.= By Bernhard ten Brink. Vol.\nI. To Wyclif. Translated by Horace M. Kennedy. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n  Vol. II. Wyclif, Chaucer, Earliest Drama Renaissance. Translated by W.\n  Clarke Robinson, Ph.D. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n  Vol. III. From the Fourteenth Century to the Death of Surrey. Edited\n  by Dr. Alois Brandl. Trans. by L. Dora Schmitz. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Five Lectures on Shakespeare.= Trans. by Julia Franklin. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n=BROWNE\u2019S (Sir Thomas) Works.= Edited by Simon Wilkin. 3 vols. 3_s._\n6_d._ each.\n\n=BURKE\u2019S Works.= 8 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n  I.--Vindication of Natural Society--Essay on the Sublime and\n  Beautiful, and various Political Miscellanies.\n\n  II.--Reflections on the French Revolution--Letters relating to the\n  Bristol Election--Speech on Fox\u2019s East India Bill, &c.\n\n  III.--Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs--On the Nabob of Arcot\u2019s\n  Debts--The Catholic Claims, &c.\n\n  IV.--Report on the Affairs of India, and Articles of Charge against\n  Warren Hastings.\n\n  V.--Conclusion of the Articles of Charge against Warren\n  Hastings--Political Letters on the American War, on a Regicide Peace,\n  to the Empress of Russia.\n\n  VI.--Miscellaneous Speeches--Letters and Fragments--Abridgments of\n  English History, &c. With a General Index.\n\n  VII. & VIII.--Speeches on the Impeachment of Warren Hastings; and\n  Letters. With Index.\n\n---- =Life.= By Sir J. Prior. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=BURNEY. The Early Diary of Fanny Burney (Madame D\u2019Arblay), 1768-1778.=\nWith a selection from her Correspondence and from the Journals of her\nsisters, Susan and Charlotte Burney. Edited by Annie Raine Ellis. 2\nvols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Evelina.= By Frances Burney (Mme. D\u2019Arblay). With an Introduction\nand Notes by A. R. Ellis. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Cecilia.= With an Introduction and Notes by A. R. Ellis. 2 vols.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=BURN (R.) Ancient Rome and its Neighbourhood.= An Illustrated Handbook\nto the Ruins in the City and the Campagna, for the use of Travellers. By\nRobert Burn, M.A. With numerous Illustrations, Maps, and Plans. 7_s._\n6_d._\n\n=BURNS (Robert), Life of.= By J. G. Lockhart, D.C.L. A new and enlarged\nEdition. Revised by William Scott Douglas. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=BURTON\u2019S (Robert) Anatomy of Melancholy.= Edited by the Rev. A. R.\nShilleto, M.A. With Introduction by A. H. Bullen, and full Index. 3\nvols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=BURTON (Sir R. F.) Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and\nMeccah.= By Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, K.C.M.G. With an Introduction\nby Stanley Lane-Poole, and all the original Illustrations. 2 vols. 3_s._\n6_d._ each.\n\n  \u2042 This is the copyright edition, containing the author\u2019s latest notes.\n\n=BUTLER\u2019S (Bishop) Analogy of Religion=, Natural and Revealed, to the\nConstitution and Course of Nature; together with two Dissertations on\nPersonal Identity and on the Nature of Virtue, and Fifteen Sermons.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=BUTLER\u2019S (Samuel) Hudibras.= With Variorum Notes, a Biography,\nPortrait, and 28 Illustrations. 5_s._\n\n---- or, further Illustrated with 60 Outline Portraits. 2 vols. 5_s._\neach.\n\n=C\u00c6SAR. Commentaries on the Gallic and Civil Wars.=, Translated by W. A.\nMcDevitte, B.A. 5_s._\n\n=CAMOENS\u2019 Lusiad=; or, the Discovery of India. An Epic Poem. Translated\nby W. J. Mickle. 5th Edition, revised by E. R. Hodges, M.C.P. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n=CARLYLE\u2019S French Revolution.= Edited by J. Holland Rose, Litt.D. Illus.\n3 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n---- =Sartor Resartus.= With 75 Illustrations by Edmund J. Sullivan.\n5_s._\n\n=CARPENTER\u2019S (Dr. W. B.) Zoology.= Revised Edition, by W. S. Dallas, F.\nL. S. With very numerous Woodcuts. Vol. I. 6_s._\n\n  [_Vol. II. out of print._\n\n=CARPENTER\u2019S Mechanical Philosophy, Astronomy, and Horology.= 181\nWoodcuts. 5_s._\n\n---- =Vegetable Physiology and Systematic Botany.= Revised Edition, by\nE. Lankester, M.D., &c. With very numerous Woodcuts. 6_s._\n\n---- =Animal Physiology.= Revised Edition. With upwards of 300 Woodcuts.\n6_s._\n\n=CASTLE (E.) Schools and Masters of Fence=, from the Middle Ages to the\nEnd of the Eighteenth Century. By Egerton Castle, M.A., F.S.A. With a\nComplete Bibliography. Illustrated with 140 Reproductions of Old\nEngravings and 6 Plates of Swords, showing 114 Examples. 6_s._\n\n=CATTERMOLE\u2019S Evenings at Haddon Hall.= With 24 Engravings on Steel from\ndesigns by Cattermole, the Letterpress by the Baroness de Carabella.\n5_s._\n\n=CATULLUS, Tibullus, and the Vigil of Venus.= A Literal Prose\nTranslation. 5_s._\n\n=CELLINI (Benvenuto). Memoirs of=, written by Himself. Translated by\nThomas Roscoe. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=CERVANTES\u2019 Don Quixote de la Mancha.= Motteaux\u2019s Translation revised. 2\nvols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Galatea.= A Pastoral Romance. Translated by G. W. J. Gyll. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n---- =Exemplary Novels.= Translated by Walter K. Kelly. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=CHAUCER\u2019S Poetical Works.= Edited by Robert Bell. Revised Edition, with\na Preliminary Essay by Prof. W. W. Skeat, M.A. 4 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=CHEVREUL on Colour.= Translated from the French by Charles Martel.\nThird Edition, with Plates, 5_s._; or with an additional series of 16\nPlates in Colours, 7_s._ 6_d._\n\n=CHINA, Pictorial, Descriptive, and Historical.= With Map and nearly 100\nIllustrations. 5_s._\n\n=CHRONICLES OF THE CRUSADES.= Contemporary Narratives of the Crusade of\nRichard C\u0153ur de Lion, by Richard of Devizes and Geoffrey de Vinsauf; and\nof the Crusade at St. Louis, by Lord John de Joinville. 5_s._\n\n=CHRONICLES OF THE TOMBS.= A Collection of Epitaphs by T. J. Pettigrew,\nF.R.S. 5_s._\n\n=CICERO\u2019S Orations.= Translated by Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A. 4 vols. 5_s._\neach.\n\n---- =Letters.= Translated by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh. 4 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n---- =On Oratory and Orators.= With Letters to Quintus and Brutus.\nTranslated by the Rev. J. S. Watson, M.A, 5_s._\n\n---- =On the Nature of the Gods=, Divination, Fate, Laws, a Republic,\nConsulship. Translated by Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A., and Francis Barham.\n5_s._\n\n---- =Academics=, De Finibus, and Tusculan Questions. By Prof. C. D.\nYonge, M.A. 5_s._\n\n---- =Offices=; or, Moral Duties. Cato Major, an Essay on Old Age;\nL\u00e6lius, an Essay on Friendship; Scipio\u2019s Dream; Paradoxes; Letter to\nQuintus on Magistrates. Translated by C. R. Edmonds. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=CLARK\u2019S (Hugh) Introduction to Heraldry.= 18th Edition, Revised and\nEnlarged by J. R. Planch\u00e9, Rouge Croix. With nearly 1000 Illustrations.\n5_s._ Or with the Illustrations Coloured, 15_s._\n\n=CLASSIC TALES=, containing Rasselas, Vicar of Wakefield, Gulliver\u2019s\nTravels, and The Sentimental Journey. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=COLERIDGE\u2019S (S. T.) Friend.= A Series of Essays on Morals, Politics,\nand Religion. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Aids to Reflection=, and the CONFESSIONS OF AN INQUIRING SPIRIT,\nto which are added the ESSAYS ON FAITH and the BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Lectures and Notes on Shakespeare and other English Poets.= Edited\nby T. Ashe. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Biographia Literaria=; together with Two Lay Sermons. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Biographia Epistolaris.= Edited by Arthur Turnbull. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Table-Talk and Omniana.= Edited by T. Ashe, B.A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Miscellanies, \u00c6sthetic and Literary=; to which is added, THE\nTHEORY OF LIFE. Collected and arranged by T. Ashe, B.A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=COMTE\u2019S Positive Philosophy.= Translated and condensed by Harriet\nMartineau. With Introduction by Frederic Harrison. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n---- =Philosophy of the Sciences=, being an Exposition of the Principles\nof the _Cours de Philosophie Positive_. By G. H. Lewes. 5_s._\n\n=COND\u00c9\u2019S History of the Dominion of the Arabs in Spain.= Translated by\nMrs. Foster. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=COOPER\u2019S Biographical Dictionary.= Containing Concise Notices (upwards\nof 15,000) of Eminent Persons of all Ages and Countries. By Thompson\nCooper, F.S.A. With a Supplement, bringing the work down to 1883. 2\nvols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=CORNELIUS NEPOS.=--_See_ JUSTIN.\n\n=COXE\u2019S Memoirs of the Duke of Marlborough.= With his original\nCorrespondence. By W. Coxe, M.A., F.R.S. Revised edition by John Wade. 3\nvols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =History of the House of Austria (1218-1792).= With a Continuation\nfrom the Accession of Francis I. to the Revolution of 1848. 4 vols.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=CRAIK\u2019S (G. L.) Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.= Illustrated\nby Anecdotes and Memoirs. Revised edition, with numerous Woodcut\nPortraits and Plates. 5_s._\n\n=CUNNINGHAM\u2019S Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters.= A New\nEdition, with Notes and Sixteen fresh Lives. By Mrs. Heaton. 3 vols.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=DANTE. Divine Comedy.= Translated by the Rev. H. F. Cary, M.A. New\nEdition, by M. L. Egerton-Castle. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Translated into English Verse= by I. C. Wright, M.A. 3rd Edition,\nrevised. With Portrait, and 34 Illustrations on Steel, after Flaxman.\n\n=DANTE. The Inferno.= A Literal Prose Translation, with the Text of the\nOriginal printed on the same page. By John A. Carlyle, M.D. 5_s._\n\n=DE COMMINES (Philip), Memoirs of.= Containing the Histories of Louis\nXI. and Charles VIII., Kings of France, and Charles the Bold, Duke of\nBurgundy. Together with the Scandalous Chronicle, or Secret History of\nLouis XI., by Jean de Troyes. Translated by Andrew R. Scoble. With\nPortraits. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=DEFOE\u2019S Novels and Miscellaneous Works.= With Prefaces and Notes,\nincluding those attributed to Sir W. Scott. 7 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n  I.--Captain Singleton, and Colonel Jack.\n\n  II.--Memoirs of a Cavalier, Captain Carleton, Dickory Cronke, &c.\n\n  III.--Moll Flanders, and the History of the Devil.\n\n  IV.--Roxana, and Life of Mrs. Christian Davies.\n\n  V.--History of the Great Plague of London, 1665; The Storm (1703); and\n  the True-born Englishman.\n\n  VI.--Duncan Campbell, New Voyage round the World, and Political\n  Tracts.\n\n  VII.--Robinson Crusoe, 3_s._ 6_d._ Also with 86 Illustrations. 5_s._\n\n=DEMMIN\u2019S History of Arms and Armour=, from the Earliest Period. By\nAuguste Demmin. Translated by C. C. Black, M.A. With nearly 2000\nIllustrations. 7_s._ 6_d._\n\n=DEMOSTHENES\u2019 Orations.= Translated by C. Rann Kennedy. 5 vols. Vol. I.,\n3_s._ 6_d._; Vols. II.-V., 5_s._ each.\n\n=DE STA\u00cbL\u2019S Corinne or Italy.= By Madame de Sta\u00ebl. Translated by Emily\nBaldwin and Paulina Driver. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=DICTIONARY of Latin and Greek Quotations=; including Proverbs, Maxims,\nMottoes, Law Terms and Phrases. With all the Quantities marked, and\nEnglish Translations. With Index Verborum (622 pages). 5_s._\n\n=DICTIONARY of Obsolete and Provincial English.= Compiled by Thomas\nWright, M.A., F.S.A., &c. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=DIDRON\u2019S Christian Iconography=: a History of Christian Art in the\nMiddle Ages. Translated by E. J. Millington and completed by Margaret\nStokes. With 240 Illustrations. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=DIOGENES LAERTIUS. Lives and Opinions of the Ancient Philosophers.=\nTranslated by Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=DOBREE\u2019S Adversaria.= Edited by the late Prof. Wagner. 2 vols. 5_s._\neach.\n\n=DODD\u2019S Epigrammatists. A Selection= from the Epigrammatic Literature of\nAncient, Medi\u00e6val, and Modern Times. By the Rev. Henry Philip Dodd, M.A.\nOxford. 2nd Edition, revised and enlarged. 6_s._\n\n=DONALDSON\u2019S The Theatre of the Greeks.= A Treatise on the History and\nExhibition of the Greek Drama. With numerous Illustrations and 3 Plans.\nBy John William Donaldson, D.D. 5_s._\n\n=DRAPER\u2019S History of the Intellectual Development of Europe.= By John\nWilliam Draper, M.D., LL.D. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=DUNLOP\u2019S History of Fiction.= A new Edition. Revised by Henry Wilson. 2\nvols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=DYER\u2019S History of Modern Europe=, from the Fall of Constantinople. 3rd\nedition, revised and continued to the end of the Nineteenth Century. By\nArthur Hassall, M.A. 6 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=DYER\u2019S (Dr. T. H.) Pompeii=: its Buildings and Antiquities. By T. H.\nDyer, LL.D. With nearly 300 Wood Engravings, a large Map, and a Plan of\nthe Forum. 7_s._ 6_d._\n\n=DYER (T. F. T.) British Popular Customs, Present and Past.= An Account\nof the various Games and Customs associated with Different Days of the\nYear in the British Isles, arranged according to the Calendar. By the\nRev. T. F. Thiselton Dyer, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=EBERS\u2019 Egyptian Princess.= An Historical Novel. By George Ebers.\nTranslated by E. S. Buchheim. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=EDGEWORTH\u2019S Stories for Children.= With 8 Illustrations by L. Speed.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=ELZE\u2019S William Shakespeare.=--_See_ SHAKESPEARE.\n\n=EMERSON\u2019S Works.= 5 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n  I.--Essays and Representative Men.\n\n  II.--English Traits, Nature, and Conduct of Life.\n\n  III.--Society and Solitude--Letters and Social Aims--Addresses.\n\n  IV.--Miscellaneous Pieces.\n\n  V.--Poems.\n\n=EPICTETUS, The Discourses of.= With the ENCHEIRIDION and Fragments.\nTranslated by George Long, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=EURIPIDES.= A New Literal Translation in Prose. By E. P. Coleridge,\nM.A. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=EUTROPIUS.=--_See_ JUSTIN.\n\n=EUSEBIUS PAMPHILUS, Ecclesiastical History of.= Translated by Rev. C.\nF. Cruse, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=EVELYN\u2019S Diary and Correspondence.= Edited from the Original MSS. by W.\nBray, F.A.S. With 45 engravings. 4 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=FAIRHOLT\u2019S Costume in England.= A History of Dress to the end of the\nEighteenth Century. 3rd Edition, revised, by Viscount Dillon, V.P.S.A.\nIllustrated with above 700 Engravings. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=FIELDING\u2019S Adventures of Joseph Andrews and his Friend Mr. Abraham\nAdams.= With Cruikshank\u2019s Illustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =History of Tom Jones, a Foundling.= With Cruikshank\u2019s\nIllustrations. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Amelia.= With Cruikshank\u2019s Illustrations. 5_s._\n\n=FLAXMAN\u2019S Lectures on Sculpture.= By John Flaxman, R.A. With Portrait\nand 53 Plates. 6_s._\n\n=FOSTER\u2019S (John) Essays=: on Decision of Character; on a Man\u2019s writing\nMemoirs of Himself; on the epithet Romantic; on the aversion of Men of\nTaste to Evangelical Religion. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Essays= on the Evils of Popular Ignorance; to which is added, a\nDiscourse on the Propagation of Christianity in India. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Essays= on the Improvement of Time. With NOTES OF SERMONS and\nother Pieces. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=GASPARY\u2019S History of Italian Literature to the Death of Dante.=\nTranslated by Herman Oelsner, M.A., Ph.D. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH, Chronicle of.=--_See Old English Chronicles._\n\n=GESTA ROMANORUM=, or Entertaining Moral Stories invented by the Monks.\nTranslated by the Rev. Charles Swan. Revised Edition, by Wynnard Hooper,\nB.A. 5_s._\n\n=GILDAS, Chronicles of.=--_See Old English Chronicles._\n\n=GIBBON\u2019S Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.= Complete and\nUnabridged, with Variorum Notes. Edited by an English Churchman. With 2\nMaps and Portrait. 7 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=GILBART\u2019S History, Principles, and Practice of Banking.= By the late J.\nW. Gilbart, F.R.S. New Edition (1907), revised by Ernest Sykes. 2 vols.\n5_s._ each.\n\n=GIL BLAS, The Adventures of.= Translated from the French of Lesage by\nSmollett. With 24 Engravings on Steel, after Smirke, and 10 Etchings by\nGeorge Cruikshank. 6_s._\n\n=GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS\u2019 Historical Works.= Translated by Th. Forester,\nM.A., and Sir R. Colt Hoare. Revised Edition, Edited by Thomas Wright,\nM.A., F.S.A. 5_s._\n\n=GOETHE\u2019S Faust.= Part I. German Text with Hayward\u2019s Prose Translation\nand Notes. Revised by C. A. Buchheim, Ph.D. 5_s._\n\n=GOETHE\u2019S Works.= Translated into English by various hands. 14 vols.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n  I. and II.--Poetry and Truth from My Own Life. New and revised\n  edition.\n\n  III.--Faust. Two Parts, complete. (Swanwick.)\n\n  IV.--Novels and Tales.\n\n  V.--Wilhelm Meister\u2019s Apprenticeship.\n\n  VI.--Conversations with Eckermann and Soret.\n\n  VIII.--Dramatic Works.\n\n  IX.--Wilhelm Meister\u2019s Travels.\n\n  X.--Tour in Italy, and Second Residence in Rome.\n\n  XI.--Miscellaneous Travels.\n\n  XII.--Early and Miscellaneous Letters.\n\n  XIII.--Correspondence with Zelter (out of print).\n\n  XIV.--Reineke Fox, West-Eastern Divan and Achilleid.\n\n=GOLDSMITH\u2019S Works.= A new Edition, by J. W. M. Gibbs. 5 vols. 3_s._\n6_d._ each.\n\n=GRAMMONT\u2019S Memoirs of the Court of Charles II.= Edited by Sir Walter\nScott. Together with the BOSCOBEL TRACTS, including two not before\npublished, &c. New Edition. 5_s._\n\n=GRAY\u2019S Letters.= Including the Correspondence of Gray and Mason. Edited\nby the Rev. D. C. Tovey, M.A. Vols. I. and II. 3_s._ 6_d._ each. (Vol.\nIII. in the Press.)\n\n=GREEK ANTHOLOGY.= Translated by George Burges, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=GREEK ROMANCES of Heliodorus, Longus, and Achilles Tatius=--viz., The\nAdventures of Theagenes & Chariclea; Amours of Daphnis and Chloe; and\nLoves of Clitopho and Leucippe. Translated by Rev. R. Smith, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=GREENE, MARLOWE, and BEN JONSON.= Poems of. Edited by Robert Bell.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=GREGORY\u2019S Letters on the Evidences, Doctrines, & Duties of the\nChristian Religion.= By Dr. Olinthus Gregory. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=GRIMM\u2019S TALES.= With the Notes of the Original. Translated by Mrs. A.\nHunt. With Introduction by Andrew Lang, M.A. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Gammer Grethel=; or, German Fairy Tales and Popular Stories.\nContaining 42 Fairy Tales. Trans. by Edgar Taylor. With numerous\nWoodcuts after George Cruikshank and Ludwig Grimm. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=GROSSI\u2019S Marco Visconti.= Translated by A. F. D. The Ballads rendered\ninto English Verse by C. M. P. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=GUIZOT\u2019S History of the English Revolution of 1640.= From the Accession\nof Charles I. to his Death. Translated by William Hazlitt. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =History of Civilisation=, from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the\nFrench Revolution. Translated by William Hazlitt. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._\neach.\n\n=HALL\u2019S (Rev. Robert) Miscellaneous Works and Remains.= 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=HAMPTON COURT: A Short History of the Manor and Palace.= By Ernest Law,\nB.A. With numerous Illustrations. 5_s._\n\n=HARDWICK\u2019S History of the Articles of Religion.= By the late C.\nHardwick. Revised by the Rev. Francis Procter, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=HAUFF\u2019S Tales.= The Caravan--The Sheik of Alexandria--The Inn in the\nSpessart. Trans. from the German by S. Mendel. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=HAWTHORNE\u2019S Tales.= 4 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n  I.--Twice-told Tales, and the Snow Image.\n\n  II.--Scarlet Letter, and the House with the Seven Gables.\n\n  III.--Transformation [The Marble Faun], and Blithedale Romance.\n\n  IV.--Mosses from an Old Manse.\n\n=HAZLITT\u2019S Table-talk.= Essays on Men and Manners. By W. Hazlitt. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n=HAZLITT\u2019S Lectures on the Literature of the Age of Elizabeth= and on\nCharacters of Shakespeare\u2019s Plays. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Lectures on the English Poets=, and on the English Comic Writers.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =The Plain Speaker.= Opinions on Books, Men, and Things. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n---- =Round Table.= 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Sketches and Essays.= 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =The Spirit of the Age=; or, Contemporary Portraits. Edited by W.\nCarew Hazlitt. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =View of the English Stage.= Edited by W. Spencer Jackson. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n=HEATON\u2019S Concise History of Painting.= New Edition, revised by Cosmo\nMonkhouse. 5_s._\n\n=HEGEL\u2019S Lectures on the Philosophy of History.= Translated by J.\nSibree, M.A.\n\n=HEINE\u2019S Poems=, Complete. Translated by Edgar A. Bowring, C.B. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n---- =Travel-Pictures=, including the Tour in the Harz, Norderney, and\nBook of Ideas, together with the Romantic School. Translated by Francis\nStorr. A New Edition, revised throughout. With Appendices and Maps.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=HELIODORUS. Theagenes and Chariclea.=--_See_ GREEK ROMANCES.\n\n=HELP\u2019S Life of Christopher Columbus=, the Discoverer of America. By Sir\nArthur Helps, K.C.B. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Life of Hernando Cortes=, and the Conquest of Mexico. 2 vols.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Life of Pizarro.= 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Life of Las Casas= the Apostle of the Indies. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=HENDERSON (E.) Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages=,\nincluding the most famous Charters relating to England, the Empire, the\nChurch, &c., from the 6th to the 14th Centuries. Translated from the\nLatin and edited by Ernest F. Henderson, A.B., A.M., Ph.D. 5_s._\n\n=HENFREY\u2019S Guide to English Coins=, from the Conquest to 1885. New and\nrevised Edition by C. F. Keary, M.A., F.S.A. 6_s._\n\n=HENRY OF HUNTINGDON\u2019S History of the English.= Translated by T.\nForester, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=HENRY\u2019S (Matthew) Exposition of the Book of the Psalms.= 5_s._\n\n=HERODOTUS.= Translated by the Rev. Henry Cary, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Analysis and Summary of.= By J. T. Wheeler. 5_s._\n\n=HESIOD, CALLIMACHUS, and THEOGNIS.= Translated by the Rev. J. Banks,\nM.A. 5_s._\n\n=HOFFMANN\u2019S (E. T. W.) The Serapion Brethren.= Translated from the\nGerman by Lt.-Col. Alex. Ewing. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=HOLBEIN\u2019S Dance of Death and Bible Cuts.= Upwards of 150 Subjects,\nengraved in facsimile, with Introduction and Descriptions by Francis\nDouce and Dr. Thomas Frognall Dibden. 5_s._\n\n=HOMER\u2019S Iliad.= A new translation by E. H. Blakeney, M.A. Vol. I.\ncontaining Books I.-XII. 3_s._ 6_d._ (Vol. II. in the Press.)\n\n---- Translated into English Prose by T. A. Buckley, B.A. 5_s._\n\n=HOMER\u2019S Odyssey.= Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice.\nTranslated into English Prose by T. A. Buckley, B.A. 5_s._\n\n---- _See also_ POPE.\n\n=HOOPER\u2019S (G.) Waterloo: The Downfall of the First Napoleon=: a History\nof the Campaign of 1815. By George Hooper. With Maps and Plans. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n---- =The Campaign of Sedan=: The Downfall of the Second Empire,\nAugust-September, 1870. With General Map and Six Plans of Battle. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n=HORACE.= A new literal Prose translation, by A. Hamilton Bryce, LL.D.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=HUGO\u2019S (Victor) Dramatic Works.= Hernani--Ruy Blas--The King\u2019s\nDiversion. Translated by Mrs. Newton Crosland and F. L. Slous. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n---- =Poems=, chiefly Lyrical. Translated by various Writers, now first\ncollected by J. H. L. Williams. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=HUMBOLDT\u2019S Cosmos.= Translated by E. C. Ott\u00e9, B. H. Paul, and W. S.\nDallas, F.L.S. 5 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each, excepting Vol. V. 5_s._\n\n---- =Personal Narrative= of his Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of\nAmerica during the years 1799-1804. Translated by T. Ross. 3 vols. 5_s._\neach.\n\n---- =Views of Nature.= Translated by E. C. Ott\u00e9 and H. G. Bohn. 5_s._\n\n=HUMPHREYS\u2019 Coin Collector\u2019s Manual.= By H. N. Humphreys. With upwards\nof 140 Illustrations on Wood and Steel. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=HUNGARY=: its History and Revolution, together with a copious Memoir of\nKossuth. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=HUNT\u2019S Poetry of Science.= By Richard Hunt. 3rd Edition, revised and\nenlarged. 5_s._\n\n=HUTCHINSON (Colonel). Memoirs of the Life of.= By his Widow, Lucy:\ntogether with her Autobiography, and an Account of the Siege of Lathom\nHouse. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=INGULPH\u2019S Chronicles of the Abbey of Croyland=, with the CONTINUATION\nby Peter of Blois and other Writers. Translated by H. T. Riley, M.A.\n5_s._\n\n=IRVING\u2019S (Washington) Complete Works.= 15 vols. With Portraits, &c.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n  I.--Salmagundi, Knickerbocker\u2019s History of New York.\n\n  II.--The Sketch-Book, and the Life of Oliver Goldsmith.\n\n  III.--Bracebridge Hall, Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey.\n\n  IV.--The Alhambra, Tales of a Traveller.\n\n  V.--Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, Legends of the Conquest of\n  Spain.\n\n  VI. & VII.--Life and Voyages of Columbus, together with the Voyages of\n  his Companions.\n\n  VIII.--Astoria, A Tour on the Prairies.\n\n  IX.--Life of Mahomet, Lives of the Successors of Mahomet.\n\n  X.--Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A., Wolfert\u2019s Roost.\n\n  XI.--Biographies and Miscellaneous Papers.\n\n  XII.-XV.--Life of George Washington. 4 vols.\n\n=IRVING\u2019S (Washington) Life and Letters.= By his Nephew, Pierre E.\nIrving. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=ISOCRATES, The Orations of.= Translated by J. H. Freese, M.A. Vol. I.\n5_s._\n\n=JAMES\u2019S (G. P. R.) Life of Richard C\u0153ur de Lion.= 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._\neach. (Vol. I. out of print.)\n\n=JAMESON\u2019S (Mrs.) Shakespeare\u2019s Heroines.= Characteristics of Women:\nMoral, Poetical, and Historical. By Mrs. Jameson. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=JESSE\u2019S (E.) Anecdotes of Dogs.= With 40 Woodcuts and 34 Steel\nEngravings. 5_s._\n\n=JESSE\u2019S (J. H.) Memoirs of the Court of England during the Reign of the\nStuarts=, including the Protectorate. 3 vols. With 42 Portraits. 5_s._\neach.\n\n---- =Memoirs of the Pretenders and their Adherents.= With 6 Portraits.\n5_s._\n\n=JOHNSON\u2019S Lives of the Poets.= Edited by Mrs. Alexander Napier, with\nIntroduction by Professor Hales. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=JOSEPHUS (Flavius)=, The Works of. Whiston\u2019s Translation, revised by\nRev. A. R. Shilleto, M.A. With Topographical and Geographical Notes by\nColonel Sir C. W. Wilson, K.C.B. 5 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=JULIAN, the Emperor.= Containing Gregory Nazianzen\u2019s Two Invectives and\nLibanus\u2019 Monody, with Julian\u2019s extant Theosophical Works. Translated by\nC. W. King, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=JUNIUS\u2019S Letters.= With all the Notes of Woodfall\u2019s Edition, and\nimportant Additions. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=JUSTIN, CORNELIUS NEPOS, and EUTROPIUS.= Translated by the Rev. J. S.\nWatson, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=JUVENAL, PERSIUS, SULPICIA and LUCILIUS.= Translated by L. Evans, M.A.\n5_s._\n\n=KANT\u2019S Critique of Pure Reason.= Translated by J. M. D. Meiklejohn.\n5_s._\n\n---- =Prolegomena and Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science.=\nTranslated by E. Belfort Bax. 5_s._\n\n=KEIGHTLEY\u2019S (Thomas) Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy.= 4th\nEdition, revised by Leonard Schmitz, Ph.D., LL.D. With 12 Plates from\nthe Antique. 5_s._\n\n=KEIGHTLEY\u2019S Fairy Mythology=, illustrative of the Romance and\nSuperstition of Various Countries. Revised Edition, with Frontispiece by\nCruikshank. 5_s._\n\n=LA FONTAINE\u2019S Fables.= Translated into English Verse by Elizur Wright.\nNew Edition, with Notes by J. W. M. Gibbs. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=LAMARTINE\u2019S History of the Girondists.= Translated by H. T. Ryde. 3\nvols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =History of the Restoration of Monarchy in France= (a Sequel to the\nHistory of the Girondists). 4 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =History of the French Revolution of 1848.= 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=LAMB\u2019S (Charles) Essays of Elia and Eliana.= Complete Edition. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n---- =Specimens of English Dramatic Poets of the Time of Elizabeth.=\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Memorials and Letters of Charles Lamb=, By Serjeant Talfourd. New\nEdition, revised, by W. Carew Hazlitt. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Tales from Shakespeare.= With Illustrations by Byam Shaw. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n=LANE\u2019S Arabian Nights\u2019 Entertainments.= Edited by Stanley Lane-Poole,\nM.A., Litt.D. 4 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=LAPPENBERG\u2019S History of England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings.=\nTranslated by B. Thorpe, F.S.A. New edition, revised by E. C. Ott\u00e9. 2\nvols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=LEONARDO DA VINCI\u2019S Treatise on Painting.= Translated by J. F. Rigaud,\nR.A. With a Life of Leonardo by John William Brown. With numerous\nPlates. 5_s._\n\n=LEPSIUS\u2019S Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai.=\nTranslated by L. and J. B. Homer. With Maps. 5_s._\n\n=LESSING\u2019S Dramatic Works=, Complete. Edited by Ernest Bell, M.A. With\nMemoir of Lessing by Helen Zimmern. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Laokoon, Dramatic Notes, and the Representation of Death by the\nAncients.= Translated by E. C. Beasley and Helen Zimmern. Edited by\nEdward Bell, M.A. With a Frontispiece of the Laokoon group. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=LILLY\u2019S Introduction to Astrology.= With a GRAMMAR of Astrology and\nTables for Calculating Nativities, by Zadkiel. 5_s._\n\n=LIVY\u2019S History of Rome.= Translated by Dr. Spillan, C. Edmonds, and\nothers. 4 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=LOCKE\u2019S Philosophical Works.= Edited by J. A. St. John. 2 vols. 3_s._\n6_d._ each.\n\n=LOCKHART (J. G.)=--_See_ BURNS.\n\n=LODGE\u2019S Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain=, with\nBiographical and Historical Memoirs. 240 Portraits engraved on Steel,\nwith the respective Biographies unabridged. 8 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n  [_Vols. II. IV. and VII. out of print._]\n\n=LOUDON\u2019S (Mrs.) Natural History.= Revised edition, by W. S. Dallas,\nF.L.S. With numerous Woodcut Illus. 5_s._\n\n=LONGUS. Daphnis and Chloe.=--_See_ GREEK ROMANCES.\n\n=LOWNDES\u2019 Bibliographer\u2019s Manual of English Literature.= Enlarged\nEdition. By H. G. Bohn. 6 vols. cloth, 5_s._ each. Or 4 vols. half\nmorocco, 2_l._ 2_s._\n\n=LUCAN\u2019S Pharsalia.= Translated by H, T. Riley, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=LUCIAN\u2019S Dialogues of the Gods, of the Sea Gods, and of the Dead.=\nTranslated by Howard Williams, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=LUCRETIUS. A Prose Translation.= By H. A. J. Munro. Reprinted from the\nFinal (4th) Edition. With an Introduction by J. D. Duff, M.A. 5_s._\n\n---- =Literally translated.= By the Rev. J. S. Watson, M.A. With a\nMetrical Version by J. M. Good. 5_s._\n\n=LUTHER\u2019S Table-Talk.= Translated and Edited by William Hazlitt. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n---- =Autobiography.=--_See_ MICHELET.\n\n=MACHIAVELLI\u2019S History of Florence=, together with the Prince,\nSavonarola, various Historical Tracts, and a Memoir of Machiavelli.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=MALLET\u2019S= Northern Antiquities, or an Historical Account of the\nManners, Customs, Religions and Laws, Maritime Expeditions and\nDiscoveries, Language and Literature, of the Ancient Scandinavians.\nTranslated by Bishop Percy. Revised and Enlarged Edition, with a\nTranslation of the PROSE EDDA, by J. A. Blackwell. 5_s._\n\n=MANZONI. The Betrothed=: being a Translation of \u2018I Promessi Sposi.\u2019 By\nAlessandro Manzoni. With numerous Woodcuts. 5_s._\n\n=MARCO POLO\u2019S Travels=; the Translation of Marsden revised by T. Wright,\nM.A., F.S.A. 5_s._\n\n=MARRYAT\u2019S (Capt. R.N.) Masterman Ready.= With 93 Woodcuts. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Mission=; or, Scenes in Africa. Illustrated by Gilbert and\nDalziel. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Pirate and Three Cutters.= With 8 Steel Engravings, from Drawings\nby Clarkson Stanfield, R. A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Privateersman.= 8 Engravings on Steel. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Settlers in Canada.= 10 Engravings by Gilbert and Dalziel. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n---- =Poor Jack.= With 16 Illustrations after Clarkson Stansfield, R.A.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Peter Simple.= With 8 full-page Illustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=MARTIAL\u2019S Epigrams=, complete. Translated into Prose, each accompanied\nby one or more Verse Translations selected from the Works of English\nPoets, and other sources. 7_s._ 6_d._\n\n=MARTINEAU\u2019S (Harriet) History of England=, from 1800-1815. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =History of the Thirty Years\u2019 Peace=, A.D. 1815-46. 4 vols. 3_s._\n6_d._ each.\n\n---- _See Comte\u2019s Positive Philosophy._\n\n=MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER\u2019S Flowers of History=, from the beginning of the\nWorld to A.D. 1307. Translated by C. D. Yonge, M.A. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=MAXWELL\u2019S Victories of Wellington and the British Armies.= Frontispiece\nand 5 Portraits. 5_s._\n\n=MENZEL\u2019S History of Germany=, from the Earliest Period to 1842. 3 vols.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=MICHAEL ANGELO AND RAPHAEL, their Lives and Works.= By Duppa and\nQuairemere de Quincy. With Portraits, and Engravings on Steel. 5_s._\n\n=MICHELET\u2019S Luther\u2019s Autobiography.= Trans. by William Hazlitt. With an\nAppendix (110 pages) of Notes. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =History of the French Revolution= from its earliest indications to\nthe flight of the King in 1791. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=MIGNET\u2019S History of the French Revolution=, from 1789 to 1814. 3_s._\n6_d._ New edition, reset.\n\n=MILL (J. S.). Early Essays by John Stuart Mill.= Collected from various\nsources by J. W. M. Gibbs. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=MILLER (Professor). History Philosophically Illustrated=, from the Fall\nof the Roman Empire to the French Revolution. 4 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=MILTON\u2019S Prose Works.= Edited by J. A. St. John. 5 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._\neach.\n\n---- =Poetical Works=, with a Memoir and Critical Remarks by James\nMontgomery, an Index to Paradise Lost, Todd\u2019s Verbal Index to all the\nPoems, and a Selection of Explanatory Notes by Henry G. Bohn.\nIllustrated with 120 Wood Engravings from Drawings by W. Harvey. 2 vols.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=MITFORD\u2019S (Miss) Our Village= Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery.\nWith 2 Engravings on Steel. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=MOLI\u00c8RE\u2019S Dramatic Works.= A new Translation in English Prose, by C. H.\nWall. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=MONTAGU. The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.= Edited by\nher great-grandson, Lord Wharncliffe\u2019s Edition, and revised by W. Moy\nThomas. New Edition, revised, with 5 Portraits. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=MONTAIGNE\u2019S Essays.= Cotton\u2019s Translation, revised by W. C. Hazlitt.\nNew Edition. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=MONTESQUIEU\u2019S Spirit of Laws.= New Edition, revised and corrected. By\nJ. V. Pritchard, A.M. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=MORE\u2019S Utopia.= Robinson\u2019s translation, with Roper\u2019s \u2018Life of Sir\nThomas More,\u2019 and More\u2019s Letters to Margaret Roper and others. Edited,\nwith Notes, by George Sampson. Introduction and Bibliography by A.\nGuthkelch. 5_s._\n\n=MORPHY\u2019S Games of Chess.= Being the Matches and best Games played by\nthe American Champion, with Explanatory and Analytical Notes by J.\nL\u00f6wenthal. 5_s._\n\n=MOTLEY (J. L.). The Rise of the Dutch Republic.= A History. By John\nLothrop Motley. New Edition, with Biographical Introduction by Moncure\nD. Conway. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=MUDIE\u2019S British Birds=; or, History of the Feathered Tribes of the\nBritish Islands. Revised by W. C. L. Martin. With 52 Figures of Birds\nand 7 Coloured Plates of Eggs. 2 vols.\n\n=NEANDER (Dr. A.) Life of Jesus Christ.= Translated by J. McClintock and\nC. Blumenthal. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church by\nthe Apostles.= Translated by J. E. Ryland. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Memorials of Christian Life in the Early and Middle Ages=;\nincluding Light in Dark Places. Trans. by J. E. Ryland. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=NIBELUNGEN LIED. The Lay of the Nibelungs=, metrically translated from\nthe old German text by Alice Horton, and edited by Edward Bell, M.A. To\nwhich is prefixed the Essay on the Nibelungen Lied by Thomas Carlyle.\n5_s._\n\n=NICOLINI\u2019S History of the Jesuits=: their Origin, Progress, Doctrines,\nand Designs. With 8 Portraits. 5_s._\n\n=NORTH (R.) Lives= of the Right Hon. Francis North, Baron Guildford, the\nHon. Sir Dudley North, and the Hon. and Rev. Dr. John North. By the Hon.\nRoger North. Together with the Autobiography of the Author. Edited by\nAugustus Jessopp, D.D. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=NUGENT\u2019S (Lord) Memorials of Hampden, his Party and Times.= With a\nMemoir of the Author, an Autograph Letter, and Portrait. 5_s._\n\n=OLD ENGLISH CHRONICLES=, including Ethelwerd\u2019s Chronicle, Asser\u2019s Life\nof Alfred, Geoffrey of Monmouth\u2019s British History, Gildas, Nennius, and\nthe spurious chronicle of Richard of Cirencester. Edited by J. A. Giles,\nD.C.L. 5_s._\n\n=OMAN (J. C.) The Great Indian Epics=: the Stories of the RAMAYANA and\nthe MAHABHARATA. By John Campbell Oman, Principal of Khalsa College,\nAmritsar. With Notes, Appendices, and Illustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=OVID\u2019S Works=, complete. Literally translated into Prose. 3 vols. 5_s._\neach.\n\n=PASCAL\u2019S Thoughts.= Translated from the Text of M. Auguste Molinier by\nC. Kegan Paul. 3rd Edition. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=PAULI\u2019S (Dr. R.) Life of Alfred the Great.= Translated from the German.\nTo which is appended Alfred\u2019s ANGLO-SAXON VERSION OF OROSIUS. With a\nliteral Translation interpaged, Notes, and an ANGLO-SAXON GRAMMAR and\nGLOSSARY, by B. Thorpe. 5_s._\n\n=PAUSANIAS\u2019 Description of Greece.= Newly translated by A. R. Shilleto,\nM.A. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=PEARSON\u2019S Exposition of the Creed.= Edited by E. Walford, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=PEPYS\u2019 Diary and Correspondence.= Deciphered by the Rev. J. Smith,\nM.A., from the original Shorthand MS. in the Pepysian Library. Edited by\nLord Braybrooke. 4 vols. With 31 Engravings. 5_s._ each.\n\n=PERCY\u2019S Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.= With an Essay on Ancient\nMinstrels and a Glossary. Edited by J. V. Pritchard, A.M. 2 vols. 3_s._\n6_d._ each.\n\n=PERSIUS.=--_See_ JUVENAL.\n\n=PETRARCH\u2019S Sonnets, Triumphs, and other Poems.= Translated into English\nVerse by various Hands. With a Life of the Poet by Thomas Campbell. With\nPortrait and 15 Steel Engravings. 5_s._\n\n=PICKERING\u2019S History of the Races of Man=, and their Geographical\nDistribution. With AN ANALYTICAL SYNOPSIS OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN\nby Dr. Hall. With a Map of the World and 12 coloured Plates. 5_s._\n\n=PINDAR.= Translated into Prose by Dawson W. Turner. To which is added\nthe Metrical Version by Abraham Moore. 5_s._\n\n=PLANCH\u00c9. History of British= Costume, from the Earliest Time to the\nClose of the Eighteenth Century. By J. R. Planch\u00e9, Somerset Herald. With\nupwards of 400 Illustrations. 5_s._\n\n=PLATO\u2019S Works.= Literally translated, with Introduction and Notes. 6\nvols. 5_s._ each.\n\n  I.--The Apology of Socrates, Crito, Ph\u00e6do, Gorgias, Protagoras,\n  Ph\u00e6drus, The\u00e6tetus, Euthyphron, Lysis. Translated by the Rev. H.\n  Carey.\n\n  II.--The Republic, Tim\u00e6us, and Critias. Translated by Henry Davis.\n\n  III.--Meno, Euthydemus, The Sophist, Statesman, Cratylus, Parmenides,\n  and the Banquet. Translated by G. Burges.\n\n  IV.--Philebus, Charmides, Laches, Menexenus, Hippias, Ion, The Two\n  Alcibiades, Theages, Rivals, Hipparchus, Minos, Clitopho, Epistles.\n  Translated by G. Burges.\n\n  V.--The Laws. Translated by G. Burges.\n\n  VI.--The Doubtful Works. Translated by G. Burges.\n\n---- =Summary and Analysis of the Dialogues.= With Analytical Index. By\nA. Day, LL.D. 5_s._\n\n=PLAUTUS\u2019S Comedies.= Translated by H. T. Riley, M.A. 2 vols. 5_s._\neach.\n\n=PLINY. The Letters of Pliny the Younger.= Melmoth\u2019s translation,\nrevised by the Rev. F. C. T. Bosanquet, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=PLOTINUS, Select Works of.= Translated by Thomas Taylor. With an\nIntroduction containing the substance of Porphyry\u2019s Plotinus. Edited by\nG. R. S. Mead, B.A., M.R.A.S. 5_s._\n\n=PLUTARCH\u2019S Lives.= Translated by A. Stewart, M.A., and George Long,\nM.A. 4 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Morals.= Theosophical Essays. Translated by C. W. King, M.A. 5_s._\n\n---- =Morals.= Ethical Essays. Translated by the Rev. A. R. Shilleto,\nM.A. 5_s._\n\n=POETRY OF AMERICA.= Selections from One Hundred American Poets, from\n1776 to 1876. By W. J. Linton. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=POLITICAL CYCLOP\u00c6DIA. A Dictionary= of Political, Constitutional,\nStatistical, and Forensic Knowledge; forming a Work of Reference on\nsubjects of Civil Administration, Political Economy, Finance, Commerce,\nLaws, and Social Relations. 4 vols. (1848.) 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n  [_Vol. I. out of print._\n\n=POPE\u2019S Poetical Works.= Edited, with copious Notes, by Robert\nCarruthers. With numerous Illustrations. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n  [_Vol. I. out of print._\n\n---- =Homer\u2019s Iliad.= Edited by the Rev. J. S. Watson, M.A. Illustrated\nby the entire Series of Flaxman\u2019s Designs. 5_s._\n\n---- =Homer\u2019s Odyssey=, with the Battle of Frogs and Mice, Hymns, &c.,\nby other translators. Edited by the Rev. J. S. Watson, M.A. With the\nentire Series of Flaxman\u2019s Designs. 5_s._\n\n---- =Life=, including many of his Letters. By Robert Carruthers. With\nnumerous Illustrations. 5_s._\n\n=POUSHKIN\u2019S Prose Tales=: The Captain\u2019s Daughter--Doubrovsky--The Queen\nof Spades--An Amateur Peasant Girl--The Shot--The Snow Storm--The\nPostmaster--The Coffin Maker--Kirdjali--The Egyptian Nights--Peter the\nGreat\u2019s Negro. Translated by T. Keane. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=PRESCOTT\u2019S Conquest of Mexico.= Copyright edition, with the notes by\nJohn Foster Kirk, and an introduction by G. P. Winship. 3 vols. 3_s._\n6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Conquest of Peru.= Copyright edition, with the notes of John\nFoster Kirk. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella.= Copyright edition, with the\nnotes of John Foster Kirk. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=PROPERTIUS.= Translated by Rev. P. J. F. Gantillon, M.A., and\naccompanied by Poetical Versions, from various sources. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=PROVERBS, Handbook of.= Containing an entire Republication of Ray\u2019s\nCollection of English Proverbs, with his additions from Foreign\nLanguages and a complete Alphabetical Index; in which are introduced\nlarge additions as well of Proverbs as of Sayings, Sentences, Maxims,\nand Phrases, collected by H. G. Bohn. 5_s._\n\n=POTTERY AND PORCELAIN=, and other Objects of Vertu. Comprising an\nIllustrated Catalogue of the Bernal Collection of Works of Art, with the\nprices at which they were sold by auction, and names of the possessors.\nTo which are added, an Introductory Lecture on Pottery and Porcelain,\nand an Engraved List of all the known Marks and Monograms. By Henry G.\nBohn. With numerous Wood Engravings, 5_s._; or with Coloured\nIllustrations, 10_s._ 6_d._\n\n=PROUT\u2019S (Father) Reliques.= Collected and arranged by Rev. F. Mahony.\nNew issue, with 21 Etchings by D. Maclise, R.A. Nearly 600 pages. 5_s._\n\n=QUINTILIAN\u2019S Institutes of Oratory=, or Education of an Orator.\nTranslated by the Rev. J. S. Watson, M.A. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=RACINE\u2019S (Jean) Dramatic Works.= A metrical English version. By R.\nBruce Boswell, M.A. Oxon. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=RANKE\u2019S History of the Popes=, during the Last Four Centuries.\nTranslated by E. Foster. Mrs. Foster\u2019s translation revised, with\nconsiderable additions, by G. R. Dennis, B.A. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- History of Servia and the Servian Revolution. With an Account of\nthe Insurrection in Bosnia. Translated by Mrs. Kerr. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=RECREATIONS in SHOOTING.= By \u2018Craven.\u2019 With 62 Engravings on Wood after\nHarvey, and 9 Engravings on Steel, chiefly after A. Cooper, R.A. 5_s._\n\n=RENNIE\u2019S Insect Architecture.= Revised and enlarged by Rev. J. G. Wood,\nM.A. With 186 Woodcut Illustrations. 5_s._\n\n=REYNOLDS\u2019 (Sir J.) Literary Works.= Edited by H. W. Beechy. 2 vols.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=RICARDO on the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation.= Edited by\nE. C. K. Gonner, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=RICHTER (Jean Paul Friedrich). Levana=, a Treatise on Education:\ntogether with the Autobiography (a Fragment), and a short Prefatory\nMemoir. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=RICHTER (Jean Paul Friedrich). Flower, Fruit, and Thorn Pieces=, or the\nWedded Life, Death, and Marriage of Firmian Stanislaus Siebenkaes,\nParish Advocate in the Parish of Kuhschnapptel. Newly translated by\nLt.-Col. Alex. Ewing. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=ROGER DE HOVEDEN\u2019S Annals of English History=, comprising the History\nof England and of other Countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201.\nTranslated by H. T. Riley, M.A. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=ROGER OF WENDOVER\u2019S Flowers of History=, comprising the History of\nEngland from the Descent of the Saxons to A.D. 1235, formerly ascribed\nto Matthew Paris. Translated by J. A. Giles, D.C.L. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n  [_Vol. II. out of print._\n\n=ROME in the NINETEENTH CENTURY.= Containing a complete Account of the\nRuins of the Ancient City, the Remains of the Middle Ages, and the\nMonuments of Modern Times. By C. A. Eaton. With 34 Steel Engravings. 2\nvols. 5_s._ each.\n\n---- _See_ BURN.\n\n=ROSCOE\u2019S (W.) Life and Pontificate of Leo X.= Final edition, revised by\nThomas Roscoe. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Life of Lorenzo de\u2019 Medici=, called \u2018the Magnificent.\u2019 With his\npoems, letters, &c. 10th Edition, revised, with Memoir of Roscoe by his\nSon. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=RUSSIA. History of=, from the earliest Period, compiled from the most\nauthentic sources by Walter K. Kelly. With Portraits. 2 vols. 3_s._\n6_d._ each.\n\n=SALLUST, FLORUS, and VELLEIUS PATERCULUS.= Trans. by J. S. Watson, M.A.\n5_s._\n\n=SCHILLER\u2019S Works.= Translated by various hands. 7 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._\neach:--\n\n  I.--History of the Thirty Years\u2019 War.\n\n  II.--History of the Revolt in the Netherlands, the Trials of Counts\n  Egmont and Horn, the Siege of Antwerp, and the Disturbances in France\n  preceding the Reign of Henry IV.\n\n  III.--Don Carlos, Mary Stuart, Maid of Orleans, Bride of Messina,\n  together with the Use of the Chorus in Tragedy (a short Essay).\n\n  These Dramas are all translated in metre.\n\n  IV.--Robbers (with Schiller\u2019s original Preface), Fiesco, Love and\n  Intrigue, Demetrius, Ghost Seer, Sport of Divinity.\n\n  The Dramas in this volume are translated into Prose.\n\n  V.--Poems.\n\n  VI.--Essays, \u00c6sthetical and Philosophical.\n\n  VII.--Wallenstein\u2019s Camp, Piccolomini and Death of Wallenstein,\n  William Tell.\n\n=SCHILLER and GOETHE. Correspondence between=, from A.D. 1794-1805.\nTranslated by L. Dora Schmitz. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=SCHLEGEL\u2019S (F.) Lectures on the Philosophy of Life and the Philosophy\nof Language.= Translated by the Rev. A. J. W. Morrison, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Lectures on the History of Literature=, Ancient and Modern.\nTranslated from the German. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Lectures on the Philosophy of History.= Translated by J. B.\nRobertson. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Lectures on Modern History=, together with the Lectures entitled C\u00e6sar\nand Alexander, and The Beginning of our History. Translated by L.\nPurcell and R. H. Whitelock. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =\u00c6sthetic and Miscellaneous Works.= Translated by E. J. Millington.\n3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=SCHLEGEL\u2019S (A. W.) Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature.= Translated\nby J. Black. Revised Edition, by the Rev. A. J. W. Morrison, M.A. 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n=SCHOPENHAUER on the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient\nReason=, and =On the Will in Nature=. Translated by Madame Hillebrand.\n5_s._\n\n---- =Essays.= Selected and Translated. With a Biographical Introduction\nand Sketch of his Philosophy, by E. Belfort Bax. 5_s._\n\n=SCHOUW\u2019S Earth, Plants, and Man.= Translated by A. Henfrey. With\ncoloured Map of the Geography of Plants. 5_s._\n\n=SCHUMANN (Robert). His Life and Works=, by August Reissmann. Translated\nby A. L. Alger. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Early Letters.= Originally published by his Wife. Translated by\nMay Herbert. With a Preface by Sir George Grove, D.C.L. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=SENECA on Benefits.= Newly translated by A. Stewart, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Minor Essays and On Clemency.= Translated by A. Stewart, M.A.\n5_s._\n\n=SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTS.= Arranged by D. H. Lambert, B.A. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=SHAKESPEARE\u2019S Dramatic Art.= The History and Character of Shakespeare\u2019s\nPlays. By Dr. Hermann Ulrici. Translated by L. Dora Schmitz. 2 vols.\n3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=SHAKESPEARE (William).= A Literary Biography by Karl Elze, Ph.D., LL.D.\nTranslated by L. Dora Schmitz. 5_s._\n\n=SHARPE (S.) The History of Egypt=, from the Earliest Times till the\nConquest by the Arabs, A.D. 640. By Samuel Sharpe, 2 Maps and upwards of\n400 Illustrative Woodcuts. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=SHERIDAN\u2019S Dramatic Works=, Complete. With Life by G. G. S. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=SISMONDI\u2019S History of the Literature of the South of Europe.=\nTranslated by Thomas Roscoe. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=SMITH\u2019S Synonyms and Antonyms, or Kindred Words= and their =Opposites=.\nRevised Edition. 5_s._\n\n---- =Synonyms Discriminated.= A Dictionary of Synonymous Words in the\nEnglish Language, showing the Accurate signification of words of similar\nmeaning. Edited by the Rev. H. Percy Smith, M.A. 6_s._\n\n=SMITH\u2019S (Adam) The Wealth of Nations.= Edited by E. Belfort Bax. 2\nvols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =Theory of Moral Sentiments.= With a Memoir of the Author by Dugald\nStewart. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=SMITH\u2019S (Pye) Geology and Scripture.= 2nd Edition. 5_s._\n\n=SMYTH\u2019S (Professor) Lectures on Modern History.= 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._\neach.\n\n=SMOLLETT\u2019S Adventures of Roderick Random.= With short Memoir and\nBibliography, and Cruikshank\u2019s Illustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Adventures of Peregrine Pickle.= With Bibliography and\nCruikshank\u2019s Illustrations. 2 vols. 3_s_. 6_d._ each.\n\n---- _The Expedition of Humphry Clinker._ With Bibliography and\nCruikshank\u2019s Illustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=SOCRATES (surnamed \u2018Scholasticus\u2019). The Ecclesiastical History of (A.D.\n305-445).= Translated from the Greek. 5_s._\n\n=SOPHOCLES, The Tragedies of.= A New Prose Translation, with Memoir,\nNotes, &c., by E. P. Coleridge, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=SOUTHEY\u2019S Life of Nelson.= With Portraits, Plans, and upwards of 50\nEngravings on Steel and Wood. 5_s._\n\n---- =Life of Wesley=, and the Rise and Progress of Methodism. 5_s._\n\n---- =Robert Southey.= The Story of his Life written in his Letters.\nEdited by John Dennis. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=SOZOMEN\u2019S Ecclesiastical History.= Translated from the Greek. Together\nwith the ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF PHILOSTORGIUS, as epitomised by\nPhotius. Translated by Rev. E. Walford, M.A. 5_s._\n\n=SPINOZA\u2019S Chief Works.= Translated, with Introduction, by R.H.M. Elwes.\n2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=STANLEY\u2019S Classified Synopsis of the Principal Painters of the Dutch\nand Flemish Schools.= By George Stanley. 5_s._\n\n=STAUNTON\u2019S Chess-Player\u2019s Handbook.= 5_s._\n\n=STAUNTON\u2019S Chess Praxis.= A Supplement to the Chess-player\u2019s Handbook.\n5_s._\n\n---- =Chess-player\u2019s Companion.= Comprising a Treatise on Odds,\nCollection of Match Games, and a Selection of Original Problems. 5_s._\n\n=STOCKHARDT\u2019S Experimental Chemistry.= Edited by C. W. Heaton, F.C.S.\n5_s._\n\n=STOWE (Mrs. H. B.) Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin.= Illustrated. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=STRABO\u2019S Geography.= Translated by W. Falconer, M.A., and H. C.\nHamilton. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=STRICKLAND\u2019S (Agnes) Lives of the Queens of England=, from the Norman\nConquest. Revised Edition. With 6 Portraits. 6 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n---- =Life of Mary Queen of Scots.= 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n---- =Lives of the Tudor and Stuart Princesses.= With Portraits. 5_s._\n\n=STUART and REVETT\u2019S Antiquities of Athens=, and other Monuments of\nGreece. With 71 Plates engraved on Steel, and numerous Woodcut Capitals.\n5_s._\n\n=SUETONIUS\u2019 Lives of the Twelve C\u00e6sars and Lives of the Grammarians.=\nThomson\u2019s translation, revised by T. Forester. 5_s._\n\n=SWIFT\u2019S Prose Works.= Edited by Temple Scott. With a Biographical\nIntroduction by the Right Hon. W. E. H. Lecky, M.P. With Portraits and\nFacsimiles. 12 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n  I.--A Tale of a Tub, The Battle of the Books, and other early works.\n  Edited by Temple Scott. With a Biographical Introduction by W. E. H.\n  Lecky.\n\n  II.--The Journal to Stella. 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With 8 Engravings on Steel and 24 Woodcuts by Thurston.\n5_s._\n\n=TAYLOR\u2019S (Bishop Jeremy) Holy Living and Dying.= 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=TEN BRINK.=--_See_ BRINK.\n\n=TERENCE and PH\u00c6DRUS.= Literally translated by H. T. Riley, M.A. To\nwhich is added, Smart\u2019s Metrical Version of Ph\u00e6drus. 5_s._\n\n=THEOCRITUS, BION, MOSCHUS, and TYRT\u00c6US.= Literally translated by the\nRev. J. Banks, M.A. To which are appended the Metrical Versions of\nChapman. 5_s._\n\n=THEODORET and EVAGRIUS.= Histories of the Church from A.D. 332 to A.D.\n427; and from A.D. 431 to A.D. 544. Translated. 5_s._\n\n=THIERRY\u2019S History of the Conquest of England by the Normans.=\nTranslated by William Hazlitt. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=THUCYDIDES. The Peloponnesian War.= Literally translated by the Rev. H.\nDale. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n---- =An Analysis and Summary of.= By J. T. Wheeler. 5_s._\n\n=THUDICHUM (J. L. W.) A Treatise on Wines.= Illustrated. 5_s._\n\n=URE\u2019S (Dr. A.) Cotton Manufacture of Great Britain.= Edited by P. L.\nSimmonds. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n---- =Philosophy of Manufactures.= Edited by P. L. Simmonds. 7_s._ 6_d._\n\n=VASARI\u2019S Lives of the most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and\nArchitects.= Translated by Mrs. J. Foster, with a Commentary by J. P.\nRichter, Ph.D. 6 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=VIRGIL.= A Literal Prose Translation by A. Hamilton Bryce, LL.D. With\nPortrait. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=VOLTAIRE\u2019S Tales.= Translated by R. B. Boswell. Containing Bebouc,\nMemnon, Candide, L\u2019Ing\u00e9nu, and other Tales, 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=WALTON\u2019S Complete Angler.= Edited by Edward Jesse. With Portrait and\n203 Engravings on Wood and 26 Engravings on Steel. 5_s._\n\n=WALTON\u2019S Lives of Donne, Hooker, &c.= New Edition revised by A. H.\nBullen, with a Memoir of Izaak Walton by Wm. Dowling. With numerous\nIllustrations. 5_s._\n\n=WELLINGTON, Life of.= By \u2018An Old Soldier.\u2019 From the materials of\nMaxwell. With Index and 18 Steel Engravings. 5_s._\n\n---- =Victories of.= _See_ MAXWELL.\n\n=WERNER\u2019S Templars in Cyprus.= Translated by E. A. M. Lewis. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=WESTROPP (H. M.) A Handbook of Arch\u00e6ology, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan,\nRoman.= Illustrated. 5_s._\n\n=WHEATLEY\u2019S A Rational Illustration of the Book of Common Prayer.= 3_s._\n6_d._\n\n=WHITE\u2019S Natural History of Selborne.= With Notes by Sir William\nJardine. Edited by Edward Jesse. With 40 Portraits and coloured Plates.\n5_s._\n\n=WIESELER\u2019S Chronological Synopsis of the Four Gospels.= Translated by\nthe Rev. Canon Venables. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n=WILLIAM of MALMESBURY\u2019S Chronicle of the Kings of England.= Translated\nby the Rev. J. Sharpe. Edited by J. A. Giles, D.C.L. 5_s._\n\n=XENOPHON\u2019S Works.= Translated by the Rev. J. S. Watson, M.A., and the\nRev. H. Dale. In 3 vols. 5_s._ each.\n\n=YOUNG (Arthur). Travels in France during the years 1787, 1788, and\n1789.= Edited by M. Betham Edwards. 3_s._ 6_d._\n\n---- =Tour In Ireland=, with General Observations on the state of the\ncountry during the years 1776-79. Edited by A. W. Hutton. With Complete\nBibliography by J. P. Anderson, and Map. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.\n\n=YULE-TIDE STORIES.= A Collection of Scandinavian and North-German\nPopular Tales and Traditions. Edited by B. Thorpe. 5_s._\n\n\nBOHN\u2019S LIBRARIES.\n\nA SPECIAL OFFER.\n\nMessrs. Bell have made arrangements to supply selections of 100 or 50\nvolumes from these famous Libraries, for \u00a311 11_s._ or \u00a36 6_s._ net\nrespectively. The volumes may be selected without any restriction from\nthe full List of the Libraries, now numbering nearly 750 volumes.\n\n\n_WRITE FOR FULL PARTICULARS._\n\n\n\n\nTHE YORK LIBRARY\n\nA NEW SERIES OF REPRINTS ON THIN PAPER.\n\n_With specially designed title-pages, binding, and end-papers._\n\n\nFcap. 8vo. in cloth, 2s. net;\n\nIn leather, 3s. net.\n\n\u2018The York Library is noticeable by reason of the wisdom and intelligence\ndisplayed in the choice of unhackneyed classics.... A most attractive\nseries of reprints.... The size and style of the volumes are exactly\nwhat they should be.\u2019--_Bookman._\n\n_The following volumes are now ready_:\n\nCHARLOTTE BRONT\u00cb\u2019S JANE EYRE.\n\nBURNEY\u2019S EVELINA. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by ANNIE RAINE\nELLIS.\n\nBURNEY\u2019S CECILIA. Edited by ANNIE RAINE ELLIS. 2 vols.\n\nBURTON\u2019S ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY. Edited by the Rev. A. R. SHILLETO, M.A.,\nwith Introduction by A. H. BULLEN. 3 vols.\n\nBURTON\u2019S (SIR RICHARD) PILGRIMAGE TO AL-MADINAH AND MECCAH. With\nIntroduction by STANLEY LANE-POOLE. 2 vols.\n\nCALVERLEY. THE IDYLLS OF THEOCRITUS, with the Eclogues of Virgil.\nTranslated into English Verse by C. S. CALVERLEY. With an Introduction\nby R. Y. TYRRELL, Litt.D.\n\nCERVANTES\u2019 DON QUIXOTE. MOTTEUX\u2019S Translation, revised. With LOCKHART\u2019S\nLife and Notes. 2 vols.\n\nCLASSIC TALES: JOHNSON\u2019S RASSELAS, GOLDSMITH\u2019S VICAR OF WAKEFIELD,\nSTERNE\u2019S SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY, WALPOLE\u2019S CASTLE OF OTRANTO. With\nIntroduction by C. S. FEARENSIDE, M.A.\n\nCOLERIDGE\u2019S AIDS TO REFLECTION, and the Confessions of an Inquiring\nSpirit.\n\nCOLERIDGE\u2019S FRIEND. A series of Essays on Morals, Politics, and\nReligion.\n\nCOLERIDGE\u2019S TABLE TALK AND OMNIANA. Arranged and Edited by T. ASHE, B.A.\n\nCOLERIDGE\u2019S LECTURES AND NOTES ON SHAKESPEARE, and other English Poets.\nEdited by T. ASHE, B.A.\n\nDRAPER\u2019S HISTORY OF THE INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPE. 2 vols.\n\nEBERS\u2019 AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS. Translated by E. S. BUCHHEIM.\n\nGEORGE ELIOT\u2019S ADAM BEDE.\n\nEMERSON\u2019S WORKS. A new edition in 5 volumes, with the Text edited and\ncollated by GEORGE SAMPSON.\n\nFIELDING\u2019S TOM JONES (2 vols.), AMELIA (1 vol.), JOSEPH ANDREWS (1\nvol.).\n\nGASKELL\u2019S SYLVIA\u2019S LOVERS.\n\nGESTA ROMANORUM, or Entertaining Moral Stories invented by the Monks.\nTranslated from the Latin by the Rev. CHARLES SWAN. Revised edition, by\nWYNNARD HOOPER, M.A.\n\nGOETHE\u2019S FAUST. Translated by ANNA SWANWICK, LL.D. Revised edition, with\nan Introduction and Bibliography by KARL BREUL, Litt.D., Ph.D.\n\nGOETHE\u2019S POETRY AND TRUTH FROM MY OWN LIFE. Translated by M.\nSTEELE-SMITH, with Introduction and Bibliography by KARL BREUL, Litt.D.\n\nHAWTHORNE\u2019S TRANSFORMATION (THE MARBLE FAUN).\n\nHOOPER\u2019S WATERLOO: THE DOWNFALL OF THE FIRST NAPOLEON. With Maps and\nPlans.\n\nIRVING\u2019S SKETCH BOOK.\n\nIRVING\u2019S BRACEBRIDGE HALL, OR THE HUMOURISTS.\n\nJAMESON\u2019S SHAKESPEARE\u2019S HEROINES.\n\nLAMB\u2019S ESSAYS. Including the Essays of Elia, Last Essays of Elia, and\nEliana.\n\nMARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS, THE THOUGHTS OF. Translated by GEORGE LONG,\nM.A. With an Essay on Marcus Aurelius by MATTHEW ARNOLD.\n\nMARRYAT\u2019S MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY. With 8 Illustrations. 1 vol. PETER\nSIMPLE. With 8 Illustrations, 1 vol.\n\nMIGNET\u2019S HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, from 1789 to 1814.\n\nMONTAIGNE\u2019S ESSAYS. Cotton\u2019s translation. Revised by W. C. HAZLITT. 3\nvols.\n\nMOTLEY\u2019S RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. With a Biographical Introduction by\nMONCURE D. CONWAY. 3 vols.\n\nPASCAL\u2019S THOUGHTS. Translated from the Text of M. AUGUSTE MOLINIER by C.\nKEGAN PAUL. Third edition.\n\nPLUTARCH\u2019S LIVES. Translated, with Notes and a Life by AUBREY STEWART,\nM.A., and GEORGE LONG, M.A. 4 vols.\n\nRANKE\u2019S HISTORY OF THE POPES, during the Last Four Centuries. Mrs.\nFoster\u2019s translation. Revised by G. R. DENNIS. 3 vols.\n\nSWIFT\u2019S GULLIVER\u2019S TRAVELS. Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by G.\nR. DENNIS, with facsimiles of the original illustrations.\n\nSWIFT\u2019S JOURNAL TO STELLA. Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by F.\nRYLAND, M.A.\n\nTROLLOPE\u2019S BARSETSHIRE NOVELS.--THE WARDEN (1 vol.), BARCHESTER TOWERS\n(1 vol.), DR. THORNE (1 vol.), FRAMLEY PARSONAGE (1 vol.), SMALL HOUSE\nAT ALLINGTON (2 vols.), LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET (2 vols.).\n\nVOLTAIRE\u2019S ZADIG AND OTHER TALES. Translated by R. BRUCE BOSWELL.\n\nARTHUR YOUNG\u2019S TRAVELS IN FRANCE, during the years 1787, 1788, and 1789.\nEdited with Introduction and Notes, by M. 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By the Rev. ANTHONY C. DEANE. (_In the Press._)\n\nROMSEY ABBEY. By the Rev. T. PERKINS, M.A.\n\nST. BARTHOLOMEW\u2019S, SMITHFIELD. By GEORGE WORLEY.\n\nST. MARTIN\u2019S CHURCH. CANTERBURY. By the Rev Canon C. F. ROUTLEDGE. [2nd\nEdition.\n\nSTRATFORD-ON-AVON CHURCH. By HAROLD BAKER. 2nd Edition.\n\nTHE TEMPLE CHURCH. By GEORGE WORLEY.\n\nTEWKESBURY ABBEY. By H. J. L. J. MASS\u00c9, M.A. 4th Edition.\n\nWIMBORNE MINSTER and CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY. By the Rev. T. PERKINS, M.A.\n2nd Edition.\n\nWESTMINSTER ABBEY. By CHARLES HIATT. 3rd Edition.\n\n\nBELL\u2019S HANDBOOKS TO CONTINENTAL CHURCHES.\n\n_Profusely Illustrated. Crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d. net each._\n\nAMIENS. By the Rev. T. PERKINS, M.A.\n\nBAYEUX. By the Rev. R. S. MYLNE.\n\nCHARTRES: The Cathedral and Other Churches. By H. J. L. J. MASS\u00c9, M.A.\n\nMONT ST. MICHEL. By H. J. L. J. MASS\u00c9, M.A.\n\nPARIS (NOTRE-DAME). By CHARLES HIATT.\n\nROUEN: The Cathedral and Other Churches. By the Rev. T. PERKINS, M.A.\n\n\n\n\nNew from Cover to Cover.\n\n\nWEBSTER\u2019S\n\nNEW INTERNATIONAL\n\nDICTIONARY.\n\nMessrs. Bell have pleasure in announcing an entirely new edition of\nWebster\u2019s International Dictionary. The fruit of ten years\u2019 work on the\npart of the large staff of Editors and Contributors is represented in\nthis edition, which is in no sense a mere revision of \u2018The\nInternational,\u2019 but exceeds that book--in convenience, quantity, and\nquality--as much as it surpassed the \u2018Unabridged.\u2019\n\nPoints of the New International.\n\n=400,000= WORDS AND PHRASES DEFINED. Half this number in old\nInternational.\n\n=2700= PAGES, every line of which has been revised and reset. (=400=\npages in excess of old International, and yet the new book is\npractically the same size.)\n\n=6000= ILLUSTRATIONS, each selected for the clear explication of the\nterm treated.\n\nDIVIDED PAGE: important words above, less important below.\n\nENCYCLOP\u00c6DIC INFORMATION on thousands of subjects.\n\nSYNONYMS more skilfully treated than in any other English work.\n\nGAZETTEER and BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY are up to date.\n\nMORE INFORMATION of MORE interest to MORE people than any other\nDictionary.\n\nGET THE BEST in Scholarship, Convenience, Authority, Utility.\n\n_WRITE NOW for full prospectus and specimen pages_\n\n\n  LONDON: G. BELL & SONS, LTD.,\n  YORK HOUSE, PORTUGAL ST., KINGSWAY, W.C.\n\n\n\n\n  Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\n  The language used in the source document has been retained, except as\n  mentioned below. This includes unusual and inconsistent spellings\n  (also of names and titles of publications), hyphenation, punctuation,\n  the inconsistent use of quotation marks, etc. Non-English words and\n  phrases (in particular in texts quoted by the author) have not been\n  corrected, except as listed below.\n\n  Preface: ... the movable feasts are placed under the earliest days on\n  which they can fall: this is not always the case, and some movable\n  feasts are described in chapters without dates.\n\n  Pages 66 and 94: FitsStephen and FitzStephens may refer to the same\n  person.\n\n  Page 255, And all that it wants is a more little silver: as printed in\n  the source document. Other sources give \u201ca little more silver\u201d.\n\n  Page 258, Hucknall Folkard: as printed in the source document;\n  possibly Hucknall Torkard, both names appear to exist.\n\n  Page 259, Akerman: as printed in the source document; others spellings\n  exist as well.\n\n  Page 288, ... the enrolment of a regular armour ...: possibly an error\n  for ... the enrolment of a regular army....\n\n  Page 440: ... after the death of his wife and her daughter ...: does\n  not seem logical (his wife already having died), but is as printed in\n  the source document. Other sources mention only the daughter in\n  respect to the 6 pounds.\n\n\n  Changes made:\n\n  Some punctuation errors and obvious minor typographical errors have\n  been corrected silently.\n\n  Footnotes have been moved to under the paragraph, poem, etc. to which\n  they belong.\n\n  For this e-text, festivals, days, dates etc. have been regarded as\n  chapters, with countries, counties or other localities being sections.\n  In some cases, this is a change compared to the source document.\n\n  In some cases the source of poems and songs has been moved to its own\n  line underneath the poem or song.\n\n  Page 126: The date (March 15) has been moved from before SCOTLAND to\n  before PALM SATURDAY\n\n  Page 145: royal gate arms changed to royal gate alms\n\n  Page 179: Portaffery changed to Portaferry\n\n  Page 259: Tu, qui non dedignatus es changed to Te, qui non dedignatus\n  es\n\n  Page 290: triennally changed to triennially (cf. biennially in the\n  same sentence)\n\n  Page 348: mobility changed to nobility\n\n  Page 369: The month (Sept.) has been moved from before Lancashire to\n  before ECCLES WAKE\n\n  Page 370: cork town Council changed to Cork town council\n\n  Page 417: revised changed to revived\n\n  Page 434: ... and the book like, acolytes, ... changed to ... and the\n  book, like acolytes, ...\n\n  Page 519: Tuth Day moved to its proper place\n\n  Page A14: entry Longus moved to before Lowndes","title":"British Popular Customs, Present and Past: Illustrating the Social and Domestic Manners of the People. Arranged According to the Calendar of the Year.","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":188138}