British Popular Customs, Present and Past / Illustrating the Social and Domestic Manners of the People. Arranged According to the Calendar of the Year.

March 24.] EASTER TUESDAY.

March 24.]

EASTER TUESDAY.

Middlesex.

Every Easter Tuesday, in pursuance of an ancient custom, the boys of Christ’s Hospital, London, pay a visit to the Mansion House, and receive from the Lord Mayor the customary Easter gifts. On reaching the Mansion House, they march into the Egyptian Hall, and on passing the Lord Mayor, receive a gratuity in coins fresh from the mint. To the fifteen Grecians a guinea each is given; nine probationers, half-a-guinea; forty-eight monitors, half-a-crown; and the ordinary scholars, one shilling each. Each boy also before leaving receives a glass of wine and two buns. The boys wear linen badges on their coats, on which the words “He is risen” are inscribed. After this ceremony, the Lord Mayor and the rest of the civic authorities go in the customary state to Christ Church, Newgate Street, where the second Spital sermon is preached. At this service the whole of the Christ’s Hospital boys attend.—See Daily News, April 12th, 1871, and April 3rd, 1872.

Northumberland.

Holly-bussing, says a writer in the Newcastle Express (April 16th, 1857), is a vernacular expression for a very ancient custom celebrated at Netherwitton, the origin of which is unknown. On Easter Tuesday the lads and lasses of the village and vicinity meet, and, accompanied by the parish clerk, who plays an excellent fiddle, the inspiring strains of which put mirth and mettle in their heels, proceed to the wood to get holly; with which some decorate a stone cross that stands in the village while others are “bobbing around” to “Speed the Plough” or “Birnie Bouzle.”

March 25.] LADY DAY.

March 25.]

LADY DAY.

The Festival of the Annunciation commemorates in the Christian world the message of the Angel to the Virgin Mary: hence it was anciently called St. Mary’s Day in Lent, to distinguish it from other festivals in her honour:

All the festivals of the Virgin are properly Lady Days, but this falling in Lent, and being the first quarter day for rents and other payments, readily became Lady Day par excellence. Otherwise considered, it is simply an abridgment of “Our Lady Day the Annunciation,” as we find it written in the reign of Henry the Sixth. Some old customs on paying quarterly rents are noticed in Gascoigne’s Flowers of Poesie, 4to, 1575:

Hertfordshire.

At St. Alban’s certain buns called “Pope Ladies” are sold on Lady Day, their origin being attributed by some to the following story:—A noble lady and her attendants were travelling on the road to St. Alban’s (the great North road passes through this town), when they were benighted and lost their way. Lights in the clock-tower at the top of the hill enabled them at length to reach the monastery in safety, and the lady in gratitude gave a sum of money to provide an annual distribution on Lady Day of cakes, in the shape of ladies, to the poor of the neighbourhood. As this bounty was distributed by the monks, the “Pope Ladies” probably thus acquired their name.—See N. & Q. 4th S. vol. x. p. 412. Another correspondent of N. & Q. (4th S. vol. x. 341) says these buns are sold on the first day of each year, and that there is a tradition that they have some relation to the myth of Pope Joan.—See also the Gent. Mag. 1820, vol. xc. p. 15.

Lancashire.

The gyst-ale, or guising-feast, was an annual festival of the town of Ashton-under-Lyne. It appears from the rental of Sir John de Assheton, compiled A.D. 1422, that twenty shillings were paid to him as lord of the manor for the privilege of holding this feast by its then conductors. The persons named in the roll as having paid 3s. 4d. each are:—“Margret, that was the wife of Hobbe the Kynges (of misrule); Hobbe Adamson; Roger the Baxter; Robert Somayster; Jenkyn of the Wode; and Thomas of Curtual.” The meaning of the term gyst-ale is involved in some obscurity—most probably the payments above were for the gyst, or hire, for the privilege of selling ale and other refreshments during the festivals held on the payment of the rents of the manor. These guisings were frequently held in the spring, most probably about Lady Day, when manorial rents were usually paid; and, as the fields were manured with marl about the same period, the term marlings has been supposed to indicate the rough play or marlocking which was then practised. This, however, must be a mistake, since the term relates to merry pranks, or pleasure gambols only, and has no connection with marl as a manure.

These gyst-ales, or guisings, once ranked amongst the principal festivals of Lancashire, and large sums of money were subscribed by all ranks of society in order that they might be celebrated with becoming splendour. The lord of the manor, the vicar of the parish, the farmer, and the operative, severally announced the sums they intended to give, and when the treasurer exclaimed “A largesse,” the crowd demanded “from whom?” and then due proclamation was made of the sum subscribed. The real amount, however, was seldom named, but it was announced that “Lord Johnson,” or some other equally distinguished person had contributed “a portion of ten thousand pounds” towards the expenses of the feast.

After the subscription lists were closed an immense garland was prepared, which contained abundance of every flower in season, interspersed with a profusion of evergreens and ribbons of every shade and pattern. The framework of this garland was made of wood, to which hooks were affixed, and on these were suspended a large collection of watches, jewels, and silver articles borrowed from the richer residents in the town. On the day of the gyst this garland was borne through the principal streets and thoroughfares, attended by crowds of townspeople dressed in their best attire. These were formed into a procession by a master of the ceremonies, locally termed the king. Another principal attendant was the Fool, dressed in a grotesque cap, a hideous grinning mask, a long tail hanging behind him, and a bell with which he commanded attention when announcements were to be made. In an early period of these guisings the fool was usually mounted on a hobby-horse, and indulged in grotesque pranks as he passed along—hence we obtained the term “hob-riding,” and more recently the proverbial expression of “riding one’s hobby to death.”—Harland and Wilkinson, Legends and Traditions of Lancashire, 1873, p. 86.

Norfolk.

On a table of benefactions in the Church at Oxburgh it is stated that Sir Henry Bedingfield paid at Lady Day annually £2 for lands belonging to the township of Oxburgh; that this was called walk money, and was given to the poor.—Old English Customs and Charities, p. 124.

Isle of Thanet.

Evelyn in his Diary, under the date of March 25th, 1672 (Bohn’s Edition, 1859, vol. ii. p. 78), says: “Observing almost every tall tree to have a weather-cock on the top bough, and some trees half-a-dozen, I learned that on a certain holiday the farmers feast their servants, at which solemnity they set up these cocks as a kind of triumph.”

IRELAND.

At Kilmacteige, Co. of Sligo, the Lady Days are observed with most scrupulous attention, that is to say, so far as abstaining from all kind of daily labour, or following any trade or calling, although their sanctity does not operate on their minds so as to induce them to refrain from sports and pastimes, cursing or swearing, or frequenting tippling-houses and drinking to excess.—Mason, Stat. Acc. of Ireland, 1814-19, vol ii. p. 864.

March 29.] LOW SUNDAY.

March 29.]

LOW SUNDAY.

The Octave or first Sunday after Easter.

The author of Christian Sodality, a collection of discourses, 1652, says:—This day is called White or Low Sunday because in the Primitive Church those neophytes that on Easter Eve were baptized and clad in white garments did to-day put them off, with this admonition, that they were to keep within them a perpetual candour of spirit, signified by the Agnus Dei hung about their necks, which, falling down upon their breasts, put them in mind what innocent lambs they must be, now that of sinful, high, and haughty men they were by baptism made low, and little children of Almighty God, such as ought to retain in their manners and lives the Paschal feasts which they had accomplished.

Seymour in his Survey of London (1734, B. iv. p. 100) tells us that the aldermen used to meet the Lord Mayor and sheriffs at St. Paul’s in their scarlet gowns, furred, without their cloaks, to hear the sermon.

WALES.

Fenton in his Tour through Pembrokeshire (1811, p. 495) alludes to the game of Knappan as being played at Pwlldu, in the parish of Penbedw, on low Easter-day. He says the knappan was a ball of some hard wood, of such a size as a man might hold in his hand, and was boiled in tallow to make it slippery. The players at this game were very numerous, frequently amounting to a thousand or fifteen hundred people, parish against parish, hundred against hundred, and sometimes county against county. When the company assembled, about one or two o’clock in the afternoon, entirely naked, with the exception of a light pair of breeches, a great shout was given as the signal to begin, and the ball was hurled bolt upright into the air by one of the parties and at its fall he that caught it hurled it towards the county or goal he played for. The players consisted of horse and foot, who in the purest times of the game never mixed, being governed by certain rules and regulations that were never violated; but long before this game was disused various abuses and disorders had crept into it, so that it served to inflame every bad passion, engender revenge, foment private quarrels, and stimulate even to bloodshed and murder.

April 1.] ALL FOOLS’ DAY.

April 1.]

ALL FOOLS’ DAY.

On this day a custom prevails not only in Britain, but on the Continent, of imposing upon and ridiculing people in a variety of ways. It is very doubtful what is the precise origin of this absurd custom. In France the person imposed upon on All Fools’ Day is called Poisson d’Avril, an April Fish, which Bellingen, in his Etymology of French Proverbs, published in 1656, thus explains. The word Poisson, he contends, is corrupted through the ignorance of the people from Passion, and length of time has almost totally defaced the original intention, which was as follows: that as the Passion of our Saviour took place about this time of the year, and as the Jews sent Christ backwards and forwards to mock and torment him, that is, from Annas to Caiaphas, from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate, this ridiculous custom took its rise from thence, by which we send about from one place to another such persons as we think proper objects of our ridicule. A writer in the Gent. Mag., 1783, vol. liii. p. 578, also conjectures that this custom may have an allusion to the mockery of the Saviour of the world by the Jews. Another attempt to explain it has been made by referring to the fact that the year formerly began in Britain on the 25th of March, which was supposed to be the Incarnation of our Lord, and the commencement of a new year was always, both among the ancient heathens and among modern Christians, held as a great festival. It is to be noted then that the 1st of April is the octave of the 25th of March, and the close consequently of that feast which was both the festival of the Annunciation and of the New Year. Hence it may have become a day of extraordinary mirth and festivity.

Alluding to this custom, Charles Dickens, jun. (Gent. Mag. 1869, New Series, vol. ii. p. 543), says: A prince of the house of Lorraine, confined in one of Louis XIII.’s prisons, made his escape on the 1st of April by swimming across the moat, and is accordingly commemorated as a poisson d’Avril to this day. Why this should be so is not very clear, inasmuch as the gaolers and not the prince would have been the April fools on the occasion. A later version of the same story would appear to be the correct one. Here the prince and his wife, escaping in the disguise of peasants on the 1st of April, were recognised by a servant-maid as they were passing out of the castle-gates. She immediately made for the guard-room, giving the alarm to a sentinel by the way, but, unfortunately for her, yet happily for the fugitives, although she may have forgotten that it was All Fool’s Day, the soldiers on guard had not. The information was treated with the utmost contempt, the soldiers declining to be made game of, and while the royal prison-breakers got clear off, it is said that the luckless informer was soundly buffetted by the guard for her ill-timed jocularity. This version of the story, however, goes to prove nothing beyond the fact that the custom of making April fools was well known in the time of Louis XIII., but in nowise accounts for the curious expression poisson d’Avril; while the swimming story explains the fish, but leads one to believe that the incident was the origin of the dedication of the 1st of April to fools.

Another curious explanation of this peculiar custom, giving it a Jewish origin, has also been suggested. It is said to have begun from the mistake of Noah sending the dove out of the Ark before the water had abated on the first day of the Hebrew month, answering to our month of April, and to perpetuate the memory of this deliverance it was thought proper, whoever forgot so remarkable a circumstance, to punish them by sending them upon some sleeveless errand similar to that ineffectual message upon which the bird was sent by the patriarch.—Public Advertiser, April 13th, 1769.

Maurice, in his Indian Antiquities (vi. 71), says that the custom prevailing both in England and India had its origin in the ancient practice of celebrating with festival rites the period of the vernal equinox, or the day when the new year of Persia anciently began.

Addison, in the Spectator, referring to the year 1711, remarks that “a custom prevails everywhere among us on the 1st of April, when everybody takes it in his head to make as many fools as he can. A neighbour of mine—a very shallow, conceited fellow, makes his boast that for these ten years successively he has not made less than a hundred April fools. My landlady had a falling-out with him, about a fortnight ago, for sending every one of her children upon some “sleeveless errand,” as she terms it. Her eldest son went to buy a halfpenny-worth of inkle at a shoemaker’s; the eldest daughter was dispatched half a mile to see a monster; and, in short, the whole family of innocent children were made April fools. Nay, my landlady herself did not escape him. The empty fellow has laughed upon these conceits ever since.”

In the north of England persons imposed upon on this day are called “April Gouks.” A gouk, or gowk, is properly a cuckoo, and is used here, metaphorically, in vulgar language, for a fool. The cuckoo is, indeed, everywhere a name of contempt.—Brand, Pop. Antiq., 1849, vol. i. p. 139.

Hampshire.

In this county the following rhyme is said after twelve o’clock:—

Middlesex.

In connection with the ancient custom of making “April fools” on the 1st of April, the following hoax was practised on the London public on the 1st April, 1860. Some days previous thousands of persons received a neatly printed and official-looking card, with a seal marked by an inverted sixpence at one of the angles. It was to this effect:—“Tower of London. Admit the Bearer and Friend to view the Annual Ceremony of washing the White Lions on Sunday April 1st, 1860. Admitted at the White Gate. It is particularly requested that no gratuity be given to the Warders or their Assistants.” The hoax succeeded remarkably well, and consequently several thousand persons were taken in. For many hours cabs might have been seen wending their way towards Tower Hill on that Sunday morning; the drivers asking every one they met “How they should get to the White Gate.” At last this piece of deception was found out, and the many thousands who had been thus imposed upon returned home highly disgusted.

SCOTLAND.

The Scotch have a custom of Hunting the Gowk, as it is termed. This is done by sending silly people upon fools’ errands from place to place by means of a letter, in which is written:—

April 3.] ST. RICHARD’S DAY.

April 3.]

ST. RICHARD’S DAY.

Aubrey, in MS. Lansd. 231, says: “This custome is yearly observed at Droitwich, in Worcestershire, where, on the day of St. Richard, they keep holyday, and dresse the well with green boughs and flowers. One yeare in the Presbyterian time it was discontinued in the civil warres, and after that the springe shranke up or dried up for some time; so afterwards they revived their annual custom, notwithstanding the power of the parliament and soldiers, and the salt water returned again and still continues. This St. Richard was a person of great estate in these parts, and a briske young fellow that would ride over hedge and ditch, and at length became a very devout man, and after his decease was canonized for a saint.”

April 7.] HOCK, OR HOKE DAY.

April 7.]

HOCK, OR HOKE DAY.

A popular holiday mentioned by Matthew Paris and other ancient writers. It was usually kept on the Tuesday following the second Sunday after Easter Day, and distinguished by various sportive pastimes, which consisted, according to Spelman, in the men and women binding each other, and especially the women the men, and so was called “Binding Tuesday.” Jacob (Law Dictionary, 1797) says that “Hokeday, or Hock Tuesday (Dies Martis, quem quindenam Paschæ vocant), was a day so remarkable that rents were reserved and payable thereon; and in the accounts of Magdalen College, Oxford, there is a yearly allowance pro mulieribus hockantibus, in some manors of theirs in Hants, where the men hock the women on Monday, and the contrary on Tuesday; the meaning of it is, that on that day the women in merriment stop the way with ropes, and pull passengers to them, desiring something to be laid out in pious uses. The following remarks are taken from Book of Days, vol. i. p. 499:—

The meaning of the word hoke or hock seems to be totally unknown, and none of the derivations yet proposed seem to be deserving of our consideration.[34] The custom may be traced, by its name at least, as far back as the thirteenth century, and appears to have prevailed in all parts of England, but it became obsolete early in the last century. At Coventry, which was a great place for pageantry, there was a play or pageant attached to the ceremony, which, under the title of “The old Coventry play of Hock Tuesday,” was performed before Queen Elizabeth during her visit to Kenilworth, in July 1575. It represented a series of combats between the English and Danish forces, in which twice the Danes had the better, but at last, by the arrival of the Saxon women to assist their countrymen, the Danes were overcome, and many of them were led captive in triumph by the women. Queen Elizabeth laughed well at this play, and is said to have been so much pleased with it that she gave the actors two bucks and five marks in money. The usual performance of this play had been suppressed in Coventry soon after the Reformation, on account of the scenes of riot which it occasioned.

It will be seen that this Coventry play was founded on the statement which had found a place in some of our chronicles as far back as the fourteenth century, that these games of hock-tide were intended to commemorate the massacre of the Danes on St. Brice’s Day, 1002; while others, alleging the fact that St. Brice’s Day is the 13th of November, suppose it to commemorate the rejoicings which followed the death of Hardicanute, and the accession of Edward the Confessor, when the country was delivered from Danish tyranny. Others, however, and probably with more reason, think that these are both erroneous explanations; and this opinion is strongly supported by the fact that Hock Tuesday is not a fixed day, but a movable festival, and dependent on the great Anglo-Saxon pagan festival of Easter, like the similar ceremony of heaving, still practised on the borders of Wales on Easter Monday and Tuesday. Such old pagan ceremonies were preserved among the Anglo-Saxons long after they became Christians, but their real meaning was gradually forgotten, and stories and legends, like this of the Danes, afterwards invented to explain them. It may also be regarded as a confirmation of the belief that this festival is the representation of some feast connected with the pagan superstitions of our Saxon forefathers, that the money which was collected was given to the church, and was usually applied to the reparation of the church buildings. We can hardly understand why a collection of money should be thus made in commemoration of the overthrow of the Danish influence, but we can easily imagine how, when the festival was continued by the Saxons as Christians, what had been an offering to some one of the pagan gods might be turned into an offering to the church. The entries on this subject in the old churchwardens’ registers of many of our parishes not only show how generally the custom prevailed, but to what an extent the middle classes of society took part in it.

In Reading these entries go back to a rather remote date, and mention collections by men as well as women, while they seem to show that there the women “hocked,” as the phrase was, on the Monday, and the men on the Tuesday.

In the registers of the parish of St. Laurence, under the year 1499, we have:

In the parish of St. Giles, under the date 1535:

In St. Mary’s parish, under the year 1559:

In the “Privy Purse Expenses” of Henry VIII. for the year 1505, is the following entry:—

Higgins, in his Short View of English History, says that, “At Hoctide the people go about beating brass instruments, and singing old rhymes in praise of their cruel ancestors.” Dr. Plot says that one of the uses of the money collected at Hoketyde was the reparation of the several parish churches where it was gathered. This is confirmed by extracts from the Lambeth Book.—Brand, Pop. Antiq. 1849, vol. i. p. 189.

Berkshire.

Some singular Hocktide customs observed at Hungerford are thus described in the Standard of April 14th, 1874:—These customs are connected with the Charter for holding by the Commons the rights of fishing, shooting, and pasturage of cattle on the lands and property bequeathed to the town by John O’Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The proceedings commenced on Friday evening with a supper, at which the fare was macaroni, Welsh rare-bits, watercress, salad, and punch. To-day—John O’Gaunt’s Day—known in the town as “Tuth” Day, the more important business of the season is transacted at the Town Hall, from the window of which the town-crier blows the famous old horn, which has done service on these occasions for many long years. The tything or “tuth” men thereupon proceed to the high constable’s residence, to receive their “tuth” poles, which are usually decorated with ribbons and flowers. The first business of these officials, who are generally tradesmen of the borough, is to visit the various schools and ask a holiday for the children; then to call at each house and demand a toll from the gentlemen, and a kiss from the ladies, and distribute oranges ad libitum throughout the day, in expectation of which a troop of children follow them through the streets, which are for several hours kept alive by the joyous shouts and huzzas. The high constable is elected at the annual court held to-day, and one of the curious customs is the sending out by that officer’s wife of a bountiful supply of cheesecakes among the ladies of the place.

April 20.]

Worcestershire.

April 20.]

Worcestershire.

The 20th of April is the great fair-day of Tenbury, and there is a belief in the county that the cuckoo is never heard till Tenbury fair-day, or after Pershore fair-day, which is the 26th of June.[35]—N. & Q. 2nd S. vol. i. p. 429.

April 23.] ST. GEORGE’S DAY.

April 23.]

ST. GEORGE’S DAY.

St. George’s Day, though now passed over without notice, was formerly celebrated by feasts of cities and corporations, as we learn from Johan Bale, who, speaking of the neglect of public libraries, has the following curious apostrophe:

“O cyties of Englande, whose glory standeth more in bellye chere then in the serche of wysdome godlye. How cometh it that neyther you, nor your ydell masmongers, have regarded thys most worthy commodyte of your countrey? I mean the conservacyon of your antiquytees, and of the worthy labours of your lerned men. I thynke the renowne of suche a notable acte wolde have muche longar endured than of all your belly bankettes and table tryumphes, eyther yet of your newly purchased hawles to kepe St. Georges feast in.”—Preface to the Laboryeuse Journey and Serche of John Lyelande for Englande’s Antiquitees in Lives of Leland, Hearne, and Wood, vol. i., sign C.

Among courtiers and people of fashion blue coats were worn on this day. Captain Face, a character in the Ram Alley, alludes to the custom among the knights:—

In Epigram 33 of The Seconde Bowle, by Thomas Freeman, 4to, 1614, quoted also in Dodsley’s Old Plays, vol. xii. p. 398, its this distich:

Dr. Forster, in his Perennial Calendar (1824, p. 185), mentioning an allusion to this dress in Reed’s Old Plays (vol. xii.), observes that it was probably because blue was the fashionable colour of Britain, over which St. George presides, and not in imitation of the clothing of the fields in blue, by the flowering of the blue-bells, as many have supposed.

The king’s spurs became the fee of the choristers at Windsor on installations and feasts on St. George’s Day. In the “Privy Purse Expenses of Henry VII.” is an entry under the year 1495:

“Oct. 1. At Windesor. To the children for the spoures.”

A similar disbursement occurs thrice in the Privy Purse Expenses of Henry VIII. in 1530.—Med. Ævi Kalend. vol. i. p. 214.

Strype, in his Ecclesiastical Memorials (1822, vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 3), says, “April 23rd [1557], being St. George’s Day, the King’s grace went a procession at Whitehall, through the hall, and round about the court hard by the gate, certain of the Knights of the Garter accompanying him, viz., the Lord Mountagu, the Lord Admiral St. Anthony St. Leger, the Lord Cobham, the Lord Dacre, Sir Thomas Cheyne, the Lord Paget, the Earl of Pembroke, the Earl of Arundel, the Lord Treasurer, and Secretary Petre, in a robe of crimson velvet, with the garter embroidered on his shoulder (as Chancellor of the Garter). One bare a rod of black, and a doctor the book of records. Then went all the heralds, and then the Lord Talbot bare the sword, and after him the sergeant-at-arms. And then came the king, the Queen’s grace looking out of a window beside the court on the garden side. And the bishop of Winchester did execute the mass, wearing his mitre. The same afternoon were chosen three Knights of the Garter, viz., the Lord Fitz-Water, the deputy of Ireland; Lord Grey of Wilton, deputy of Guynes; and Sir Robert Rochester, comptroller of the Queen’s house. After, the duke of Muscovia (as that ambassador was usually termed) came through the hall and the guard stood on a row, in their rich coats, with halberts; and so passed up to the Queen’s chamber, with divers aldermen and merchants. And after came down again to the chapel to evensong, to see the ceremonies. And immediately came the king, (the Lord Strange bearing the sword), and the Knights of the Garter, to evensong, which done, they went all up to the chamber of presence. After came the ambassador, and took his barge to London.[36]

Berkshire.

The following is a curious account of the expenses for decorating a figure of St. George on this day, taken from Coates’s History of Reading, p. 221:

Cheshire.

In a pamphlet entitled Certayne Collections of Anchiante Times, concerninge the Anchante and Famous Cittie of Chester (already alluded to) and published in Lysons’ Magna Britannia, 1810, vol. ii. pt. ii. pp. 588-590, is the following account of races at one time annually held at Chester on St. George’s Day: In A.D. 1609, Mr. William Lester, mercer, being mayor of Chester, one Mr. Robert Amerye, ironmonger, sometime sherife of Chester (A.D. 1608), he, with the assent of the mayor and cittie, at his own coste chiefly, as I conceive, caused three silver cuppes of good value to be made, the whiche saide silver cuppes were, upon St. George’s Daye, for ever to be thus disposed. All gentlemen that would bringe their horses to the Rood-dee that daye, and there rune, that horse which with spede did over-rune the rest, should have the beste cuppe there presently delivered, and that horse which came seconde, nexte the firste, before the rest, had the seconde cuppe there also delivered, and for the third cuppe it was to be rune for at the ringe, by any gentleman that would rune for the same upon the said Rood-dee, and upon St. George’s Daye, being thus decreed, that every horse putt in soe much money as made the value of the cupps or bells, and had the money, which horses did winne the same, and the use of the cupps, till that day twelve month, being in bond to deliver in the cupps that daye, soe also for the cuppe for the ringe, which was yearly continued accordingly untill the yeare of our Lord 1623; John Brereton, inn-holder, being mayor of Chester, he altered the same after this manner and caused the three cupps to be sould, and caused more money to be gathered and added, soe that the intereste thereof woulde make one faire silver cuppe, of the value of £8, as I suppose, it may be more worth, and the race to be altered, viz., from beyonde the New-tower a great distance, and soe to rune five times from that place rownd about the Rood-dee, and he that overcame all the rest the last course, to have the cup freely for ever, then and there delivered, which is continued to this daye. But here I must not omitt the charge, and the solemnitie made, the first St. George’s daye; he had a poet, one Mr. Davies, who made speeches and poeticale verses, which were delivered at the high crosse before the mayor and aldermen, with shewes of his invention,[37] which booke was imprinted and presented to that famous Prince Henry, eldest sonne to the blessed King James, of famous memorie. Alsoe, he caused a man to go upon the spire of St. Peter’s steeple in Chester, and by the fane, at the same time he sounded a drum, and displayed a baner upon the top of the same spire. And this was the original of St. George’s race, with the change thereof.

Leicestershire.

At Leicester, the “Riding of the George” was one of the principal solemnities of the town. The inhabitants were bound to attend the Mayor, or to “ride against the king,” as it is expressed, or for “riding the George” or for any other thing to the pleasure of the Mayor and worship of the town.

St. George’s horse, harnessed, used to stand at the end of St. George’s Chapel, in St. Martin’s Church, Leicester.—Fosbroke, Dict. of Antiq.

IRELAND.

St. George’s Day was at one time celebrated at Dublin with high veneration. In the Chain-book of the city of Dublin are several entries to that purpose:

“Item 1. It was ordered in maintenance of the pageant of St. George, that the Mayor of the foregoing year should find the Emperor and Empress with their train and followers well apparelled and accoutered, that is to say, the Emperor attended with two doctors, and the Empress with two knights, and two maidens richly apparelled to bear up the train of her gown.

“Item 2. The Mayor for the time being was to find St. George a horse, and the wardens to pay 3s. 4d. for his wages that day. The bailiffs for the time being were to find four horses, with men mounted on them, well apparelled, to bear the pole-axe, the standard, and the several swords of the Emperor and St. George.

“Item 3. The elder master of the guild was to find a maiden well attired to lead the dragon, and the clerk of the market was to find a golden line for the dragon.

“Item 4. The elder warden was to find for St. George four trumpets; but St. George himself was to pay their wages.

“Item 5. The younger warden was obliged to find the King of Dele and the Queen of Dele, as also two knights, to lead the Queen of Dele, and two maidens to bear the train of her gown, all being entirely clad in black apparel. Moreover, he was to cause St. George’s Chapel to be well hung in black, and completely apparelled to every purpose, and was to provide it with cushions, rushes, and other necessaries for the festivity of that day.”—Harris, History of Dublin, 1766, p. 146.