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

May 8.] APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL.

May 8.]

APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL.

Cornwall.

The most remarkable observance of antiquity remaining in this county is the “Furry festival” which has been celebrated from time immemorial on the 8th of May. At Helston the day used to be ushered in very early in the morning by the music of drums and kettles, and other pleasant sounds, the accompaniments of a song:—

It was a general holiday: so strict, indeed, used the observance of this jubilee to be held that if any person chanced to be found at work, he was instantly seized, set astride on a pole, and hurried on men’s shoulders to the river, where he was sentenced to leap over a wide space, which if he failed in attempting he of course fell into the water. There was always, however, a ready compromise of compounding for a leap. About nine o’clock the revellers appeared before the grammar-school, and demanded a holiday for the school-boys, after which they collected money from house to house. They then used to fadé into the country (fadé being an old English word for to go), and about the middle of the day returned with flowers and oak-branches in their hats and caps, and spent the rest of the day until dusk in dancing through the streets to the sound of the fiddle, playing a particular tune; and threaded the houses as they chose—claiming a right to go through any person’s house, in at one door and out of the other. In the afternoon the ladies and gentlemen visited some farmhouse in the neighbourhood; whence, after regaling themselves with syllabubs, they returned, after the fashion of the vulgar, to the town, dancing as briskly the fadé-dance, and entering the houses as unceremoniously. In later times a select party only made their progress through the streets very late in the evening, and having quickly vanished from the scene, reappeared in the ballroom. Here meeting their friends, they went through the usual routine of dancing till supper; after which they all faddéd it out of the room, breaking off by degrees to their respective houses. At present this custom is fast falling into disuse, and the day is only celebrated by a few of the lower classes.

Murray, in his Handbook for Cornwall, 1865, p. 301, says that the furry festival is in commemoration of the following curious legend:—A block of granite, which for many years had lain in the yard of the Angel Inn, was in the year 1783 broken up and used as a part of the building materials for the assembly-room. This stone, says the legend, was originally placed at the mouth of hell, from which it was one day carried away by the devil as he issued forth in a frolicsome mood on an excursion into Cornwall. Here he traversed the country, playing with his pebble; but it chanced that St. Michael (who figures conspicuously in the town arms and is the patron saint of the town) crossed his path; a combat immediately ensued, and the devil, being worsted, dropped the Hell’s stone in his flight; hence the name of the town.

There have been many opinions regarding the meaning and derivation of the word furry. Polwhele says (History of Cornwall, 1826, vol. ii. p. 41) that furry is derived from fer, a fair: a derivation which seems probable from the expression in the furry-song. “They both are gone to the fair, O.” Some think that the word in question is derived from the Greek φερω, to bear. The rites of the furry correspond most intimately with the ανθες φορεα, a Sicilian festival, so named απο τε φερειν ανθεα, or from carrying flowers, in commemoration of the rape of Proserpine, whom Pluto stole as she was gathering flowers—“herself a fairer flower!” Others derive the word furry from the Cornish furrier, a thief, from the green spoils they brought home from the woods.—See Potter’s Antiquities, vol. i., and Gent. Mag. vol. lx. pp. 520, 873, 1100.

May 10.] WHITSUNDAY.

May 10.]

WHITSUNDAY.

In the Catholic times of England it was usual to dramatise the descent of the Holy Ghost, which this festival commemorates,—a custom we find alluded to in Barnaby Googe’s translation of Naogeorgus:

In an old Computus, anno 1509, of St. Patrick’s, Dublin, we find iv^s. vii^d. paid to those playing with the great and little angel and the dragon; iii^s. paid for little cords employed about the Holy Ghost; iv^s. vi^d. for making the angel (thurificantis) censing, and ii^s. ii^d. for cords of it—all on the feast of Pentecost.—Every Day Book, vol. i. p. 685.

Whitsunday is observed as a Scarlet Day in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.—Kalendar of the English Church, 1865, p. 73.

The origin of the term Whitsunday has been warmly contested by various writers, and still seems to be an undecided question. For an interesting article on this subject, see N. & Q. 5th S. vol. i. pp. 401-403. Consult also N. & Q. 2nd S. vol. ii. p. 154; 3rd S. vol. vii. p. 479; 4th S. vol. xi. p. 437. Dr. Neale’s Church Festivals and their Household Words.—The Prayer Book Interleaved (Champion and Beaumont).

Whitsun Ale.

—Ale was so prevalent a drink amongst us in old times, as to become a part of the name of various festal meetings, as Leet-ale, Lamb-ale, Bride-ale (bridal), and, as we see, Whitsun-ale. It was the custom of our ancestors to have parochial meetings every Whitsuntide, usually in some barn near the church, consisting of a kind of picnic, as each parishioner brought what victuals he could spare. The ale, which had been brewed pretty strong for the occasion, was sold by the churchwardens, and from its profits a fund arose for the repair of the church.—See Book of Days, vol. i. p. 637; also Brand, Pop. Antiq. 1849, vol. i. pp. 276, 283.

Cornwall.

Whitsuntide is observed at Polperro by a custom of the young people going in droves into the country to partake of milk and cream.—N. & Q. 1st S. vol. xii. p. 298.

Carew in his Survey of Cornwall (p. 68), speaking of the church ale, says that “two young men of the parish are yerely chosen by their last foregoers to be wardens, who, dividing the task, make collection among the parishioners of whatsoever provision it pleaseth them voluntarily to bestow. This they employ in brewing, baking, and other acates [provisions] against Whitsuntide; upon which holy-days the neighbours meet at the church-house, and there merrily feed on their owne victuals, contributing some petty portion to the stock, which, by many smalls, groweth to a meetly greatness; for there is entertayned a kind of emulation between these wardens, who, by his graciousness in gathering and good husbandry in expending, can best advance the churche’s profit. Besides, the neighbour parishes at those times lovingly visit each one another and this way frankly spend their money together. The afternoones are consumed in such exercises as olde and yong folke (having leisure) doe accustomably weare out the time withall. When the feast is ended, the wardens yeeld in their account to the parishioners, and such money as exceedeth the disbursement is layd up in store, to defray any extraordinary charges arising in the parish or imposed on them for the good of the country or the prince’s service, neither of which commonly gripe so much but that somewhat still remayneth to cover the purse’s bottom.” This custom is falling into desuetude, if it be not already discontinued.—See N. & Q. 1st S. vol. xii. 298.

Cumberland.

At this season, and also at Martinmas, are held hirings for farmers’ servants. Those who offer their services stand in a body in the market-place, and to distinguish themselves hold a bit of straw or green branch in their mouths. When the market is over the girls begin to file off, and gently pace the streets with a view of gaining admirers, while the young men, with similar designs, follow them, and, having eyed the lasses, each picks up a sweetheart, whom they conduct to a dancing-room, and treat with punch and cake. Here they spend their afternoon, and part of their half-year’s wages, in drinking and dancing, unless, as it frequently happens, a girl becomes the subject of contention, when the harmony of the meeting is interrupted, and the candidates for her affection settle the dispute by blows without further ceremony. Whoever wins the victory secures the maid for the present, but she is sometimes finally won by the vanquished pugilist. When the diversions of the day are concluded, the servants generally return to their homes, where they pass about a week before they enter on their respective services.—Britton and Brayley, Beauties of England and Wales, 1803, vol. iii. p. 243.

Essex.

Heybridge Church, near Maldon, was formerly strewn with rushes, and round the pews, in holes made apparently for the purpose, were placed small twigs just budding.—N. & Q. 2nd S. vol. i. p. 471.

Gloucestershire.

At St. Briavels, after divine service, formerly, pieces of bread and cheese were distributed to the congregation at church. To defray the expenses, every householder in the parish paid a penny to the churchwardens, and this was said to be for the liberty of cutting and taking the wood in Hudnalls. According to tradition, the privilege was obtained of some Earl of Hereford, then lord of the Forest of Dean, at the instance of his lady, upon the same hard terms that Lady Godiva obtained the privileges for the citizens of Coventry.—Rudder, History of Gloucestershire, 1779, p. 307. See N. & Q. 2nd S. vol. x. p. 184.

A remnant of the old customs of Whitsuntide is retained at the noble old church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, which is annually strewn with rushes in accordance with ancient practice.—See Edwards, Old English Customs and Charities, pp. 216, 217.

A custom existed at Wickham for the lord of the manor to give a certain quantity of malt to brew ale to be given away at Whitsuntide, and a certain quantity of flour to make cakes. Every one who kept a cow sent curd; others, plums, sugar and flour. A contribution of sixpence from each person was levied for furnishing an entertainment, to which every poor person of the parish who came was presented with a quart of ale, a cake, a piece of cheese, and a cheesecake.—Rudder, History of Gloucestershire, 1779, p. 817.

Hampshire.

At Monk Sherborne, near Basingstoke, both the Priory and parish churches were decorated with birch on Whitsunday.—N. & Q. 4th S. vol. ii. p. 190.

Herefordshire.

On Whitsunday, says a correspondent of N. & Q. (4th S. vol. i. p. 551), I was in the church of King’s Pion, near Hereford, and was struck with what seemed to me a novel style of church decoration. Every pew corner and “point of vantage” was ornamented with a sprig of birch, the light green leaves of which contrasted well with the sombreness of the woodwork. No other flower or foliage was to be seen in the church.

Northamptonshire.

Miss Baker (Glossary of Northamptonshire Words, 1854, vol. ii. p. 433) describes the celebration of a Whitsun-ale early in the present century in a barn at King’s Sutton, fitted up for the entertainment, in which the lord, as the principal, carried a mace made of silk, finely plaited with ribbons, and filled with spices and perfumes for such of the company to smell as desired it; six morris dancers were among the performers.

In a Whitsun-ale, last kept at Greatworth in 1785, the fool, in a motley garb, with a gridiron painted, or worked with a needle, on his back, carried a stick with a bladder, and a calf’s tail. Majordomo and his lady as Queen of May, and my lord’s morris (six in number) were in this procession. They danced round a garlanded maypole. A banquet was served in a barn, and all those who misconducted themselves were obliged to ride a wooden horse, and if still more unruly were put into the stocks, which was termed being my lord’s organist.—Glossary, &c., p. 434.

Northumberland.

An unchartered Whitsun Tryste Fair is still held annually on Whitsunbank Hill, near Wooler.—N. & Q. 5th S. vol. i. p. 402.

Oxfordshire.

A custom formerly prevailed amongst the people of Burford to hunt deer in Wychwood Forest. An original letter, in the possession of the corporation, dated 1593, directs the inhabitants to forbear the hunting for that year, on account of the plague that was then raging, and states an order that should be given to the keepers of the forest, to deliver to the bailiffs two bucks in lieu of the hunting; which privilege, was not, however, to be prejudiced in future by its remittance on that occasion.—Brand, Pop. Antiq. 1849, vol. i. p. 284.

Somersetshire.

Collinson, in his History of Somersetshire (vol. iii. p. 620), speaking of Yatton, says that, “John Lane of this parish, gentleman, left half an acre of ground, called the Groves, to the poor for ever, reserving a quantity of the grass for the strewing church on Whitsunday.”

IRELAND.

The Irish kept the feast of Whitsuntide with milk food, as among the Hebrews; and a breakfast composed of cake, bread, and a liquor made by hot water poured on wheaten bran.—Every Day Book, vol. i. p. 685.

At Holy Island, as regularly as the season of Whitsuntide comes, a concourse of people is assembled to perform penance. They make two hundred and eighty rounds, the circumference of some being a mile, others half a mile, till they are gradually diminished to a circuit of the church of St. Mary. A detailed and probably much exaggerated account of the scene upon this occasion will be found in Hardy’s Holy Wells of Ireland, 1836, p. 29.

May 11.] WHITSUN MONDAY.

May 11.]

WHITSUN MONDAY.

Cheshire.

The Whitsun Mysteries were acted at Chester, seven or eight on each day during the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Whitsun week. The drapers, for instance, exhibited the “Creation;” the tanners took the “Fall of Lucifer;” the water-carriers of the Dee reproduced the “Deluge;” the cooks had the “Harrowing of Hell.” The performers were carried from one station to another by means of a movable scaffold, a huge and ponderous machine mounted on wheels, gaily decorated with flags, and divided into two compartments, the upper of which formed the stage, and the lower, defended from vulgar curiosity by coarse canvas draperies, answered the purposes of the green-room. The performers began at the Abbey gates, where they were witnessed by the high dignitaries of the Church; they then proceeded to the High Cross, where the Mayor and the civic magnates were assembled; and so on, through the city, until their motley history of God and His dealings with man had been played out. The production of these pageants was costly; each mystery has been set down at fifteen or twenty pounds, present money. The dresses were obtained from the churches, until, this practice being denounced as scandalous, the guilds had then to provide the costume and other properties.—See Edinburgh Essays, 1856; also Book of Days, vol. i. pp. 633-637.

Derbyshire.

Derby having for many centuries been celebrated for its ale, which Camden says was made here in such perfection, that wine must be very good to deserve a preference, and Fuller remarks, “Never was the wine of Falernum better known to the Romans than the canary of Derby is to the English,” it is not a matter of surprise to find some remnants of the Whitsun-ales in the neighbourhood. In a manuscript in the Bodleian Library is a record of the Whitsun-ales at Elvaston and Ockbrook, from which it appears that they were formerly required to brew four ales of a quarter of malt each. Every inhabitant of Ockbrook was obliged to be present at each ale; every husband and his wife to pay twopence, and every cottager one penny; the inhabitants of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston to receive all the profits and advantages arising from the ales to the use and behalf of the church at Elvaston. The inhabitants of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston to brew eight ales, each inhabitant to be present as before, or to send their money.—Jour. of the Arch. Assoc. 1852, vol. vii. p. 206.

Hampshire.

At St. Mary’s College, Winchester, the Dulce Domum is sung on the evening preceding the Whitsun holidays; the masters, scholars, and choristers, attended by a band of music, walk in procession round the courts of the College, singing it.—Brand, Pop. Antiq., 1849, vol. i. p. 452. See Gent. Mag., 1811, vol. lxxxi. p. 503.

Lancashire.

A correspondent of the Gent. Mag. (1783, vol. liii. p. 578) says there seems to be a trace of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the heads of the Apostles in what passes at Whitsuntide Fair, in some parts of Lancashire, where one person holds a stick over the head of another, whilst a third, unperceived, strikes the stick, and thus gives a smart blow to the first.

Leicestershire.

A fair used to be held on Whitsun Monday at Hinckley, when the millers from various parts of the country walked in procession dressed in ribbons, with what they called the King of the Millers at their head.

A writer (in 1787) describing one of these fairs says: To the old ceremony of riding millers, many improvements were made upon a more extensive and significant plan: several personages introduced that bore allusions to the manufacture, and were connected with the place. Old Hugo Baron de Grentemaisnel, who made his first appearance in 1786, armed in light and easy pasteboard armour, was this second time armed cap-a-pie in heavy sinker plate, with pike and shield, on the latter the arms of the town. The representative baron of Hinckley had the satisfaction of being accompanied by his lady, the Baroness Adeliza, habited in the true antique style, with steeple hat, ruff-points, mantle, &c., all in suitable colours; each riding on nimble white steeds properly caparisoned; they were preceded by the town banner, and two red streamers embroidered with their respective names. Several bands of music gave cheerful spirit to the pageant, but more particularly the militia band from Leicester. The frame-work knitters, wool-combers, butchers, carpenters, &c., had each their plays, and rode in companies bearing devices or allusions to their different trades. Two characters, well supported, were Bishop Blaise and his chaplain, who figured at the head of the wool-combers. In their train, appeared a pretty innocent young pair, a gentle shepherd and shepherdess: the latter carrying a lamb, the emblem of her little self more than of the trade. Some other little folks, well dressed, were mounted on ponies, holding instruments, the marks of their fathers’ businesses, and ornamented with ribbons of all colours waving in the air.—See Nichols, History of Hinckley, 1813, p. 678.

Throsby, in his History of Leicester (1791, vol. iii. p. 85), gives the following account of a custom observed in his time at Ratby. He says:—There shall be two persons chosen annually, by a majority, to be called caterers, which shall on every Whit Monday go to Leicester, to what inn they shall think proper, where a calf’s head shall be provided for their breakfast; and when the bones are picked clean, they are to be put into a dish and served up with the dinner. Likewise, the innkeeper is to provide two large rich pies, for the caterers to take home, that their families may partake of some of their festivity. Likewise, there shall be provided for every person a short silk lace, tagged at both ends with silver, which, when so equipped, they shall all proceed to Enderby, and sell the grass of the Wether (a meadow so called) to the best bidder; from thence they shall go to the meadow, and all dismount, and each person shall take a small piece of grass from the before-mentioned Wether, and tie it round with their tagged lace, and wear it in their hats, and ride in procession to the High Cross in Leicester, and there throw them among the populace; from thence proceed to their inn, and go in procession to St. Mary’s Church, where a sermon shall be preached for the benefit of the hospital founded by Henry, Earl of Leicester. When service is over, a deed shall be read over by the clergyman, concerning the gift of the above Wether, and the church shall be stuck with flowers. When the ceremony is over, they are to return to their inn to dinner, and close the day with mirth and festivity.

Northamptonshire.

At Corby near Rockingham, every twentieth year, the inhabitants assemble at an early hour, and stop up all roads and bye-ways in the parish, and demand a certain toll of every person, gentle or simple, who may have occasion to pass through the village on that day. In case of non-compliance a stout pole is produced, and the nonconformist is placed thereon, in a riding attitude, carried through the village, and taken to the parish stocks and imprisoned until the authorities choose to grant a dismissal. It appears that Queen Elizabeth granted to the inhabitants of Corby a charter to free them from town toll throughout England, Wales, and Scotland; and also to exempt them from serving on juries at Northampton, and to free the knights of the shire from the militia law. This custom of taking toll has been observed every twenty years in commemoration of the granting of the charter.—N. & Q. 3rd S. vol. i. p. 424.

Oxfordshire.

Until within the last century, a custom prevailed in the parish of Ensham, by which the towns-people were allowed on Whitsun Monday to cut down and carry away as much timber as could be drawn by men’s hands into the Abbey yard, the churchwardens previously marking out such timber by giving the first chop; so much as they could carry out again, notwithstanding the opposition of the servants of the Abbey to prevent it, they were to keep for the reparation of the church. By this service they held their right of commonage at Lammas and Michaelmas, but about the beginning of last century this practice was laid aside by mutual consent.—Every Day Book, vol. ii. p. 669.

Shropshire.

An old custom, called the “Boy’s Bailiff,” formerly prevailed at Wenlock, in Whitsun week. It consisted of a man who wore a hair-cloth gown, and was called the bailiff, a recorder, justices, and other municipal officers. There were a large retinue of men and boys mounted on horseback, begirt with wooden swords, which they carried on their right sides, so that they were obliged to draw their swords out with their left hands. They used to call at the gentlemen’s houses in the franchise, where they were regaled with refreshment; and they afterwards assembled at the Guildhall, where the town clerk read some sort of rigmarole which they called their charter, one part of which was—

The first three named places are the extreme points of the franchise, and the other two are on the return to Much Wenlock. This custom is supposed to have originated in going a bannering.—Brand, Pop. Antiq., 1849, vol. i. p. 284.

Staffordshire.

The Court of Array, or view of men and arms, was held on Whitsun Monday in the vicinity of Lichfield, called Greenhill, where every householder failing to answer his name when called from the dozeners’ list was fined a penny. The origin of this singular ceremony is unknown; it existed long before the charters of incorporation, and may perhaps be the remains of the commissions of array issued in the time of Henry V., who ordered every man to keep in his possession arms and armour, according to his goods and station in life, whence the enrolment of a regular armour took place. These statutes of array were repealed. Something, however, like the old custom was continued, and a booth erected for this purpose, in which the magistrates received all the inhabitants who chose to visit them, and partake of a collation provided for that purpose.

The business of the day commenced about eight o’clock in the morning, when the constables, attended by armed men wearing their colours of distinction, with drums beating, preceded by morris dancers, with the Maid Marian, tabor and pipe, &c., conducted the bailiffs and sheriff, and other city officers, to the bower, where they were received with a salute from the men at arms. The constable then returned to collect the dozeners with their standards or posies, who, with the inhabitants of each separate ward, were with like ceremonies conducted to the bower. The posies were probably originally images of saints: they afterwards became emblems of trades, or in many instances mere puppets or garlands borne upon the heads of their ancient halberds; these were in every ward received with a volley from the men at arms, who also fired over every separate house, for which they received money and liquor from the inhabitants. Greenhill was on these occasions crowned with shows, booths, and stalls, and the day was regarded as a festival for the city and neighbourhood. About nine o’clock in the evening, the whole of the posies being collected, a procession was formed to conduct them to what was called the christening, and was in the following order:—

On arriving at the door of St. Mary’s Church, after passing up Boar Street, and down Sadler Street, an address was made by the town clerk, recommending a peaceable demeanour, and watchful attendance to their duty; and a volley being fired over the posies the business of the day ended. At one time the images were deposited in the belfry of the adjoining church, from which it may be concluded that the origin of this procession was religious. This custom was abolished by the magistrates in 1805, at which time the expense was annually about £70; but was afterwards in some degree continued by private subscription.—Account of Lichfield, 1818, 1819, p. 87.

Southey, in his Common Place Book (1849, 2nd S. p. 336), gives the following extract from Mrs. Fienne’s MSS:—

“At Lichfield they have a custom at Whitsuntide, ye Monday and Tuesday, called the Green Bower Feast, by which they hold their charter. The bailiff and sheriff assist at the ceremony of dressing up babies with garlands of flowers and greens, and carry them in procession through all the streets, and then assemble themselves at the market-place, and so go in a solemn procession through the great street to a hill beyond the town, where is a large green bower made, in which they have their feast. Many smaller bowers are made around for company, and for booths to sell fruit, sweetmeats, ginger-bread,” &c.

WALES.

At Tenby a women’s benefit club walked in procession to church with band and banners before them and bunches of flowers in their hands. After the service they dined, and wound up the evening by dancing.—Mason’s Tales and Traditions of Tenby, 1858, p. 23.

May 12.] WHITSUN TUESDAY.

May 12.]

WHITSUN TUESDAY.

Bedfordshire.

At Biddenham there is an ancient customary donation of a quantity of malt, made at Whitsuntide by the proprietor of Kempston Mill, near the parish. The malt is always delivered to the overseers of the poor for the time being, and brewed by them into ale, which is distributed among all the poor inhabitants of Biddenham on Whit Tuesday.—Old English Customs and Charities, 1842, p. 65.

Buckinghamshire.

The Eton Montem was a long celebrated and time-honoured ceremony peculiar to Eton, and said to have been coeval with the foundation of the college, and was observed biennially but latterly triennially down to the year 1844, when it was totally abolished. It was a procession of the scholars dressed either in military or fancy costume, to a small mount on the south side of the Bath Road (supposed to be a British or Saxon barrow), where they exacted money for salt, as the phrase was, from all persons present, and from travellers passing. The ceremony was called the Montem. The procession of boys, accompanied by bands of music, and carrying standards, was usually followed by many old Etonians, and even by members of the royal family—in some cases by the king and queen. Arrived at Salt-hill, the boys ascended the “mons,” or mount, the “captain” unfolded the grand standard, and delivered a speech in Latin, and the “salt” was collected. The principal “salt-bearers” were superbly dressed, and carried embroidered bags for the money. The donation of the king and queen was called the “royal salt,” and tickets were given to those who had paid their salt.[59] Immense numbers of people used to assemble to witness the procession, and the money collected frequently exceeded £1000. After deducting the necessary expenses, the remainder was given to the senior scholar, who was elected to Cambridge, for his support at that University.

The origin of this custom, notwithstanding much antiquarian research, is unknown. Some, however, are of opinion that it was identical with the bairn or boy-bishop. It originally took place on the 6th of December, the festival of St. Nicholas (the patron of children; being the day on which it was customary at Salisbury, and in other places where the ceremony was observed, to elect the boy-bishop, from among the children belonging to the cathedral), but afterwards it was held on Whitsun Tuesday.—Sheahan, History of Buckinghamshire, 1862, p. 862; Lysons’ Magna Britannia, 1813, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 558; Gent. Mag., 1820, vol. xc. p. 55; See N. & Q. 1st S., vol i. pp. 110, 322; 2nd S. vol. ii. p. 146.

Cumberland.

The ten principal estates in the parish of Hesket were formerly called Red Spears, from the titles of the owners, obtained from the curious tenure of riding through the town of Penrith on every Whitsun Tuesday, brandishing their spears. These Red-Spear Knights seem to have been regarded as sureties to the sheriff for the peaceable behaviour of the inhabitants.—Britton and Brayley, Beauties of England and Wales, 1802, vol. iii. p. 171.

Middlesex.

On the evening of Whitsun Tuesday, a sermon is annually preached in the ancient church of St. James, Mitre Court, Aldgate, London, from a text having special reference to flowers. This is popularly called the “Flower sermon.”—Kalendar of the English Church, 1865, p. 74.

On this day is delivered in St. Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch, a “Botanical sermon”—the Fairchild Lecture,—for which purpose funds were left by Thomas Fairchild, who died in 1729. It was formerly the custom of the President and several Fellows of the Royal Society to hear this sermon preached.—Timbs’ Something for Everybody, 1861, p. 80.

SCOTLAND.

The custom of “riding the marches” existed at Lanark, and took place annually on the day after Whitsun Fair, by the magistrates and burgesses, known by the name of the Langemark or Landsmark Day, from the Saxon langemark.[60]—Sinclair’s Stat. Acc. of Scotland, 1795, vol. xv. p. 45.

May 14.] COTESWOLD GAMES.

May 14.]

COTESWOLD GAMES.

The vicinity of Chipping Campden was the theatre of the Coteswold Games, which, in the reign of James I. and his unfortunate successor, were celebrated in this part of England. They were instituted by a public-spirited attorney of Burton-on-the-Heath, in Warwickshire, named Robert Dover, and like the Olympic games of the ancients, consisted of most kinds of manly exercises. The victors were rewarded by prizes, distributed by the institutor, who, arrayed in a discarded habit of James’, superintended the games in person for many years. The meetings were annually held on Whitsun Thursday, and were frequently attended by an immense number of people.

Ben Jonson, Drayton, and other poets[61] of that age, wrote verses on this festivity, which, in 1636, were collected into one volume, and published under the title of Annalia Dubrensia.

These diversities were at length terminated by the breaking out of the civil wars, but were revived at the Restoration; and the memory of their founder is still preserved in the name Dover’s Hill, applied to an eminence of the Cotswold range, about a mile from the village of Campden.—Britton and Brayley, Beauties of England and Wales, 1803, vol. v. p. 655; see Book of Days, vol. i. 712.

May 16.]

Norfolk.

May 16.]

Norfolk.

In the parish of Rockland, annually on the 16th of May, a sort of country fair is held, called by the villagers the “Guild,” and which is evidently a relic of the Guild of St. John the Baptist, held here in St. Peter’s Church before the Reformation. On this occasion a mayor of the Guild is elected, and he is chaired about the three parishes of Rockland, and gathers largess, which is afterwards spent in a frolic. There is another antique custom connected with the guild which yet obtains: the inhabitants of certain houses in the “Street” have the privilege of hanging oaken-boughs outside their doors (and their houses are thence called “bough houses”), and on the day of the guild they draw home-brewed ale for all customers, and are not interfered with for so doing, either by the village licensed publican or the excise authorities.—N. &. Q. 2nd S. vol. vii. p. 450.

EEL FAIR.

Surrey.

About the middle of May there is an annual migration of young eels up the Thames at Kingston. They appear in shoals, giving to the margin of the river an appearance not altogether agreeable; but their origin and destination are alike matter of conjecture. It is reasonably supposed that these swarms migrate from the lakes in Richmond Park, where immense numbers are annually bred, and that they descend the rivers, stocking the creeks and streams for some miles above the town. There is generally a crowd of eager men, women, and children, provided with every possible vessel wherein to catch the slippery prey on the first intimation of their approach; and the animated scene has caused the occasion to be called Eel Fair.—Biden, History of Kingston-upon-Thames, 1852, p. 128.

May 17.] TRINITY SUNDAY.

May 17.]

TRINITY SUNDAY.

Its observance is said to have first been established by Archbishop Becket, soon after his consecration. “Hic post consecrationem suam instituit festivitatem principalem S. Trinitatis annis singulis in perpetuam celebrandam, quo die primam missam suam celebravit.”—Wharton, H., Anglia Sacra, 1691, fol. pt. i. p. 8.

It is still customary for the judges and great law-officers of the Crown, together with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, to attend Divine Service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and hear a sermon.

On Trinity Sunday, formerly, processions of children, with garlands of flowers and ribbons, were common.—Timbs’ Something for Everybody, 1861, p. 83.

Lincolnshire.

The parish of Clee possesses a right of cutting rushes from a piece of land, called “Bescars,” for the purpose of strewing the floor of the church every Trinity Sunday. A small quantity of grass is annually cut to preserve this right.—Edwards, Old English Customs and Charities, p. 217.

Northumberland.

The following extract is taken from the Newcastle Daily Journal of June 17th, 1867:—

Yesterday being Trinity Sunday, in pursuance of a time-honoured custom, the Master, Deputy-Master, and Brethren of the Ancient and Honourable Corporation of the Trinity House attended officially in All Saints’ Parish Church, Newcastle. A noteworthy relic of the past in connection with the service was the performance on the organ (on the entrance and exit of the Master and Brethren) of the national air, ‘Rule Britannia.’ The rendering of a secular air—even as an evidence of respect—has been objected to; but the organist cites the custom of half a century.

Wiltshire.

Aubrey, in his Miscellanies (1714, p. 49), speaking of Newnton, says: “Upon every Trinity Sunday, the parishioners being come to the door of the hayward’s house, the door was struck thrice in honour of the Holy Trinity; they then entered. The bell was rung; after which, silence being ordered, they read their prayers aforesaid. Then was a ghirland of flowers (about the year 1660 one was killed striving to take away the ghirland) made upon an hoop, brought forth by a maid of the town upon her neck, and a young man (a bachelor) of another parish first saluted her three times in honour of the Trinity, in respect of God the Father. Then she puts the ghirland upon his neck and kisses him three times in honour of the Trinity, particularly God the Son. Then he puts the ghirland on her neck again, and kisses her three times in honour of the Holy Trinity and particularly the Holy Ghost. Then he takes the ghirland from her neck, and, by the custom, must give her a penny at least, which, as fancy leads, is now exceeded, as 2s. 6d., &c. The method of giving this ghirland is from house to house annually, till it comes round. In the evening, every commoner sends his supper to this house, which is called the Eale-house; and having before laid in there equally a stock of malt, which was brewed in the house, they sup together, and what was left was given to the poor.”

WALES.

A very ancient custom is observed on Trinity Sunday in Carnarvonshire: the offerings of calves and lambs which happen to be born with the Nod Beuno, or mark of St. Beuno—a certain natural mark in the ear,—have not yet entirely ceased. They are brought to church (but formerly to the monastery[62]) of Clynnok Vaur on Trinity Sunday, and delivered to the churchwardens, who sell and account for them, depositing the money in a great chest, called Cyff St. Beuno, made of one oak, and secured with three locks. From this, the Welsh have a proverb for attempting any very difficult thing. “You may as well try to break open St. Beuno’s chest.” The little money resulting from the sacred beasts, or casual offerings, is applied either to the relief of the poor or in aid of repairs.— Pennant, Tour through North Wales, 1781, vol. ii. p. 210.