Jan. 10.]
Oxfordshire.
Jan. 10.]
Oxfordshire.
Pointer, in his Oxoniensis Academia (1749, p. 96), alludes to a practice observed at St. John’s and Corpus Christi Colleges, Oxford, of having a speech spoken on this day, in laudem Laudi Archiepiscopi.
Jan. 12.]
SCOTLAND.
Jan. 12.]
SCOTLAND.
This day is observed by the people of Halkirk, as New Year’s Day, a time when servants are too apt to spend their hard-earned penny in drink and other equally useless purposes.—Stat. Acc. of Scotland, 1845, vol. xv. p. 75.
Jan. 13.] ST. HILARY’S DAY.
Jan. 13.]
ST. HILARY’S DAY.
St. Hilary is memorable in the annals of Richmond, in the county of York, as on the anniversary of his festival the mayor is chosen for the ensuing year, which causes it to be observed as a jubilee-day among the friends, and those concerned in corporation matters.
St. Hilary likewise gives name to one of the four seasons of the year when the courts of justice are opened.—Clarkson’s Hist. of Richmond, 1821, p. 293.
Jan. 14.] MALLARD NIGHT.
Jan. 14.]
MALLARD NIGHT.
Oxfordshire.
This day was formerly celebrated in All Souls College, Oxford, in commemoration of the discovery of a very large mallard or drake in a drain, when digging for the foundation of the college; and though this observance no longer exists, yet on one of the college “gaudies” there is sung in memory of the occurrence a very old song called “The swapping, swapping mallard.”
“THE MERRY OLD SONG OF THE ALL SOULS MALLARD.
Let other hungry mortals gape on;
And on the bones their stomach fall hard,
But let All Souls’ men have their Mallard.
Oh! by the blood of King Edward,
It was a swapping, swapping Mallard.
More than they did their chief commander;
Because he saved, if some don’t fool us,
The place that’s called th’ ‘head of Tolus.’
But let them prove it if they can;
As for our proof, ’tis not at all hard,
For it was a swapping, swapping Mallard.
To the remembrance of the Mallard;
And as the Mallard dives in pool,
Let us dabble, dive, and duck in bowl.
Oh! by the blood of King Edward,
It was a swapping, swapping Mallard.”
[9] The allusion to King Edward is surely an anachronism, as King Henry VI. was reigning at the time of the foundation of the college.—Book of Days, vol. i. p. 114.
When Pointer wrote his Oxoniensis Academia (1749), he committed a grave offence by insinuating that this immortalised mallard was no other than a goose. The insinuation produced a reply from Dr. Buckler, replete with irresistible irony; but Pointer met a partisan in Mr. Bilson, chaplain of All Souls, who issued a folio sheet entitled ‘Proposals for printing by subscription the History of the Mallardians,’ with the figure of a cat prefixed, said to have been found starved in the college library.—Hist. of Co. of Oxford, 1852, p. 144.
Jan. 17.] SEPTUAGESIMA.
Jan. 17.]
SEPTUAGESIMA.
Septuagesima occurs between this day and February the 22nd, according as the Paschal full moon falls. It was formerly distinguished by a strange ceremony, denominated the Funeral of Alleluia. On the Saturday of Septuagesima, at nones, the choristers assembled in the great vestiary of the cathedral, and there arranged the ceremony. Having finished the last benedicamus, they advanced with crosses, torches, holy waters, and incense, carrying a turf in the manner of a coffin, passed through the choir, and went howling to the cloister as far as the place of interment; and then having sprinkled the water and censed the place, returned by the same road.—Fosbroke’s British Monachism, 1843, p. 56.
Jan. 20.] ST. AGNES’ EVE.
Jan. 20.]
ST. AGNES’ EVE.
This night was formerly much venerated by young maidens who wished to know when and whom they should marry. It was required that on this day they should not eat, which was called “fasting St. Agnes’ fast.” Keats has made this custom the subject of one of his poems. The following are a few stanzas from it:
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp’d trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold.
Young virgins might have visions of delight;
And soft adorings from their loves receive,
Upon the honey’d middle of the night,
If ceremonies due they did aright;
As supperless to bed they must retire,
And couch supine their beauties, lilywhite;
Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require
Of Heaven, with upward eyes, for all that they desire.
Of all its wretched pearls her hair she frees;
Unclasp’d her warmed jewels one by one;
Loosens her fragrant bodice; by degrees
Her rich attire creeps rustling to her knees:
Half hidden, like a mermaid in sea-weed,
Pensive awhile she dreams awake, and sees,
In fancy, fair St. Agnes in her bed,
But dares not look behind, or all the charm is fled.”
SCOTLAND.
Formerly on the eve of St. Agnes’ Day the following custom was, and perchance still is observed in the northern parts of Scotland by the mountain peasantry. A number of young lads and lasses meeting together on the eve of St. Agnes, at the hour of twelve, went one by one to a certain cornfield, and threw in some grain, after which they pronounced the following rhyme:
Hither, hither, now repair;
Bonny Agnes, let me see
The lad who is to marry me.”
The prayer was granted by their favourite saint, and the shadow of the destined bride or bridegroom was seen in a mirror on this very night.—Time’s Telescope, 1832, p. 15.
Jan. 21.] ST. AGNES’ DAY.
Jan. 21.]
ST. AGNES’ DAY.
Since the Reformation, St. Agnes has by degrees lost her consequence in this country as superstition has subsided; though our rural virgins in the north are yet said to practise some singular rites, in keeping “what they call St. Agnes’ Fast, for the purpose of discovering their future husbands.”—Clavis Calendaria, Brady, 1815, vol. i. p. 170. See Mother Bunch’s Closet Newly Broke Open, 1825 (?). Anatomy of Melancholy, Burton, 1660, p. 538.
Jan. 24.] ST. PAUL’S EVE.
Jan. 24.]
ST. PAUL’S EVE.
Cornwall.
The first red-letter day in the Tinner’s Calendar is St. Paul’s Pitcher-day, or the Eve of Paul’s Tide. It is marked by a very curious and inexplicable custom, not only among tin-streamers, but also in the mixed mining and agricultural town and neighbourhood of Bodmin, and among the seafaring population of Padstow. The tinner’s mode of observing it is as follows:—On the day before the Feast of St. Paul, a water-pitcher is set up at a convenient distance, and pelted with stones until entirely demolished. The men then leave their work, and adjourn to a neighbouring ale-house, where a new pitcher bought to replace the old one is successively filled and emptied, and the evening is given up to merriment and misrule.
On inquiry whether some dim notion of the origin and meaning of this custom remained among those who still keep it up, it was found to be generally held as an ancient festival intended to celebrate the day when tin was first turned into metal—in fact, the discovery of smelting. It is the occasion of a revel, in which, as an old streamer observes, there is an open rebellion against the water-drinking system which is enforced upon them whilst at work.
The custom of observing Paul’s Pitcher Night is probably half-forgotten even in Cornwall at the present time, where many of the ancient provincial usages have been suffered to die out. It was, however, in full vigour so recently as 1859. The boys of Bodmin parade the town with broken pitchers, and other earthenware vessels, and into every house, where the door can be opened, or has been inadvertently left so, they hurl a “Paul’s pitcher,” exclaiming,
And here’s a heave.”
According to custom, the first “heave” cannot be objected to; but upon its repetition the offender, if caught, may be punished.—Brand’s Pop. Antiq. 1870, vol. i. p. 23; N. & Q. 1st S. vol. iii. p. 239; 2nd S. vol. viii. p. 312.
Jan. 25.] ST. PAUL’S DAY.
Jan. 25.]
ST. PAUL’S DAY.
Strype, in his Ecclesiastical Memorials (1822, vol. iii. part i. p. 331), says: On the 25th of January (1554), being St. Paul’s Day, was a general procession of St. Paul by every parish, both priests and clerks, in copes, to the number of an hundred and sixty, singing Salve festa dies, with ninety crosses borne. The procession was through Cheap unto Leadenhall. And before went two schools; that is, first, all the children of the Gray Friars, and then those of St. Paul’s school. There were eight bishops, and the Bishop of London, mitred, bearing the Sacrament, with many torches burning, and a canopy borne over. And so about the churchyard, and in at the West door, with the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and all the Companies in their best liveries. And within a while after, the King came, and the Lord Cardinal, and the Prince of Piemont, and divers lords and knights. At the foot of the steps to the choir, as the King went up, kneeled the gentlemen lately pardoned, offering him their service. After mass, they returned to the court to dinner. And at night bonfires, and great ringing of bells in every church. And all this joy was for the conversion of the realm.
It was on this day that the husbandmen of old used to make prognostics of the weather, and of other matters for the whole year, a custom which Bourne (Antiquitates Vulgares, chap. xviii. p. 159) has tried to unravel.—New Curiosities of Literature, Soane, 1847, p. 42.
St. Paul’s Cathedral.
—One of the strangest of the old ceremonies in which the clergy of St. Paul’s Cathedral used to figure was that which was performed twice a year, namely, on the day of the Conversion, and on that of the Commemoration of St. Paul. On the former of these festivals a fat buck, and on the latter a fat doe, was presented to the church by the family of Baud, in consideration of some lands which they held of the Dean and Chapter at West Lee in Essex. The original agreement made with Sir William Le Baud, in 1274, was that he himself should attend in person with the animals; but some years afterwards it was arranged that the presentation should be made by a servant, accompanied by a deputation of part of the family. The priests, however, continued to perform their part in the show. On the aforesaid days, the buck and doe were brought by one or more servants at the hour of the procession, and through the midst thereof, and offered at the high altar of St. Paul’s Cathedral; after which the persons that brought the buck received of the Dean and Chapter, by the hands of their chamberlain, twelvepence for their entertainment; but nothing when they brought the doe. The buck being brought to the steps of the altar, the Dean and Chapter, apparelled in copes and proper vestments, with garlands of roses on their heads, sent the body of the buck to be baked, and had the head and horns fixed on a pole before the cross in their procession round about the church, till they issued at the West door, where the keeper that brought it blowed the death of the buck, and then the horns that were about the city answered him in like manner; for which they had each of the Dean and Chapter three and fourpence in money, and their dinner; and the keeper, during his stay, meat, drink, and lodging, and five shillings in money at his going away; together with a loaf of bread, having on it the picture of St. Paul. This custom was continued till the reign of Elizabeth.—Beauties of England, Brayley and Britton, 1803, vol. v. p. 486.
Jan. 31.] EXECUTION OF CHARLES I.
Jan. 31.]
EXECUTION OF CHARLES I.
The anniversary of the execution of King Charles I. was formerly celebrated, and a special form of prayer made use of, which was removed from the Prayer Book by an Act of Parliament (22 Vict. c. 2, March 25, 1859).
The following extract is taken from the Courier, of the 30th of January, 1826:
“This being the anniversary of King Charles’ Martyrdom (in 1649), the Royal Exchange gates were shut till twelve o’clock, when they were opened for public business.”
There is a story told regarding a Miss Russell, great granddaughter of Oliver Cromwell, who was waiting-woman to the Princess Amelia, daughter of George II., to the effect that, while engaged in her duty one 30th of January, the Prince of Wales came into the room, and sportively said, “For shame, Miss Russell! why have you not been at church, humbling yourself with weepings and wailings for the sins on this day committed by your ancestor?” To which Miss Russell answered, “Sir, for a descendant of the great Oliver Cromwell, it is humiliation sufficient to be employed, as I am, in pinning up the tail of your sister!”—Rede’s Anecdotes, 1799, quoted in Book of Days, vol. i. p. 192.
Jan. 31.]
Isle of Man.
Jan. 31.]
Isle of Man.
On the eve of the 1st of February a festival was formerly kept, called in the Manks language Laa’l Breeshey, in honour of the Irish lady who went over to the Isle of Man to receive the veil from St. Maughold. The custom was to gather a bundle of green rushes, and standing with them in the hand on the threshold of the door, to invite the holy Saint Bridget to come and lodge with them that night. In the Manks language, the invitation ran thus:—“Brede, Brede, tar gys my thie, tar dyn thie ayms noght. Foshil jee yn dorrys da Brede, as lhig da Brede e heet staigh.” In English, “Bridget, Bridget, come to my house, come to my house to-night—open the door for Bridget, and let Bridget come in.” After these words were repeated, the rushes were strewn on the floor by way of a carpet or bed for St. Bridget.—Train’s History of the Isle of Man, 1845, vol. ii. p. 116.
Nottinghamshire.
The following extract from the Newark Advertiser of Feb. 2nd. 1870, describes a custom that existed for a long time at Newark:
“For many years past the last day in January has been observed in Newark as a raffling day for oranges in the market-place. On Monday last application was made to Mr. Superintendent Riddell, at the Post Office, as to whether the practice would be allowed this year as usual. He advised them to apply to the sitting magistrates, and upon doing so Mr. Wallis (deputy clerk) read to them the Act of Parliament, which stated that they would be liable to three months’ hard labour if they raffled. The applicants said they believed there was some old charter which gave them the privilege in Newark for raffling on that day, but they were told the Act of Parliament made no exceptions, and the magistrates said they could not give them permission to break the law. On Monday, therefore, no raffling took place, and we may regard the practice as finally put an end to, which will be a matter of great satisfaction to many.—See, Every Day Book, vol. ii. p. 161.
Oxfordshire.
By the common people, the Saturday preceding Shrove Tuesday is called Egg Saturday. This name is employed as a date by Anthony à Wood: “One hundred and ninety-two bachelors to determine this Lent, but twenty-three or thereabouts were not presented on Egg Saturday.”—Med. Ævi Kalend. vol. i. p. 158. Lives of Leland, Hearne, and Wood, 1772, vol. ii. p. 297.
Feb. 1.] CANDLEMAS EVE.
Feb. 1.]
CANDLEMAS EVE.
On Candlemas Eve was kindled the yule-brand, which was allowed to burn till sunset, when it was quenched and carefully laid by to teend (i.e. light) the Christmas clog or log at the next return of the season. Thus Herrick, Hesperides, p. 337, says:
Till sunne-set let it burne;
Which quencht, then lay it up agen
Till Christmas next returne.
The Christmas Log next yeare;
And where ’tis safely kept, the fiend
Can do no mischiefe there.”
The rosemary, the bay, the ivy, the holly, and the mistletoe, the Christmas decorations of hall and cottage, were now pulled down, when, according to the popular superstition, not a branch, nor even a leaf, should be allowed to remain.
Down with the Baies and the Misleto:
Down with the Holly, Ivie, all
Wherewith ye dress the Christmas Hall:
That so the superstitious find
No one least branch there left behind:
For look, how many leaves there be
Neglected there (maids trust to me),
So many goblins you shall see.”
Herrick (Hesperides, p. 361).
In the place, however, of the Christmas decorations, the “greener box was upraised,” and Christmas now was positively at an end. Some indeed, considered this to have been the case on Twelfth Night, and old Tusser, in his Five Hundred Points of good Husbandry, strongly contends for it; but then his head was more full of the cart and plough than of regard for old customs; and like any other master, he was naturally anxious that the holidays should be ended, and the labourers should get to work again as soon as possible; and merry-making, however agreeable it may be, will not help to dig the land or sow the grain. But in spite of these wise saws, the truth of which nobody would contest, human feelings are stronger than human reason, and customs, when they tend to pleasure, will maintain their ground till they are superseded, not by privations, but by other forms of amusement.—New Curiosities of Literature, Soane, 1847, vol. i. p. 52.
The following is from Herrick’s Hesperides, p. 337.
Down with the Misleto;
Instead of Holly, now up-raise
The greener Box for show.
Let Box now domineere,
Until the dancing Easter Day,
Or Easter’s Eve appeare.
Your houses to renew,
Grown old, surrender must his place
Unto the crisped Yew.
And many flowers beside;
Both of a fresh and fragrant kinne
To honour Whitsontide.
With cooler Oaken boughs,
Come in for comely ornaments
To re-adorn the house.
New things succeed, as former things grow old.”
Nottinghamshire.
It was at one time customary, in the villages bordering on the Trent, to decorate not only churches but houses with branches of box, and to light up a number of candles in the evening, as being the last day of Christmas rejoicings. “On Candlemas Day throw candles away” is a popular proverb for the following day.—Jour. Arch. Assoc. 1853, vol. viii. p. 231.
Feb. 2.] CANDLEMAS DAY.
Feb. 2.]
CANDLEMAS DAY.
This day, the festival of the “Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” is sometimes called Christ’s Presentation, the Holiday of St. Simeon, and The Wives’ Feast. The ceremony of candle-bearing (which continued in England till it was repealed for its Popish tendency by an order in council in the second year of King Edward VI.) is generally considered to refer to what Simeon said when he took the infant Jesus in his arms, and declared that he was a light to lighten the Gentiles.
Pope Innocent, in a sermon on this festival quoted in Pagano Papismus, in reply to the question “Why do we (the Catholics) in this feast carry candles?” says, “Because the Gentiles dedicated the month of February to the infernal gods; and as at the beginning of it Pluto stole Proserpine, and her mother, Ceres, sought her in the night with lighted candles, so they in the beginning of this month, walked about the city with lighted candles. Because the holy fathers could not utterly extirpate this custom, they ordained that Christians should carry about candles in honour of the blessed Virgin Mary; and thus what was done before to the honour of Ceres is now done to the honour of the Virgin.”
From whatever cause, however, the ceremony originated, it acquired many additional rites in the process of time, according to the manners and habits of those who adopted it. We are told in Dunstan’s Concord of Monastic Rules that “the monks went in surplices to the church for candles, which were to be consecrated, sprinkled with holy water, and incensed by the abbot. Every monk took a candle from the sacrist and lighted it. A procession was made, thirds and mass were celebrated, and the candles, after the offering, were presented to the priest. The monks’ candles signified the use of them in the parable of the wise virgins.”
According to some authorities, there was on this day a general consecration of all the candles to be burnt in the Catholic churches throughout the whole year; and it should also be mentioned that from Candlemas the use of tapers at vespers and litanies, which had continued through the whole winter, ceased until the ensuing All Hallow Mass, which will serve to explain the old English proverb in Ray’s collection:
Throw candle and candlestick away.”
New Curiosities of Literature, vol. i. p. 25.
Dorsetshire.
Formerly at Lyme Regis the wood-ashes of the family being sold throughout the year as they were made, the person who purchased them annually sent a present on this day of a large candle. When night came, this candle was lighted, and, assisted by its illumination, the inmates regaled themselves with cheering draughts of ale, and sippings of punch, or some other animating beverage, until the candle had burnt out. The coming of the Candlemas Candle was looked forward to by the young ones as an event of some importance; for of usage they had a sort of right to sit up that night, and partake of the refreshment, till all retired to rest, the signal for which was the self-extinction of the Candlemas Candle.—Every Day Book, vol. i. p. 206.
Yorkshire.
Formerly at Ripon, on the Sunday before Candlemas Day, the collegiate church was illuminated with candles.—Gent. Mag. 1790, vol. lx. p. 719.
SCOTLAND.
At grammar schools it is, or was, an universal custom for the children attending schools to make small presents of money to their teachers. The master sits at his desk or table, exchanging for the moment his usual authoritative look for one of bland civility, and each child goes up in turn and lays his offering down before him, the sum being generally proportioned to the abilities of the parent. Sixpence and a shilling are the usual sums in most schools, but some give half, and whole crowns, and even more. The boy and girl who give most are respectively styled king and queen. The children being then dismissed for a holiday proceed along the streets in a confused procession, carrying the king and queen in state, exalted upon that seat, formed of crossed hands, which, probably from this circumstance, is called “the king’s chair.” In some schools it used to be customary for the teacher, on the conclusion of the offerings, to make a bowl of punch, and regale each boy with a glass to drink the king and queen’s health, and a biscuit. The latter part of the day was usually devoted to what was called the Candlemass bleeze or blaze, namely, the conflagration of any piece of furze which might exist in their neighbourhood, or, were that wanting, of an artificial bonfire.
According to Sinclair the king’s power lasted for six weeks, and during his reign he was not only entitled to demand an afternoon’s play for the scholars once a week, but had also the royal privilege of remitting punishments.—Book of Days, vol i. p. 214. Stat. Acc. of Scotland, Sinclair, 1794, vol. xiii. p. 211.
It was formerly customary in Scotland to hold a football match, the east end of a town against the west, the unmarried men against the married, or one parish against another. The “Candlemas ba’,” as it was called, brought the whole community out in a state of high excitement. On one occasion when the sport took place in Jedburgh, the contending parties, after a struggle of two hours in the streets, transferred the contention to the bed of the river Jed, and there fought it out amidst a scene of fearful splash and dabblement, to the infinite amusement of a multitude looking on from the bridge.—Book of Days, vol. i. p. 214.
Western Isles of Scotland.
As Candlemas Day comes round, the mistress and servants of each family taking a sheaf of oats, dress it up in woman’s apparel, and after putting it in a large basket, beside which a wooden club is placed, they cry three times, “Briid is come! Briid is welcome!” This they do just before going to bed, and as soon as they rise in the morning, they look among the ashes, expecting to see the impression of Briid’s club there, which if they do, they reckon it a true presage of a good crop and prosperous year, and the contrary they take as an ill-omen.—Description of the Western Isles of Scotland, Martin, 1703, p. 119.
COLLOP MONDAY.
The Monday before Shrove Tuesday is so called because it was the last day of flesh-eating before Lent, and our ancestors cut their fresh meat into collops or steaks, for salting or hanging up until Lent was over; and hence in many places it is customary to have eggs and collops, or slices of bacon at dinner on this day.—Every Day Book, vol. i. p. 241.
Buckinghamshire.
At Eton it was the custom for the scholars to write verses either in praise or dispraise of Father Bacchus, poets being considered as immediately under his protection. He was therefore sung on this occasion in all kinds of metres, and the verses of the boys of the seventh and sixth, and some of the fifth forms, were affixed to the inner doors of the college. Verses are still written and put up on this day, but the young poets are not confined to the subject of writing eulogiums on the God of Wine. It retains, however, the name of Bacchus.—Brand’s Pop. Antiq., vol. i. p. 62. Status Scholæ Etonensis, A.D. 1560, fol. 423.
Cornwall.
On the day termed Hall’ Monday, which precedes Shrove Tuesday, about the dusk of the evening it is the custom for boys, and in some cases for those who are above the age of boys, to prowl about the streets with short clubs, and to knock loudly at every door, running off to escape detection on the slightest sign of a motion within. If, however, no attention be excited, and especially if any article be discovered negligently exposed, or carelessly guarded, then the things are carried away; and on the following morning are discovered displayed in some conspicuous place, to expose the disgraceful want of vigilance supposed to characterise the owner. The time when this is practised is called “Nickanan night;” and the individuals concerned are supposed to represent some imps of darkness, who seize on and expose unguarded moments.
On the following eve (Shrove Tuesday), the clubs are again in requisition; but on this occasion the blows on the door keep time to the following chant:
Give me some pancake, and then I’ll be gone.
But if you give me none,
I’ll throw a great stone,
And down your doors shall come.”
Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall for 1842; N. & Q. 1st S. vol. xii. p. 297.
Devonshire.
In the neighbourhood of Bridestow, Okehampton, the children go round to the different houses in the parish on the Monday before Shrove Tuesday, generally by twos and threes, and chant the following verses, by way of extracting from the inmates sundry contributions of eggs, flour, butter, halfpence, &c., to furnish out the Tuesday’s feast:
Or a fritter, for my labour,
Or a dish of flour, or a piece of bread,
Or what you please to render.
I see, by the latch,
There’s something to catch;
I see, by the string,
There’s a good dame within.
Trap, trapping throw,
Give me my mumps, and I’ll be go” (gone).
The above is the most popular version, and the one indigenous to the place; but there is another set, which was introduced some years ago by a late schoolmistress, who was a native of another part of the country, where her version was customary:
And we are come a-shroving;
Pray, Dame, give something,
An apple, or a dumpling,
Or a piece of crumple cheese,
Of your own making,
Or a piece of pancake.
Trip, trapping throw;
Give me my mumps, and I’ll be go.”
This custom existed also in the neighbourhood of Salisbury.—N. & Q. 1st S. vol. v. p. 77. Pop. Antiq. 1849, vol. i. p. 62.
Feb. 3.] ST. BLAIZE’S DAY.
Feb. 3.]
ST. BLAIZE’S DAY.
St. Blasius was Bishop of Sebaste, a city of Cappadocia, in the Lesser Asia, and is said to have suffered martyrdom in the persecution of Licinus in 316. The fact of iron combs having been used in tearing the flesh of the martyr appears to be the reason for his having been adopted by the wool-combers as their patron saint. The large flourishing communities engaged in this business in Bradford, and other English towns, are accustomed to hold a septennial jubilee on the 3rd of February, in honour of Jason of the Golden Fleece and St. Blaize; and not many years ago the fête was conducted with considerable state and ceremony.—Book of Days, vol. i. p. 219.
In 1825 the procession was drawn up in the following order:
Herald bearing a flag.
Woolstaplers on horseback, each horse caparisoned with a fleece.
Worsted Spinners and manufacturers on horseback, in white stuff waistcoats, with each a sliver over the shoulder, and a white stuff sash; the horses’ necks covered with nets made of thick yarn.
Merchants on horseback, with coloured sashes.
Three guards. Masters’ Colours. Three guards.
Apprentices and Masters’ Sons, on horseback, with ornamented caps, scarlet stuff coats, white stuff waistcoats, and blue pantaloons.
Bradford and Keighley Bands.
Mace-bearer, on foot.
Six guards. King. Queen. Six guards.
Guards. Jason. Princess Medea. Guards.
Bishop’s Chaplain.
Bishop Blase.
Shepherd and Shepherdess.
Shepherd Swains.
Woolsorters, on horseback, with ornamented caps, and various coloured slivers.
Comb Makers.
Charcoal Burners.
Combers’ Colours.
Band.
Woolcombers, with wool wigs, &c.
Band.
Dyers, with red cockades, blue aprons, and crossed slivers of red and blue.
Before the procession started it was addressed by Richard Fawcett, Esq., in the following lines:
Deign’d first to smile on famous Bishop Blase!
To the great author of our Combing trade,
This day’s devoted, and due honour’s paid
To him whose fame thro’ Britain’s isle resounds,
To him whose goodness to the poor abounds.
Long shall his name in British annals shine,
And grateful ages offer at his shrine!
By this our trade are thousands daily fed,
By it supplied with means to earn their bread.
In various forms our trade its work imparts,
In different methods, and by different arts:
Preserves from starving indigents distress’d,
As Combers, Spinners, Weavers, and the rest.
We boast no gems, or costly garments vain,
Borrow’d from India or the coast of Spain;
Our native soil with wool our trade supplies,
While foreign countries envy us the prize.
No foreign broil our common good annoys,
Our country’s product all our art employs;
Our fleecy flocks abound in every vale,
Our bleating lambs proclaim the joyful tale.
So let not Spain with us attempt to vie,
Nor India’s wealth pretend to soar so high;
Nor Jason pride him in his Colchian spoil,
By hardships gain’d, and enterprising toil;
Since Britons all with ease attain the prize,
And every hill resounds with golden cries,
To celebrate our founder’s great renown.
Our shepherd and our shepherdess we crown.
For England’s commerce and for George’s sway
Each loyal subject give a loud Huzza.
Huzza!
Every Day Book, vol. i. p. 209. See also Northamptonshire Words and Phrases, ii. p. 416.
Minshen, in his Ductor in Linguas, (1617, p. 236), under the word Hock-tide speaks of S. Blase his day, about Candlemas, when countrywomen goe about and make good cheere; and if they finde any of their neighbour women a spinning that day, they burne and make a blaze of fire of the distaffe, and thereof called S. Blaze his day.
Dr. Percy, in his Notes to the Northumberland Household Book (1825, pp. 333-435), tells us that the anniversary of St. Blasius is the 3rd of February, when it is customary in many parts of England to light fires on the hills on St. Blayse night: a custom anciently taken up, perhaps, for no better reason than the jingling resemblance of his name to the word “blaze.”
Candles offered to St. Blaze.
—In honour of St. Blaze there formerly were offered to him candles, which after receiving benediction were considered holy, and became highly serviceable to all pious uses.
Clavis Calendaria, Brady, 1812. vol. i. p. 299. Beauties of England and Wales, Brayley and Britton, 1809, vol. ii. p. 418.