farmers to complete wheat-sowing by what was called Allontide
(Allhallows)--Nov. 1st. If they had finished by the previous night, a
cake was divided between the dairymaid and the waggoner. If the latter
could succeed in going into the kitchen by a certain hour at night, and
cracking his whip three times, the cake belonged to him; but if the
dairymaid, by any means in her power, could prevent the performance of
the whip ceremony, she claimed one half of the cake. The maid was on
the look-out an hour or so before the required time, and the wits of
both parties were on the alert to counteract each other's movements,
affording much amusement to the rustic spectators. Respecting the
period for the completion of wheat-sowing, the following old saying
prevailed in the above district many years ago:
"At Michaelmas fair (Oct. 2)
The wheat should hide a hare."
Everybody knows that in the present day they do not begin sowing till
after that date.
Old Christmas is still observed, especially in the western parts of
the county. In old-fashioned farmhouses the misletoe remains till the
following Christmas Eve, when it is burned, and a fresh bough put up.
HOP-CRIBBING,
though nearly banished by the advance of education and improved
manners, is occasionally performed in the secluded parts of this
district. The usage is, that when a male stranger has to pass through
the hop ground, he is seized by the women of the picking party, and
threatened to be pitched into the crib (an article like a large cradle
or child's crib, into which the hops are picked), and then to be
smothered with the caresses of all the oldest and most snuffy women
present, unless he will "shell out" something handsome to be spent in
liquor. If he be young and cleanly, the chances are ten to one that he
prefers paying the fine. Sometimes respectable women have been cribbed;
but in all instances that have been brought before the magistrates, the
law's supremacy over absurd custom has been vindicated.
BEATING THE BOUNDS.
Under the head of "Holy Thursday and its old customs at Worcester" the
"Worcester Herald" of May 27, 1854, contained the following sketch,
which is worthy of a place here:
The ancient custom of "processioning," or "beating the bounds," on
Ascension Day, it seems, has not yet become a dead letter in this
city. The parishes of All Saints and St. Clement are among the most
determined upholders of antiquity in this respect; and although it
is but seldom that either parish rejoices in these "free-and-easy"
carnivals, there are, nevertheless, a few jovial spirits left in each,
who occasionally become so overcharged with a desire for practical fun
and adventure that "go it they must," and straightway the venerable
custom of "beating the bounds" is as good an excuse as any other for
indulging their appetite. The practice, we believe, has not been
observed in the parish of All Saints for ten years past, till Thursday
last, when it came off with all that _eclat_ and superabundance of
relish which had been accumulating during the interval of a decade of
years. The steeple being, of course, the rallying point, the party met
in the morning at the vestry-room, from whence sallied the Rev. Dr.
Bartlett, the curate, Messrs. H. Davis and E. Clarke, churchwardens,
Messrs. Hill and William Hole, overseers, and a party of about twenty
parishioners, accompanied by a shoal of larkish striplings--a body
which considerably augmented during the line of route--_vires acquirit
eundo_. Down Quay Street they went and down the steps towards a boat,
but not without misgivings did the party cast their eyes aloft to the
rough-and-ready customers assembled on the bridge, under the centre
arch of which the "processioners" were doomed to go. Two policemen had
been impressed into the boat for purposes of defence, but what is a
policeman more than any other mortal under the combined influences of a
cataract of mud and water? And what avails a staff, sword, or dagger,
when the enemy grins upon you from a perpendicular height of some
twenty or thirty feet? Accordingly the party went through the ordeal
with all the calm courage of victims whose only consolation is, that
when custom sanctions, neither law nor personal comfort is accounted
as of the slightest consequence. On the whole they escaped as well as
could have been expected, having encountered only a little water, mud,
and a few et ceteras. Thence they proceeded, and cast anchor in Dolday
Bay, and after landing there, our informant assures us, "the game was
tremendous." Six or seven shillings' worth of buns were scattered,
about to produce some scrambling among the boys, and the consequences,
as might be supposed, were a considerable exhibition of juvenile
activity, amid which dirt and rubbish "around their heads were flying;"
and one venerable dame, declaring she had nothing else to part with,
discharged the contents of her teapot so effectually as to plaster
up the eye of our informant, who insists upon it that he _couldn't
see_ why the old lady should have resorted to such extremities for
putting him into hot water. Dolday and the Butts were passed, and the
interior of eight or ten houses inspected, the wall of the Independent
Chapel, Angel Street, scaled, and the Crown yard reached, when another
drenching shower slightly damped the ardour of the borderers; but, like
Cromwell's Invincibles, armed to the teeth with pluck, on they went,
through Mr. Loxley's house and back premises, down Powick Lane, through
Tanner's yard, and so back to the vestry, where progress was duly
recorded in the books. We should not omit to state that the chaplain,
who accompanied the party, had done his best to turn the old ceremony
to good account, by delivering appropriate addresses, &c., at various
points on the line of route. On again emerging from the vestry, a
final salutation was given to the explorers by the assembled crowd, in
which the policemen got thoroughly rinsed; a worthy Boniface, known as
"The old fellow," was prostrated to the ground, in which position he
shouted most piteously, "Blow me if I ain't blinded;" and an overseer
was so roughly handled, that his usual amiable temper became ruffled,
and he swore a deadly oath, that if they gave him three months for
it, he would punch the head of the first fellow he caught. The boys
were treated to a scrambling for pence, and so ended the out-door
performances. After the fatigues of the day, a jolly party of about
twenty-five sat down to dinner at Mr. Hill's, the Herefordshire House,
Newport Street, whose admirable catering soon made them forget the
mishaps of the morning, and a very pleasant evening was spent.
The St. Clement's officials (Mr. Bozward, churchwarden, Messrs.
Spilsbury and Fenn, overseers) and a number of the parishioners, armed
with a flag and a bough of oak, took to the water like ducks, from
Tearne's meadow, near the Dog and Duck, passed down the middle of the
Severn to the Watermen's Chapel, where they landed to take in a part of
the Cattle Market and the site of the old parish church; embarked once
more, passed the Rubicon of the centre arch of the bridge, landed on
the west side of the river, opposite the Cathedral, and performed all
the remainder by land. The usual ablutions, bedaubings, scramblings,
and so forth, were not forgotten. Afterwards the party dined at the
very comfortable hostelry of the Dog and Duck.
A word or two on the origin of the above old ceremony may not be
misplaced here. We find that formerly it was the custom to go round the
bounds and limits of the parish on one of the three days before Holy
Thursday, or the feast of Ascension, when the minister, accompanied by
the churchwardens and parishioners, was wont to deprecate the vengeance
of God, beg a blessing on the fruits of the earth, and to preserve the
rights and properties of the parish. To this Wither alludes in his
"Emblems" (1636), as follows:
"That every man might keep his own possessions,
Our fathers us'd, in reverend processions,
With zealous prayers and praiseful cheere,
To walke their parish limits once a yeare;
And well-known markes (which sacrilegious hands
Now cut or breake) so border'd out their lands,
That every one distinctly knew his owne,
And many brawles, now rife, were then unknowne."
These _gang days_, as they were called, not only brought to the
recollection of Englishmen the settlement of the Christian faith on the
soil, but they also impressed on the memory correct notions concerning
the origin and nature of proprietorship in land. These religious
processions marked out the limits of certain portions of land, under
which the whole kingdom was contained; and in all this the principle of
"God's fee" was recognised by the law and the people. The walking of
the parish bounds in religious processions very materially contributed
to form and keep fresh in the minds of each passing generation the
terms on which property was held, and some of the duties belonging to
the holding. There was a short service ordered to be read occasionally,
composed of such sentences as the following: "Cursed is he that
translateth the bounds and doles of his neighbour," &c. The custom of
processioning (like the large majority of Christian ceremonies) was
no doubt derived from the heathens, being an imitation of the feast
called "Terminalia," which was dedicated to the God Terminus, whom
they considered the guardian of fields and landmarks and the keeper up
of friendship and peace among men. The primitive custom used by the
Christians on this occasion was for the people to accompany the Bishop
or some of the clergy into the fields, where Litanies were chanted and
the mercy of God implored, that He would avert the evils of plague
and pestilence, that He would send them good and favourable weather,
and give them in due season the fruits of the earth. The boundaries
in some places were marked by what they called "Gospel trees," from
the custom of having the Scriptures read under or near them by the
attendant clergyman. One of these trees was till lately standing at
Stratford-upon-Avon. A vivid recollection of the exact extent of each
parish was kept alive in the breasts of the juveniles by many kinds of
practical jokes.
When religious processions were abandoned at the time of the
Reformation these parochial processions also generally fell into
disuse, although it was then ordered that they should be continued, but
a principal cause of their discontinuance of late years was the passing
of the Parochial Assessment Act in 1836, which gave power to Boards of
Guardians to cause the various parishes under their jurisdiction to be
properly mapped and valued. Where this was complied with, the existence
of the new maps rendered it less necessary that a minute personal
recollection of the boundaries of the parish should be impressed on the
minds of the youthful generation by means of processions. The Worcester
Board of Guardians have not availed themselves of the power conferred
by this Act, for under the Parochial Assessment Act not a single parish
of this city has hitherto been mapped and valued, until now that All
Saints' is under contract for that purpose. The Guardians have not
felt it necessary to do so, as no churchwardens or overseers have yet
(1855) called upon them to exercise their powers; and it seems that the
concurrence of the latter officers is necessary for the ordering of
maps and valuations. Processioning, however, is still recognised by the
law, for by an act passed so recently as 1844 (7th and 8th Victoria,
chap. 101) power is given to charge for all necessary expenses properly
incurred in perambulations and in setting up and keeping in repair the
boundary stones of the parish, provided that such perambulation do not
arise more than once in three years.
Queries.
CIVIL AND MILITARY.
What was the origin of ordering military troops out of the city at
times of assizes and sessions, and in what other places besides
Worcester is the custom observed?
THE BLACK PEAR.
How many (if any) trees of the celebrated black pear of Worcester still
remain in this city and suburbs?
KING CHARLES'S COINS.
Is there, in any private collection of coins in Worcester, one of King
Charles's Worcester half-crowns or a specimen of the leaden halfpenny
struck at the mint in this city?
HOPS.
Were hops cultivated in East Worcestershire? In many places in Beoley
parish, hops are found growing in the hedgerows, and there is a large
field there which is called "The Hop-garden." The year 1855 is believed
to have produced a larger crop of hops than has ever been known (duty
£398,635. 6s. 5-3/4d.). In 1801 the Worcester district paid a larger
duty than had been on previous record, though far below the duty of
1855; and in 1826 the duty was higher than in 1801, being £269,331; or
£129,304 less than in 1855. Can any one tell, by document or otherwise,
what was the hop acreage in this district in the year 1801?
NEEDLE TRADE.
In what year was the needle trade introduced into Redditch, by whom,
and where from?
MARINE STORE DEALERS.
What was the origin of applying the term "marine store dealers" to
shopkeepers buying and selling old metal, &c.?
GROVES.
When was the practice of planting groves, or avenues of trees, as
approaches to family mansions, commenced, and when and why abandoned?
Nothing can speak more of grandeur or of ancestral dignity than these
solemn avenues of trees--for instance, those of Spetchley, Cotheridge,
&c. In Rome, no great house was formerly built without an avenue of
trees, and Plato taught his scholars to love the groves of Academus
almost as well as his philosophy.
CROMWELL PILLORIED.
On the key-stone of the arch of the Guildhall entrance-door is the
figure of a man's head, having the expression of pain, and with his
ears nailed back. Is there any ground for supposing that this was
intended to represent Oliver Cromwell in the pillory, while the two
Charleses stand in regal state on each side? I have heard the fag-end
of an old song, of which the following is the burden:
"The Worcester people being hurt full sore, sir,
Nail'd Cromwell's head by the ears above the Town-hall door, sir.
_Chorus_. Heigho, what will they do?
They're always finding something new."
It is, however, probable that the sculpture in question is intended,
with the other heads and figures adorning the Hall, merely to represent
some abstract idea, such as Justice, Punishment, Pain, &c.
THE PILLORY, &c.
When were the last known instances of bull-baiting and cock-fighting
in Worcester, and when was the pillory last used? About forty years
ago the present Lord Dundonald (then Lord Cochrane) was sentenced by
Lord Ellenborough "to stand in and upon the pillory for the space
of one hour." The public and the press were justly indignant at a
distinguished and enterprising naval officer being sentenced to
such an infamous punishment, and it was not carried into effect;
the Legislature took up the matter, and in their zeal abolished the
punishment of the pillory altogether.
THE MILWARD EVIDENCES.
Can you, sir, or any of your correspondents, inform me of the
whereabout of the "_Milward Evidences_," which were used by Shaw and
Nash in their histories of the counties of Worcester and Stafford.
The heiress of the Milwards, of Wollescott, married Hungerford
Oliver, Esq., whose descendants, till about fifteen or twenty years
ago, resided at the family seat of Wollescott (which had been in the
possession of the Milwards before the reign of Elizabeth), and since
then they have gone down in the world, and probably these valuable
Manuscripts are destroyed.--C. J. D.
_Answer._--The Milward family possessed good landed possessions and
resided at Wollescote (called Ousecote in Nash) in the reign of Henry
VIII. The last of the family bearing the name was Thomas Milward,
Esq., who died in 1784. By his wife, Prudence, daughter of Captain
Oliver Dixon, of Dixon's Green, Dudley, he had four daughters, viz.,
Elizabeth and Ann Milward, who died unmarried; Prudence, the wife of
Mr. Hungerford Oliver, who had issue--the late Edward Oliver, Esq., of
Wollescote, and others; and Mary, the wife of John Foster, of Leicester
Grange, county Warwick, Esq. (Sheriff of Worcestershire, 18th George
III), who had issue one child, John Foster, of the Middle Temple, who
died unmarried. Mr. Edward Oliver succeeded to the property of his
grandfather and the papers referred to by your correspondent. Being
afterwards in embarrassed circumstances, he left Wollescote and resided
in a distant part of the kingdom for several years. The papers, in
sacks, were left at tenants' cottages, and by removal, damp, and other
causes, became gradually lessened, until about twenty years ago, after
Mr. Oliver's return to Wollescote, when he was induced by a relative,
Mr, J. H. Dixon, of Oldswinford, to look over the papers with him, and
they retained such as possessed any topographical or family interest,
made extracts from some, and destroyed the rest. Mr. Dixon, who has
made topographical collections relative to Stourbridge, Dudley, and
some other neighbouring places, possesses, I believe, the few Milward
papers remaining.
CAST-IRON GRAVE SLABS.
A cast-iron slab may be seen on a grave in Himbleton church, having an
inscription to Philip Fincher and his wife, who died, the former in
1660 and the latter in 1690. Is any earlier instance known of the use
of cast-iron for such a purpose?--_Answer._ In Mr. Lowe's paper in the
Sussex collections is a description of a cast-iron grave slab of the
fourteenth century, existing in Burwash church. It has an ornamental
cross, and inscription in relief, and is considered as unique for the
style and period, being probably the oldest existing article of the
kind produced by our foundries.
STEWPONEY.
Can any one supply a more probable origin of the odd name of the
"Stewponey" inn, near Stourbridge, than the following: In ancient times
there was probably a bridge over the Stour near Stourton Castle, and an
inn would be necessary for the traffic passing over the bridge. This
hostelry would be described in the Latin documents of the day as that
by Stourbridge (_Stour ponte_), easily corrupted into "Stour pone" and
"Stewponey." Or the word may be a corruption of the French _Pont_ and
the word _Stour_.
QUEEN ELIZABETH AT HARTLEBURY.
Is any inhabitant of Hartlebury enabled to give information respecting
the tradition that when Queen Elizabeth visited Worcestershire she
slept one night at a public-house, formerly called the "Dog" inn,
Hartlebury, and that she left at that house one of her slippers as a
pledge of her stay. She is said to have granted to the above inn some
privilege--such as the exemption from taxes. About forty years ago the
Dog inn was occupied by one Mr. Prince, and the slipper was then said
to be preserved at the inn. It is now called "The Dealers'" inn, and is
in the occupation of Mrs. Cole.
DR. PRATTINTON'S PAPERS.
I should be glad to ascertain whether the extensive and valuable
collection of Worcestershire papers made by my late friend, Dr.
Prattinton, of Bewdley, and bequeathed by him to the Antiquarian
Society, have yet been arranged and indexed. J. H. D., Bark Hill,
Bewdley.
THE PAGEANT HOUSE.
Can any one supply information as to the Pageant House, an ancient
building which formerly existed in this city. Was it used for plays
or trade pageants in connexion with the guilds? And was it on or near
the site of the present Music Hall? An old document belonging to the
Clothiers' Company describes it as "neer unto the Corn-market of the
said city, adjoining on the south side to a house or tenement now in
the occupation of Thomas Hill, blacksmith; on the east side to the town
wall; on the north side to a house in the possession of John Oliver;
and on the west side to the way that leadeth from Foregate to the said
Corn-market."
CURIOUS DISCOVERY.
In removing the old church at Oldswinford a few years ago there was
an unavoidable exposure of coffins and human remains, and in one of
the coffins a lady was found full-dressed in ancient costume, and an
enormous multitude of pins in her dress and lying strewed about. Was
this connected with superstitious motives, or in what other way may the
presence of the pins be accounted for?
THE HOLY LOAF.
In the Halesowen churchwardens' book (commencing _temp._ Edward IV),
among other entries is one in the year 1499--"Item, for bred to the
holy loffe for the township of Rommesley, 12d." In those days the
elements for the sacrament were taken from the people's oblations
of bread and wine, until at length wafers were substituted. It was
the custom for every house in the parish to provide in turn the
"holy loaf," and the good man or woman who provided it was specially
remembered in the church's prayers that day. As the substitution of
wafers generally took place in the twelfth century, is not the above
one of the latest instances of the "holy loaf" on record?
A SOUNDING NAME.
Can any one throw light upon an inscription in Elmley Castle
churchyard, which records the death of John Chapman, whose name, it
is said, "sounds in (or throughout) the world?" The following is the
inscription:
"Memoriæ defunctorum sacrum.
#Kai Tuphônia#
"Siste gradum, viator, ac lege. In spe beatæ resurrectionis
hic requiescunt exuviæ Johannis Chapmanni et Isabellæ uxoris,
filiæ Gulielmi Allen de Wightford, in comitat. War. Ab antiquo
proavorum stemmate deduxerunt genus. Variis miserarium agitati
procellis ab strenue succumbentis in arrescenti juventutis
æstate, piè ac peccatorum poenitentia expirabant animas.
"Maij 10 die Anno Dom. 1677.
"Sistite Pierides Chapmannum plangere, cujus
"Spiritus in coelis, _nomen in orbe sonat_."
A correspondent observes--"Sir, I know the Elmley Castle epitaph that
has astonished you, and I am rather surprised you havn't bottomed
it. Why it's transparent as crystal, and is simply a verdant try-on
at a pun. '_Nomen in orbe sonat_,' says Mr. Chapman's epitaph--and
right enough too; for what other name does so sound over the world
as Chapman's? 'Dealer and Chapman' is the generic designation of the
vendors of commodities from pole to pole, and so the mystery fadeth."
THE KING'S DUTY.
In the register of Besford parish is an entry of "King's duty paid for
four christenings, 4s." In the Himbleton register there are traces of a
similar tax, as follows:
"Baptisms in 1783, since the commencement of a late Act of
Parliament, to demand 3d. for each baptism." "Burials in
1783," ditto ditto.
"Examined and received the duty to 1st of Oct., 1785. For Ben
Pearkes, sub-distributor--J. Wensley."
I believe the duty on bachelors and widows, and on marriages, births,
and burials, was imposed in 1695. In that year a charge is made in
the parish books of St. Nicholas, Worcester, for the King's tax for
burials. By the Act 6th and 7th William III, every clergyman was
directed to keep an exact register of all persons married, buried,
christened, or born in their respective parishes, under a penalty of
£100 for every neglect. This regulation, however, was not properly
attended to for ten years afterwards. By the 4th of Anne, chap. 12,
sec. 10, it is mentioned that many of the clergy not being sufficiently
apprised of the full import of the above Act, had incurred the
penalties thereof, whereby they and their families remained exposed
to ruin; the Legislature therefore directed that they should be
indemnified from the consequences of such omissions provided the duty
for every marriage, birth, or burial, should be really answered or
paid, or notified and brought in charge to the collector of the duties.
Can any one state how long this Act was in force, and when it was
allowed to expire?
SCULPTURES ON CHURCHES.