of St. Peter’s, on the opposite side of the town, at the gallow’s balk,
on the Normanton Road; the ball, which was of a very large size, was
made of leather, and stuffed quite hard with shavings, and about noon
was thrown into the market-place, from the Town Hall, into the midst of
an assembly of many thousand people, so closely wedged together, as
scarcely to admit of locomotion. The moment the ball was thrown, the
“war cries” of the rival parishes began, and thousands of arms were
uplifted in the hope of catching it during its descent. The opposing
parties endeavoured by every possible means, and by the exertion of
their utmost strength, to carry the ball in the direction of their
respective goals, and by this means the town was traversed and
retraversed many times in the course of the day; indeed, to such an
extent has the contest been carried, that some years ago the fortunate
holder of the ball, having made his way into the river Derwent, was
followed by the whole body, who took to the water in the most gallant
style, and kept up the chase to near the village of Duffield, a distance
of five miles, the whole course being against the rapid stream, and one
or two weirs having to be passed; on another occasion, the possessor of
the ball is said to have quietly dropped himself into the culvert or
sewer which passes under the town, and to have been followed by several
others of both parties, and, after fighting his way the whole distance
under the town, to have come out victorious at the other side where, a
considerable party having collected, the contest was renewed in the
river.
On the conclusion of the day’s sport the man who had the honour of
“goaling” the ball was the champion of the year; the bells of the
victorious parish announced the conquest, and the victor was chaired
through the town. So universal has been the feeling with regard to this
game, that it is said a gentleman from Derby having met with a person in
the backwoods of America, whom from his style and conversation he
suspected to be from the Midland Counties of England, cried out when he
saw him, “_All Saints’ for ever_;” to this the stranger instantly
retorted, “_Peter’s for ever_;” and this satisfied them that they were
fellow-townsmen. A foot-ball match is also played at Ashborne nearly in
the same manner as at Derby.--_Jour. Arch. Assoc._, 1852, vol. vii. p.
203.
A custom prevailed, too, in some parts of Derbyshire which gave licence
to the young men and boys to kiss any young women or girls whom they
chose. This, together with the general holiday observed in the afternoon
of that day, and the customary sports then indulged in, is of course a
remnant of the mediæval carnival.
DEVONSHIRE.
In the south-eastern part of Devon the children at this season of the
year visit people’s houses, singing:
“Tippetty, tippetty to,
Give me a pancake and I’ll be go.”
_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xi. p. 244.
At Tavistock, the following lines are sung by the children at the houses
of the principal inhabitants:
“Lancrock (?) a pancake,
A fritter for my labour;
I see by the string
The good dame’s in.
Tippy tappy, toe,
Nippy, nappy, no;
If you’ll give something.
I’ll be ago (i.e., gone).”
_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. v. p. 380.
DORSETSHIRE AND WILTSHIRE.
In these, if not in other counties, a practice called _Lent Crocking_ is
observed. The boys go about in small parties visiting the various
houses, headed by a leader, who goes up and knocks at the door, leaving
his followers behind him, armed with a good stock of potsherds--the
collected relics of the washing-pans, jugs, dishes, and plates, that
have become the victims of concussion in the hands of unlucky or
careless housewives for the past year. When the door is opened, the
hero--who is, perhaps, a farmer’s boy, with a pair of black eyes
sparkling under the tattered brim of his brown milking-hat--hangs down
his head, and, with one corner of his mouth turned up into an
irrepressible smile pronounces the following lines:
“A-shrovin, a-shrovin,
I be come a-shrovin;
A piece of bread, a piece of cheese,
A bit of your fat bacon;
Or a dish of dough nuts,
All of your own makin!
“A-shrovin, a-shrovin,
I be come a-shrovin,
Nice meat in a pie,
My mouth is very dry!
I wish a wuz zoo well-a-wet,
I’de zing the louder for a nut!
Chorus.--A shrovin, a-shrovin,
We be come a shrovin!”
Sometimes he gets a bit of bread and cheese, and at some houses he is
told to be gone; in which latter case he calls up his followers to send
their missiles in a rattling broadside against the door.--_Book of
Days_, vol. i. p. 239.
The late Dr. Husenbeth in _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. ix. p. 135, gives
another version of the above rhyme:
“I’m come a shroveing,
For a piece of pancake,
Or a piece of bacon,
Or a little truckle cheese,
Of your own making.
Give me some, or give me none,
Or else your door shall have a stone.”
HAMPSHIRE.
At Basingstoke, and in some other parts of this county, the boys and
girls go to the houses of the well-to-do classes in little companies,
and, knocking at the door, repeat the following rhyme:
“Knick a knock upon the block;
Flour and lard is very dear,
Please we come a shroving here.
Your pan’s hot, and my pan’s cold,
(Hunger makes us shrovers bold)
Please to give poor shrovers something here.”
They then knock again, and repeat both knocks and verses until they
receive something. The line in brackets is not said in Basingstoke and
several other places.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xii. p. 100.
HERTFORDSHIRE.
At Baldock, Shrove Tuesday is long anticipated by the children, who
designate it Dough-Nut-Day; it being usual to make a good store of small
cakes fried in hog’s lard, placed over the fire in a brass skillet,
called dough-nuts, with which the young people are plentifully
regaled.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 83.
At Hoddesdon, in the same county, the old curfew-bell, which was
anciently rung in that town for the extinction and relighting of “all
fire and candle-light,” still exists, and has from time immemorial been
regularly rang on the morning of Shrove Tuesday at four o’clock, after
which hour the inhabitants are at liberty to make and eat pancakes until
the bell rings again at eight o’clock at night. So closely is this
custom observed, that after that hour not a pancake remains in the
town.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 242.
HUNTINGDONSHIRE.
Formerly there prevailed in this county a custom called _cock-running_,
which, though not quite so cruel as _cock-throwing_, was not much
inferior to it. A cock was procured, and its wings were cut: the
_runners_ paid so much a head, and with their hands tied behind them ran
after it, and the person who caught it in his mouth, and carried it to a
certain place or goal, had the right of claiming the bird as his own. In
this race there was much excitement, and not a little squabbling, and
the one who was lucky enough to secure the bird frequently had his face
and eyes very much pecked.--_Time’s Telescope_, 1823, p. 40.
KENT.
At All Saints’, Maidstone, the ancient custom of ringing a bell at
mid-day on Shrove Tuesday is observed, and is known as the
“Fritter-Bell.”--_Gent. Mag._ 1868, _4th S._ vol. v. p. 761.
LANCASHIRE.
Part of the income of the head-master and usher of the grammar-school at
Lancaster arises from a gratuity called a cock-penny, paid at Shrovetide
by the scholars, who are sons of freemen; of this money the head-master
has seven-twelfths, the usher five-twelfths. It is also paid at the
schools at Hawkshead and Clithero, in Lancashire; and formerly was paid,
also at Burnley, and at Whiteham and Millom, in Cumberland, near
Bootle.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 72.
The tossing of pancakes (and in some places fritters) on this day was a
source of harmless mirth, and is still practised in the rural parts of
Lancashire and Cheshire, with its ancient accompaniments:
“It is the day whereon both rich and poor,
Are chiefly feasted on the self-same dish;
When every paunch, till it can hold no more,
Is fritter fill’d, as well as heart can wish;
And every man and maide doe take their turne,
And tosse their pancakes up for feare they burne
And all the kitchen doth with laughter sound,
To see the pancakes fall upon the ground.”
Pasquil’s _Palinodia_. Harland and Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folk Lore_,
1867, p. 218.
LEICESTERSHIRE.
In the Newark, says Throsby (_History of Leicester_ 1791, p. 356), on
Shrove Tuesday is held the annual fair, chiefly for the amusement of the
young. Formerly, there was practised in its full extent the barbarous
custom of throwing at cocks, but now the amusement is confined to the
purchase of oranges, ginger-bread, &c., and to a custom known by the
name of “_Whipping-Toms_;” a practice no doubt instituted by the
dwellers in the Newark to drive away the rabble, after a certain hour,
from the fair. Two, three, or more men, armed with cart-whips, and with
a handkerchief tied over one eye, are let loose upon the people to flog
them, who are generally guarded with boots on their legs and sticks in
their hands. These whip-men, called “_Whipping-Toms_,” are preceded by a
bell-man, whose shake of his hand-bell gives a token or authority for
the whipping the legs of those who dare to remain in the Newark. Many
arts and devices are practised by the Whipping-Toms to take the people
by surprise; but quarrels sometimes ensue.
At Claybrook, in the same county, a bell rings at noon, which is meant
as a signal for people to commence frying their pancakes.--Macaulay,
_History of Claybrook_, 1791.
ISLE OF MAN.
On this occasion it was formerly customary for the Manks to have
_Sollaghyn_ or _Crowdy_ for dinner, instead of for breakfast, as at
other times; and for supper, flesh meat, with a large pudding and
pancakes; hence the Manks proverb:
“Ee shibber oie innid vees olty volg lane,
My jig laa caisht yon traaste son shen.”
“On Shrove Tuesday night, though thy supper be fat,
Before Easter Day thou may’st fast for that.”
Train, _History of the Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 117.
MIDDLESEX.
At Westminster School, London, the following is observed to this day. At
11 o’clock A.M. a verger of the Abbey, in his gown, bearing a silver
bâton, emerges from the college kitchen, followed by the cook of the
school, in his white apron, jacket, and cap, and carrying a pancake. On
arriving at the school-room door, he announces himself, ‘The Cook;’ and
having entered the school-room, he advances to the bar which separates
the upper school from the lower one, twirls the pancake in the pan, and
then tosses it over the bar into the upper school, among a crowd of
boys, who scramble for the pancake; and he who gets it unbroken, and
carries it to the deanery, demands the honorarium of a guinea (sometimes
two guineas) from the Abbey funds, though the custom is not mentioned in
the Abbey Statutes: the cook also receives two guineas for his
performance.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 237.
NORFOLK.
It is customary at Norwich to eat a small bun called
cocque’els--cook-eels--coquilles (the name being spelt indifferently),
which is continued throughout the season of Lent. Forby, in his
_Vocabulary of East Anglia_, calls this production “a sort of
cross-bun,” but no cross is placed upon it, though its composition is
not dissimilar. He derives the word from _coquille_ in allusion to their
being fashioned like an escallop, in which sense he is borne out by
Cotgrave, who has “_pain coquillé_, a fashion of an hard-crusted loafe,
somewhat like our stillyard bunne.” A correspondent of _Notes and
Queries_ says that he has always taken the word to be “coquerells,” from
the vending of such buns at the barbarous sport of “throwing at the
cock” (which is still called a cockerell in E. Anglia) on Shrove
Tuesday.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. i. pp. 293 and 412.
Formerly there used to be held at Norwich on Shrove Tuesday a most
curious festivity, to which Blomefield in his _History of Norfolk_
(1806, vol. iii. p. 155) incidentally alludes. In 1442, he says, there
was a great insurrection at Norwich, for which the citizens were
indicted, who among other things pleaded in their excuse:
“That John Gladman, of Norwich, who ever was, and at thys our is, a man
of sad disposition, and trewe and feythfull to God and to the Kyng, of
disporte, as hath been acustomed in ony cite or burgh thorowe alle this
reame, on Tuesday in the last ende of Crestemesse, viz. _Fastyngonge
Tuesday_, made a disport with his neighbours, havyng his hors trappyd
with tynnsoyle, and other nyse disgisy things, corouned as Kyng of
Crestemesse, in tokyn that seson should ende with the twelve monethes of
the yere: aforn hym [went] yche moneth, disguysed after the seson
requiryd, and _Lenton_ clad in whyte and red heryngs skinns, and his
hors trappyd with oystyr-shells after him, in token that sadnesse should
folowe, and an holy tyme; and so rode in diverse stretis of the cite,
with other people with hym disguyssd, and makyng myrth, disportes, and
plays.”
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
In many parts of this county the church bell is rung about noon, as the
signal for preparing pancakes. At Daventry the bell which is rung on
this occasion is muffled on one side with leather, or _buffed_, as it is
termed, and obtains the name of _Pan-burn-bell_. Jingling rhymes in
connection with this day are repeated by the peasantry, varying in
different districts. The following are the most current:
“Pancakes and fritters,
Says the bells of St. Peter’s.
Where must we fry ’em?
Says the bells of Cold Higham.
In yonder land thurrow [furrow],
Says the bells of Wellingborough.
You owe me a shilling,
Says the bells of Great Billing.
When will you pay me?
Says the bells at Middleton Cheney.
When I am able,
Says the bells at Dunstable.
That will never be,
Says the bells at Coventry.
Oh, yes it will,
Says Northampton Great Bell.
White bread and sop,
Says the bells at Kingsthrop.
Trundle a lantern,
Says the bells at Northampton.”
That the bells of the churches of Northampton used also to be rung on
this day may be inferred from the following similar doggerel:
“Roast beef and marsh-mallows,
Says the bells of All Hallow’s,
Pancakes and fritters.
Says the bells of St. Peter’s.
Roast beef and boil’d,
Says the bells of St. Giles’.
Poker and tongs,
Says the bells of St. John’s.[13]
Shovel, tongs, and poker,
Says the bells of St. Pulchre’s.[14]”
Baker, _Northamptonshire Words and Phrases_, vol. ii. p. 92.
[13] St. John’s Hospital.
[14] The church of St. Sepulchre is often called “Pulchre’s” in
Northampton.
At Earls Barton the custom of making “leek pasties” is observed. A party
of shoemakers, after procuring a chaff-cutter and a quantity of leeks,
proceed to the green, where they publicly chop the vegetable to the
amusement of the spectators.--See _Gent. Mag._, 1867, _4th S._ vol. iv.
p. 219.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Formerly at Alnwick the waits belonging to the town used to come playing
to the Castle every year on Shrove Tuesday at two o’clock P.M., when a
foot-ball was thrown over the Castle walls to the populace.--Brand,
_Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol i. p. 92.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.
At Aspley Old Hall, in days gone by, butter and lard, fire and
frying-pans were provided for all the poor families of Wollaston,
Trowell, and Cossall, who chose to come and eat their pancakes at this
mansion. The only conditions attached to the feast were, that no
quarrelling should take place, and that each wife and mother should fry
for her own family, and that when the cake needed turning in the pan,
the act should be performed by tossing it in the air and catching it
again in the pan with the uncooked side downwards. And many were the
roars of laughter which took place among the merry groups in the
kitchen, at the mishaps which occurred in the performance of this feast,
in which his Honour and Madam joined.
In addition to the pancakes, each man was allowed a quart of good ale,
women a pint, and children a gill.--Sutton, _Nottingham Date Book_,
1852, p. 75.
There is a curious tradition existing in Mansfield, Woodhouse, Bulwell,
and several other villages near Sherwood Forest, as to the origin of
pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. The inhabitants of any of the villages will
inform the questioner that when the Danes got to Linby all the Saxon men
of the neighbouring villages ran off into the forest, and the Danes
took the Saxon women to keep house for them. This happened just before
Lent, and the Saxon women, encouraged by their fugitive lords, resolved
to massacre their Danish masters on Ash Wednesday. Every woman who
agreed to do this was to bake pancakes for this meal on Shrove Tuesday
as a kind of pledge to fulfil her vow. This was done, and that the
massacre of the Danes did take place on Ash Wednesday is a well-known
historical fact.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. vii. p. 450.
OXFORDSHIRE.
In this county children go about singing the following rhyme, begging at
the same time for half-pence:
“Knick, knock, the pan’s hot,
And we be come a shroving:
A bit of bread, a bit of cheese,
A bit of barley dompling,
That’s better than nothing.
Open the door and let us in,
For we be come a pancaking.”
At Islip in the same county this version is used:
“Pit a pat; the pan is hot,
We are come a shroving;
A little bit of bread and cheese
Is better than nothing.
The pan is hot, the pan is cold;
Is the fat in the pan nine days old?”
Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 88.
ISLANDS OF SCILLY.
The boys celebrate the evening of this day by throwing stones against
the doors of the dwellers’ houses: a privilege which they claim from
time immemorial. The terms demanded by them are pancakes or money to
capitulate. Some of the older sort, exceeding the bounds of this
whimsical practice, in the dusk of the evening, set a bolted door or
window-shutter at liberty, by battering in a breach with large pieces of
rock stones, which sometimes causes work for the surgeon, as well as for
the smith, glazier, and carpenter. The way of making reprisal, in such
cases, is by a rope drawn across the road of the mischievous, by means
of which their flight is suddenly interrupted, and themselves
ignominiously hurled to the ground with the loss of their
artillery.--Heath, _Account of Islands of Scilly_, 1750, p. 127.
SHROPSHIRE.
In _The History and Antiquities of Ludlow_, 1822 (pp. 188-189), occurs
the following account of a custom formerly observed on this day: “The
corporation provide a rope, three inches in thickness, and in length
thirty-six yards, which is given out at one of the windows of the
Market-House as the clock strikes four, when a large body of the
inhabitants divided into two parties--one contending for Castle Street
and Broad Street wards, and the other for Old Street and Corve Street
wards--commence an arduous struggle, and as soon as either party gains
the victory by pulling the rope beyond the prescribed limits, the
pulling ceases, which is, however, renewed by a second, and sometimes by
a third contest; the rope being purchased by subscription from the
victorious party, and given out again. Without doubt this singular
custom is symbolical of some remarkable event, and a remnant of that
ancient language of visible signs, which, says a celebrated writer,
“imperfectly supplies the want of letters, to perpetuate the remembrance
of public or private transactions.” The sign, in this instance, has
survived the remembrance of the occurrence it was designed to represent,
and remains a profound mystery. It has been insinuated that the real
occasion of this custom is known to the corporation, but that for some
reason or other, they are tenacious of the secret. An obscure tradition
attributes this custom to circumstances arising out of the siege of
Ludlow by Henry VI., when two parties arose within the town, one
supporting the pretensions of the Duke of York, and the other wishing to
give admittance to the king; one of the bailiffs is said to have headed
the latter party. History relates that, in this contest, many lives were
lost, and that the bailiff, heading his party in an attempt to open
Dinham Gate, fell a victim there.”
SOMERSETSHIRE.
An odd practice seems to prevail in some parts of Somersetshire, and
also in Devonshire and Dorsetshire on Shrove Tuesday, which is locally
nick-named _Sharp Tuesday_. The youngsters go about after dusk, and
throw stones against people’s doors, by what is considered by them an
indefeasible right. They at the same time sing in chorus:
“I be come a shrovin
Vor a little pankiak;
A bit o’ bread o’ your baikin,
Or a little truckle cheese o’ your maikin,
If you’ll gi’ me a little, I’ll ax no more,
If you don’t gi’ me nothin, I’ll _rottle_ your door.”
Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ (Ed. Hazlitt), 1870, vol. i. p. 48.
STAFFORDSHIRE.
In this county Shrove Tuesday goes by the name of Goodish Tuesday.--_N.
& Q. 2nd S._ vol. v. p. 209.
SUFFOLK.
At Bury St. Edmund’s on Shrove Tuesday, Easter Monday, and the
Whitsuntide festivals, twelve old women side off for a game at
trap-and-ball, which is kept up with the greatest spirit and vigour
until sunset. Afterwards they retire to their homes, where
“Voice, fiddle, or flute,
No longer is mute,”
and close the day with apportioned mirth and merriment.--_Every Day
Book_, vol. i. p. 430.
SURREY.
The following is taken from the _Times_ of March 7th, 1862:
“Shrove Tuesday was observed, as in days of yore, at Dorking,[15] first
by a perambulation of the streets by the foot-ball retinue, composed of
grotesquely-dressed persons, to the sounds of music, and in the
afternoon by the kicking of the ball up and down the principal
thoroughfares of the town. The usual number of men and boys joined in
the sport, and played, especially towards the end of the game, with a
roughness extremely dangerous to the limbs of the competitors. As 6
o’clock drew near the struggle for victory became more vehement; the
palm, however, was obtained, for the fifth year, by the players from the
west end of the town. The old custom of tolling the ‘pancake bell’
during the morning was, on this occasion, as during the last two or
three years, dispensed with.”--_West Surrey Times._
[15] This custom prevails at Epsom. _N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. i. p. 439.
It seems to have been observed also at Twickenham, Bushy, Teddington,
Kingston. See _Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 245.
ISLE OF WIGHT.
At Brighstone parties of young boys, girls, and very small children
parade the village, singing the following words:
“Shroving, shroving, I am come to shroving.
White bread and apple pie,
My mouth is very dry;
I wish I were well a-wet,
As I could sing for a nut.
Shroving, shroving, I am come to shroving.
A piece of bread, a piece of cheese,
A piece of your fat bacon,
Dough nuts and pancakes,
All of your own making.
Shroving, shroving, I am come to shroving.”[16]
_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xi. p. 239.
[16] For a more detailed account of the Isle of Wight Shrovers, see
Halliwell’s _Popular Rhymes_, 1849, p. 246.
YORKSHIRE.
A correspondent of _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. v. p. 391, says that all the
apprentices in the town of Hedon whose indentures terminate before the
return of the day assemble in the belfry of the church at eleven
o’clock, and in turn toll the tenor bell for an hour, at the sound of
which all the housewives in the parish commence frying pancakes. The
sexton, who is present receives a small fee from each lad.
At Scarborough on the morning of Shrove Tuesday hawkers parade the
streets with barrows loaded with party-coloured balls, which are
purchased by all ranks of the inhabitants. With these, and armed with
sticks, men, women, and children repair to the sands below the old town,
and indiscriminately commence a contest, one party trying to drive the
ball into the sea, and another equally zealous in their attempts to
rescue it.
WALES.
Formerly it was customary to take such hens as had not laid eggs before
Shrove Tuesday, and to thrash them to death, as being no longer of any
use. The same custom also prevailed in some parts of Cornwall.--Brand,
_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 81; _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 238.
At Harding, in Flintshire, the lord of the manor, attended by his
bailiff, formerly provided a foot-ball, and after throwing it down in a
field near the church (called thence _foot-ball field_) the young and
old assembled together to play at foot-ball.--Kennett MS. British
Museum.
At Tenby Shrove Tuesday was formerly a general holiday, when the time
was divided between foot-ball-kicking and pancake-eating. The shutters
remained upon the shop-windows, while the windows of the private houses
were barricaded with wood, or blinded with laths, bags, and
sacking.--Mason, _Tales and Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, pp. 17, 18.
SCOTLAND.
Fastren’s E’en is celebrated annually, after the Border fashion, in the
month of February, the day being fixed by the following antiquated
couplet:
“First comes Candlemas, syne the New Moon;
The next Tuesday after is Fastren’s E’en.”