Tenures_, Beckwith’s Edition, p. 286), that if the young men of the town
can catch a hare, and bring it to the parson of the parish before ten
o’clock on Easter Monday, the parson is bound to give them a
calf’s-head, and a hundred eggs for breakfast, and a groat in money.
WORCESTERSHIRE.
At sunset upon Easter Monday, and at no other period throughout the
year, a game is played by the children of Evesham called
“thread-my-needle.” From the season of this observance, as well as the
cry of the players while elevating their arms arch-wise, which _now_ is:
“Open the gates as high as the sky,
And let Victoria’s troops pass by,”
it is probable, says May in his _Hist. of Evesham_ (1845, p. 319), that
the custom originally had reference to the great festival of the church
and the triumphant language of the Psalmist, applied to the event
commemorated at this period--Psalm xxiv. 9: ‘Lift up your heads, O ye
gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory
shall come in.” The accuracy of this supposition, however, may be fairly
doubted.
WALES.
In North Wales, says Pennant, the custom of heaving upon Monday and
Tuesday in Easter week is preserved; and on Monday the young men go
about the town and country, from house to house, with a fiddle playing
before them, to heave the women. On the Tuesday the women heave the men.
At Tenby Easter Monday was always devoted to merry-making; the
neighbouring villages (Gumfreston especially) were visited, when some
amused themselves with the barbarous sport of cock-fighting, while
others frequented the two tea-parties held annually at Tenby and
Gumfreston, and known as the “Parish Clerks’ Meeting.”--Mason’s _Tales
and Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, p. 21.
SCOTLAND.
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED.
It is pleasurable, says Fuller in his _History of Berwick-upon-Tweed_
(1799, p. 445), to see what a great number of lovely and finely-dressed
children make their appearance on Easter Monday, which is known in this
neighbourhood as the Children’s Day. Being attended by a multitude of
servants, they parade and run about for many hours, amusing themselves
in a variety of ways. This charming group is joined more or less by the
parents of the children, who, together with such as are attracted by
curiosity, form, on such occasions, a company of a great many hundreds.
They assemble in greatest numbers behind the barracks, where the rampart
is broadest. The fruiterers attend in full display, as well as many
itinerants in various pursuits. The whole company may be called a
_sportive fair_.
IRELAND.
In the County of Antrim this day is observed by several thousands of the
working classes of the town and vicinity of Belfast resorting to the
Cave-hill, about three miles distant, where the day is spent in dancing,
jumping, running, climbing the rugged rocks, and drinking. Here many a
rude brawl takes place, many return home with black eyes, and in some
cases with broken bones. Indeed it is with them the greatest holiday of
the year, and to not a few it furnishes laughable treats to talk about
till the return of the following spring. On this evening a kind of
dramatic piece is usually brought forward at the Belfast Theatre, called
_The Humours of the Cave-hill.--The Table Book_, p. 507.
CO. CLARE.
On Easter Monday multitudes go to Scattery Island for the purpose of
performing penance on their bare knees, round the stony beach and holy
well there. Tents are generally erected on this occasion, and often
times more whisky is taken by the pilgrims than is found convenient on
their return in crowded boats.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_, 1814,
vol. ii. p. 459.
CO. DOWN.
At Holywood the trundling of eggs, as it is called, is an amusement
common at Easter. For this purpose the eggs are boiled hard, and dyed of
different colours, and, when they are thus prepared, the sport consists
in throwing or trundling them along the ground, especially down a
declivity, and gathering up the broken fragments to eat them. Formerly
it was usual with the women and children to collect in large bodies for
this purpose, though nothing can be, to all appearance, more unmeaning
than this amusement. They yet pursue it in the vicinity of Belfast. It
is a curious circumstance that this sport is practised only by the
Presbyterians.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_, 1819, vol. iii. p. 207.
On Easter Monday several hundreds of young persons of the town and
neighbourhood of Portaferry resort, dressed in their best, to a pleasant
walk near that town, called “The Walter.” The avowed object of each
person is to see the fun, which consists in the men kissing the females,
without reserve, whether married or single. This mode of salutation is
quite a matter of course; it is never taken amiss, nor with much show of
coyness; the female must be very ordinary indeed, who returns home
without having received at least a dozen hearty kisses. Tradition is
silent as to the origin of this custom, which of late years is on the
decline, especially in the respectability of the attendants.--_The Table
Book_, p. 506.
MARCH 24.] EASTER TUESDAY.
MIDDLESEX.
Every Easter Tuesday, in pursuance of an ancient custom, the boys of
Christ’s Hospital, London, pay a visit to the Mansion House, and receive
from the Lord Mayor the customary Easter gifts. On reaching the Mansion
House, they march into the Egyptian Hall, and on passing the Lord Mayor,
receive a gratuity in coins fresh from the mint. To the fifteen Grecians
a guinea each is given; nine probationers, half-a-guinea; forty-eight
monitors, half-a-crown; and the ordinary scholars, one shilling each.
Each boy also before leaving receives a glass of wine and two buns. The
boys wear linen badges on their coats, on which the words “He is risen”
are inscribed. After this ceremony, the Lord Mayor and the rest of the
civic authorities go in the customary state to Christ Church, Newgate
Street, where the second Spital sermon is preached. At this service the
whole of the Christ’s Hospital boys attend.--See _Daily News_, April
12th, 1871, and April 3rd, 1872.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Holly-bussing, says a writer in the _Newcastle Express_ (April 16th,
1857), is a vernacular expression for a very ancient custom celebrated
at Netherwitton, the origin of which is unknown. On Easter Tuesday the
lads and lasses of the village and vicinity meet, and, accompanied by
the parish clerk, who plays an excellent fiddle, the inspiring strains
of which put mirth and mettle in their heels, proceed to the wood to get
holly; with which some decorate a stone cross that stands in the village
while others are “bobbing around” to “Speed the Plough” or “Birnie
Bouzle.”
MARCH 25.] LADY DAY.
The _Festival of the Annunciation_ commemorates in the Christian world
the message of the Angel to the Virgin Mary: hence it was anciently
called St. Mary’s Day in Lent, to distinguish it from other festivals in
her honour:
“Seinte Marie Daye in Leynte, among
All other dayes gode,
Is ryt for to holde heghe
He so [whoso] bein vnderstode.”
Harl. MS. Codex 2277, fol. i.
All the festivals of the Virgin are properly Lady Days, but this falling
in Lent, and being the first quarter day for rents and other payments,
readily became Lady Day _par excellence_. Otherwise considered, it is
simply an abridgment of “Our Lady Day the Annunciation,” as we find it
written in the reign of Henry the Sixth. Some old customs on paying
quarterly rents are noticed in Gascoigne’s _Flowers of Poesie_, 4to,
1575:
And when the tenantes come to paie their quarter’s rent,
They bring some fowle at Midsummer, a dish of fish in Lent,
At Christmasse a capon, at Michaelmasse a goose,
And somewhat else at New Yeare’s tide for feare their lease flie
loose.”
--_Med. Ævi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 206; Forster, _Perenn. Calend._ 1841,
p. 515.
HERTFORDSHIRE.
At St. Alban’s certain buns called “Pope Ladies” are sold on Lady Day,
their origin being attributed by some to the following story:--A noble
lady and her attendants were travelling on the road to St. Alban’s (the
great North road passes through this town), when they were benighted and
lost their way. Lights in the clock-tower at the top of the hill enabled
them at length to reach the monastery in safety, and the lady in
gratitude gave a sum of money to provide an annual distribution on Lady
Day of cakes, in the shape of ladies, to the poor of the neighbourhood.
As this bounty was distributed by the monks, the “Pope Ladies” probably
thus acquired their name.--See _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. x. p. 412. Another
correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_4th S._ vol. x. 341) says these buns are
sold on the first day of each year, and that there is a tradition that
they have some relation to the myth of Pope Joan.--See also the _Gent.
Mag._ 1820, vol. xc. p. 15.
LANCASHIRE.
The gyst-ale, or guising-feast, was an annual festival of the town of
Ashton-under-Lyne. It appears from the rental of Sir John de Assheton,
compiled A.D. 1422, that twenty shillings were paid to him as lord of
the manor for the privilege of holding this feast by its then
conductors. The persons named in the roll as having paid 3_s._ 4_d._
each are:--“Margret, that was the wife of Hobbe the Kynges (of misrule);
Hobbe Adamson; Roger the Baxter; Robert Somayster; Jenkyn of the Wode;
and Thomas of Curtual.” The meaning of the term _gyst-ale_ is involved
in some obscurity--most probably the payments above were for the _gyst_,
or hire, for the privilege of selling ale and other refreshments during
the festivals held on the payment of the rents of the manor. These
_guisings_ were frequently held in the spring, most probably about Lady
Day, when manorial rents were usually paid; and, as the fields were
manured with _marl_ about the same period, the term _marlings_ has been
supposed to indicate the rough play or _marlocking_ which was then
practised. This, however, must be a mistake, since the term relates to
merry pranks, or pleasure gambols only, and has no connection with marl
as a manure.
These gyst-ales, or guisings, once ranked amongst the principal
festivals of Lancashire, and large sums of money were subscribed by all
ranks of society in order that they might be celebrated with becoming
splendour. The lord of the manor, the vicar of the parish, the farmer,
and the operative, severally announced the sums they intended to give,
and when the treasurer exclaimed “A largesse,” the crowd demanded “from
whom?” and then due proclamation was made of the sum subscribed. The
real amount, however, was seldom named, but it was announced that “Lord
Johnson,” or some other equally distinguished person had contributed “a
portion of ten thousand pounds” towards the expenses of the feast.
After the subscription lists were closed an immense garland was
prepared, which contained abundance of every flower in season,
interspersed with a profusion of evergreens and ribbons of every shade
and pattern. The framework of this garland was made of wood, to which
hooks were affixed, and on these were suspended a large collection of
watches, jewels, and silver articles borrowed from the richer residents
in the town. On the day of the gyst this garland was borne through the
principal streets and thoroughfares, attended by crowds of townspeople
dressed in their best attire. These were formed into a procession by a
master of the ceremonies, locally termed the king. Another principal
attendant was the Fool, dressed in a grotesque cap, a hideous grinning
mask, a long tail hanging behind him, and a bell with which he commanded
attention when announcements were to be made. In an early period of
these guisings the fool was usually mounted on a hobby-horse, and
indulged in grotesque pranks as he passed along--hence we obtained the
term “hob-riding,” and more recently the proverbial expression of
“riding one’s hobby to death.”--Harland and Wilkinson, _Legends and
Traditions of Lancashire_, 1873, p. 86.
NORFOLK.
On a table of benefactions in the Church at Oxburgh it is stated that
Sir Henry Bedingfield paid at Lady Day annually £2 for lands belonging
to the township of Oxburgh; that this was called _walk money_, and was
given to the poor.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 124.
ISLE OF THANET.
Evelyn in his _Diary_, under the date of March 25th, 1672 (Bohn’s
Edition, 1859, vol. ii. p. 78), says: “Observing almost every tall tree
to have a weather-cock on the top bough, and some trees half-a-dozen, I
learned that on a certain holiday the farmers feast their servants, at
which solemnity they set up these cocks as a kind of triumph.”
IRELAND.
At Kilmacteige, Co. of Sligo, the Lady Days are observed with most
scrupulous attention, that is to say, so far as abstaining from all kind
of daily labour, or following any trade or calling, although their
sanctity does not operate on their minds so as to induce them to refrain
from sports and pastimes, cursing or swearing, or frequenting
tippling-houses and drinking to excess.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_,
1814-19, vol ii. p. 864.
MARCH 29.] LOW SUNDAY.
The Octave or first Sunday after Easter.
The author of _Christian Sodality_, a collection of discourses, 1652,
says:--This day is called White or Low Sunday because in the Primitive
Church those neophytes that on Easter Eve were baptized and clad in
white garments did to-day put them off, with this admonition, that they
were to keep within them a perpetual candour of spirit, signified by the
_Agnus Dei_ hung about their necks, which, falling down upon their
breasts, put them in mind what innocent lambs they must be, now that of
sinful, high, and haughty men they were by baptism made low, and little
children of Almighty God, such as ought to retain in their manners and
lives the Paschal feasts which they had accomplished.
Seymour in his _Survey of London_ (1734, B. iv. p. 100) tells us that
the aldermen used to meet the Lord Mayor and sheriffs at St. Paul’s in
their scarlet gowns, furred, without their cloaks, to hear the sermon.
WALES.
Fenton in his _Tour through Pembrokeshire_ (1811, p. 495) alludes to the
game of _Knappan_ as being played at Pwlldu, in the parish of Penbedw,
on low Easter-day. He says the knappan was a ball of some hard wood, of
such a size as a man might hold in his hand, and was boiled in tallow to
make it slippery. The players at this game were very numerous,
frequently amounting to a thousand or fifteen hundred people, parish
against parish, hundred against hundred, and sometimes county against
county. When the company assembled, about one or two o’clock in the
afternoon, entirely naked, with the exception of a light pair of
breeches, a great shout was given as the signal to begin, and the ball
was hurled bolt upright into the air by one of the parties and at its
fall he that caught it hurled it towards the county or goal he played
for. The players consisted of horse and foot, who in the purest times of
the game never mixed, being governed by certain rules and regulations
that were never violated; but long before this game was disused various
abuses and disorders had crept into it, so that it served to inflame
every bad passion, engender revenge, foment private quarrels, and
stimulate even to bloodshed and murder.
APRIL 1.] ALL FOOLS’ DAY.
On this day a custom prevails not only in Britain, but on the Continent,
of imposing upon and ridiculing people in a variety of ways. It is very
doubtful what is the precise origin of this absurd custom. In France the
person imposed upon on All Fools’ Day is called _Poisson d’Avril_, an
April Fish, which Bellingen, in his _Etymology of French Proverbs_,
published in 1656, thus explains. The word _Poisson_, he contends, is
corrupted through the ignorance of the people from _Passion_, and length
of time has almost totally defaced the original intention, which was as
follows: that as the Passion of our Saviour took place about this time
of the year, and as the Jews sent Christ backwards and forwards to mock
and torment him, that is, from Annas to Caiaphas, from Caiaphas to
Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate, this
ridiculous custom took its rise from thence, by which we send about from
one place to another such persons as we think proper objects of our
ridicule. A writer in the _Gent. Mag._, 1783, vol. liii. p. 578, also
conjectures that this custom may have an allusion to the mockery of the
Saviour of the world by the Jews. Another attempt to explain it has been
made by referring to the fact that the year formerly began in Britain on
the 25th of March, which was supposed to be the Incarnation of our Lord,
and the commencement of a new year was always, both among the ancient
heathens and among modern Christians, held as a great festival. It is to
be noted then that the 1st of April is the octave of the 25th of March,
and the close consequently of that feast which was both the festival of
the Annunciation and of the New Year. Hence it may have become a day of
extraordinary mirth and festivity.
Alluding to this custom, Charles Dickens, jun. (_Gent. Mag._ 1869, New
Series, vol. ii. p. 543), says: A prince of the house of Lorraine,
confined in one of Louis XIII.’s prisons, made his escape on the 1st of
April by swimming across the moat, and is accordingly commemorated as a
_poisson d’Avril_ to this day. Why this should be so is not very clear,
inasmuch as the gaolers and not the prince would have been the April
fools on the occasion. A later version of the same story would appear to
be the correct one. Here the prince and his wife, escaping in the
disguise of peasants on the 1st of April, were recognised by a
servant-maid as they were passing out of the castle-gates. She
immediately made for the guard-room, giving the alarm to a sentinel by
the way, but, unfortunately for her, yet happily for the fugitives,
although she may have forgotten that it was All Fool’s Day, the soldiers
on guard had not. The information was treated with the utmost contempt,
the soldiers declining to be made game of, and while the royal
prison-breakers got clear off, it is said that the luckless informer was
soundly buffetted by the guard for her ill-timed jocularity. This
version of the story, however, goes to prove nothing beyond the fact
that the custom of making April fools was well known in the time of
Louis XIII., but in nowise accounts for the curious expression _poisson
d’Avril_; while the swimming story explains the fish, but leads one to
believe that the incident was the origin of the dedication of the 1st of
April to fools.
Another curious explanation of this peculiar custom, giving it a Jewish
origin, has also been suggested. It is said to have begun from the
mistake of Noah sending the dove out of the Ark before the water had
abated on the first day of the Hebrew month, answering to our month of
April, and to perpetuate the memory of this deliverance it was thought
proper, whoever forgot so remarkable a circumstance, to punish them by
sending them upon some sleeveless errand similar to that ineffectual
message upon which the bird was sent by the patriarch.--_Public
Advertiser_, April 13th, 1769.
Maurice, in his _Indian Antiquities_ (vi. 71), says that the custom
prevailing both in England and India had its origin in the ancient
practice of celebrating with festival rites the period of the vernal
equinox, or the day when the new year of Persia anciently began.
Addison, in the _Spectator_, referring to the year 1711, remarks that “a
custom prevails everywhere among us on the 1st of April, when everybody
takes it in his head to make as many fools as he can. A neighbour of
mine--a very shallow, conceited fellow, makes his boast that for these
ten years successively he has not made less than a hundred April fools.
My landlady had a falling-out with him, about a fortnight ago, for
sending every one of her children upon some “sleeveless errand,” as she
terms it. Her eldest son went to buy a halfpenny-worth of inkle at a
shoemaker’s; the eldest daughter was dispatched half a mile to see a
monster; and, in short, the whole family of innocent children were made
April fools. Nay, my landlady herself did not escape him. The empty
fellow has laughed upon these conceits ever since.”
In the north of England persons imposed upon on this day are called
“April Gouks.” A gouk, or gowk, is properly a cuckoo, and is used here,
metaphorically, in vulgar language, for a fool. The cuckoo is, indeed,
everywhere a name of contempt.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p.
139.
HAMPSHIRE.
In this county the following rhyme is said after twelve o’clock:--
“April fool’s gone past,
You’re the biggest fool at last;
When April fool comes again
You’ll be the biggest fool then.”
_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xii. p. 100.
MIDDLESEX.
In connection with the ancient custom of making “April fools” on the 1st
of April, the following hoax was practised on the London public on the
1st April, 1860. Some days previous thousands of persons received a
neatly printed and official-looking card, with a seal marked by an
inverted sixpence at one of the angles. It was to this effect:--“Tower
of London. Admit the Bearer and Friend to view the Annual Ceremony of
washing the White Lions on Sunday April 1st, 1860. Admitted at the White
Gate. It is particularly requested that no gratuity be given to the
Warders or their Assistants.” The hoax succeeded remarkably well, and
consequently several thousand persons were taken in. For many hours cabs
might have been seen wending their way towards Tower Hill on that Sunday
morning; the drivers asking every one they met “How they should get to
the White Gate.” At last this piece of deception was found out, and the
many thousands who had been thus imposed upon returned home highly
disgusted.
SCOTLAND.
The Scotch have a custom of Hunting the Gowk, as it is termed. This is
done by sending silly people upon fools’ errands from place to place by
means of a letter, in which is written:--
“On the first day of April
Hunt the Gowk another mile.”
Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 140.
APRIL 3.] ST. RICHARD’S DAY.
Aubrey, in _MS. Lansd._ 231, says: “This custome is yearly observed at
Droitwich, in Worcestershire, where, on the day of St. Richard, they
keep holyday, and dresse the well with green boughs and flowers. One
yeare in the Presbyterian time it was discontinued in the civil warres,
and after that the springe shranke up or dried up for some time; so
afterwards they revived their annual custom, notwithstanding the power
of the parliament and soldiers, and the salt water returned again and
still continues. This St. Richard was a person of great estate in these
parts, and a briske young fellow that would ride over hedge and ditch,
and at length became a very devout man, and after his decease was
canonized for a saint.”
APRIL 7.] HOCK, OR _HOKE_ DAY.
A popular holiday mentioned by Matthew Paris and other ancient writers.
It was usually kept on the Tuesday following the second Sunday after
Easter Day, and distinguished by various sportive pastimes, which
consisted, according to Spelman, in the men and women binding each
other, and especially the women the men, and so was called “Binding
Tuesday.” Jacob (_Law Dictionary_, 1797) says that “Hokeday, or Hock
Tuesday (_Dies Martis, quem quindenam Paschæ vocant_), was a day so
remarkable that rents were reserved and payable thereon; and in the
accounts of Magdalen College, Oxford, there is a yearly allowance _pro
mulieribus hockantibus_, in some manors of theirs in Hants, where the
men hock the women on Monday, and the contrary on Tuesday; the meaning
of it is, that on that day the women in merriment stop the way with
ropes, and pull passengers to them, desiring something to be laid out in
pious uses. The following remarks are taken from _Book of Days_, vol. i.
p. 499:--