clerk for the time being, subject to the condition of the land being
mown immediately before Weston feast, which occurs in July, and the
cutting thereof being strewed on the church floor previously to Divine
service on the feast Sunday, and continuing there during Divine
service.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 220.
LANCASHIRE.
At Altcar the parish church is dedicated to St. Michael, and, in
accordance with a very old custom, a rush-bearing takes place in
July.--See _Med. Ævi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 341.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
In the _History of Alnwick_ (1822, pp. 241-244) the following account is
given of an ancient custom celebrated on the proclamation of the fair
held in July. On the Sunday evening preceding the fair, the
representatives of the adjacent townships that owe suit and service to
his Grace the Duke of Northumberland, and the constables of Alnwick,
with several of the freeholders and tradesmen, attend at the castle,
where they are freely regaled. The steward of the Court, and the bailiff
with their attendants, then proceed from the castle to the cross in the
market-place, where the bailiff proclaims the fair in the name of the
Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, and calls over the names of the
various townships that owe suit and service; viz. the townships of
Chatton and Chillingham, four men, Coldmarton and Fowbury, four men;
Hetton and Hezebrigge, four men; Fawdon and Clinch, four men; Alnham and
Alnham Moor, two men; Tughall and Swinhoe, two men; Longhoughton and
Denwick, four men; Lesbury and Bilton, two men; Lyham and Lyham-hall,
one man; with the principal inhabitants of the borough of Alnwick. The
representatives who attend for the several townships in service are
obliged to keep watch at different parts of the town the night before
the fair, which has been a custom from time immemorial. On the fair-day
the tenants of the Duke within the barony of Alnwick attend at the
castle, when the steward and bailiff proceed from thence to the market,
and proclaim the fair as before. They then go to Clayport Street, where
the fair is again proclaimed, and from thence to the castle. The above
townships, by their attendance, are exempt from paying toll in the
borough for twelve months, but if they do not attend, they must pay the
same till the next year.
SCOTLAND.
COUNTY OF EDINBURGH.
The Leith Races take place either in the month of July or August. As
they were under the patronage of the magistrates of Edinburgh, it was
usual for one of the city officers to walk in procession every morning
during the week from the Council Chamber down to Leith, bearing aloft a
silk purse, gaily decorated with ribbons, styled the City Purse, on the
end of a pole, accompanied by the town-guard drummer, who, being
stationed in the rear of this dignitary, continued beating a tattoo at
his heels all the way to the race-ground.
The procession which at the onset consisted only of the officer and the
drummer, and sometimes a file or two of the town-guard, gathered
strength as it moved along the line of march, from a constant accession
of boys, who were every morning on the look out for this procession, and
who preferred, according to their own phrase, “gaun down wi’ the purse,”
to any other way. Such a dense mass of these finally surrounded the
officer and his attendant drummer that, long before the procession
reached Leith, both had wholly disappeared. Nothing of the former
remained visible but the purse, and the top of the pole on which it was
borne. These, however, projecting above the heads of the crowd, still
pointed out the spot where he might be found: of the drummer, no vestige
remained; but he was known to exist by the faint and intermittent sounds
of his drum. The town-guard also came in for a share of the honours and
the business of this festive week. These were marched down to Leith
every day in full costume. Having arrived upon the sands, the greater
part, along with the drummer, took their station at the starting-point,
where the remainder surrounded the heights. The march of these veterans
to Leith is thus humorously described by Ferguson:--
“Come, hafe a care (the captain cries),
On guns your bagnets thraw:
Now mind your manual exercise,
And march down row by row.
And as they march he’ll glour about,
Tent a’ ther cuts an’ scars;
Mang these full many a gausy snout
Has gusht in birth-day wars
Wi’ blude that day.”
Campbell, _History of Leith_, 1827, p. 187.
RENFREWSHIRE.
A very curious custom existed at Greenock, and in the neighbouring town
of Port Glasgow, at the fair held on the first Monday in July, and the
fourth Tuesday in November. The whole trades of the town, in the dresses
of their guilds, with flags and music, each man armed, made a grand
rendezvous at the place where the fair was to be held, and with drawn
swords and array of guns and pistols, surrounded the booths, and greeted
the baillie’s announcement by tuck of drum, “that Greenock Fair was
open,” by a tremendous shout, and a struggling fire from every
serviceable barrel in the crowd.--_N. &. Q. 1st S._, vol. ix. p. 242.
ROXBURGHSHIRE.
Haig, in his _History of Kelso_ (1825, p. 107), tells us that in his
time the Society of Gardeners, on the second Tuesday in July, the day of
their annual general meeting, paraded the streets, accompanied by a band
of music, and carrying an elegant device composed of the most beautiful
flowers, which, on the company reaching the inn where they dined, was
thrown from the window to the crowd, who soon demolished it in a
scramble for the flowers.
Fuller, too, in his _History of Berwick-upon-Tweed_ (1799, p. 447), says
the association of gardeners, which took place in 1796, had in his time
a procession through the streets yearly. It was accompanied with music;
and, in the middle of the procession, a number of men carried a large
wreath of flowers. The different officers belonging to this institution
wore their respective insignia, and the whole society dined together.
JULY 1.] IRELAND.
Mason, in his _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_ (1814, vol. ii. p. 528), says that
the great holiday in Seagoe is on the first of July (Old Style), being
the anniversary of the battle of the Boyne. A procession takes place,
the whole population wear orange lilies, and the day is spent in
festivity.
JULY 5.] LEICESTERSHIRE.
At Glenfield, the parish clerk, in accordance with an old custom, strews
the church with new hay on the first Sunday after the 5th of
July.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 219.
JULY 7.] ST. THOMAS À BECKET’S DAY.
CORNWALL.
The festival called Bodmin Riding was kept on Sunday and Monday after
St. Thomas à Becket’s Day (July 7th). A puncheon of beer having been
brewed in the preceding October, and bottled in anticipation of the
time, two or more young men who were entrusted with the chief management
of the affair, and who represented the “wardens,” went round the town
attended by a band of drums and fifes, or other instruments. The crier
saluted each house with, “To the people of this house a prosperous
morning, long life, and a merry riding!” The musicians then struck up
the riding tune, and the householder was solicited to taste the riding
ale, which was carried round in baskets. A bottle was usually taken in,
and it was acknowledged by such a sum as the means or humour of the
townsman permitted, to be spent on the public festivities of the season.
Next morning a procession was formed: all who could afford to ride
mounted on horse or ass, which proceeded first to the Priory, to receive
two large garlands of flowers fixed on staves, and then through the
principal streets to the Town End, where the games were formally opened.
The sports, which lasted two days, consisted of wrestling, foot-racing,
jumping in sacks, &c. It should be remarked that a second or inferior
brewing, from the same wort, was drunk at a minor merry-making at
Whitsuntide. In an order, dated November 15th, 1583, regulating the
business of the shoemakers, a class of tradesmen which seems for ages to
have been more than usually numerous in Bodmin, it is directed by the
mayor and the masters of the occupation, “that at the _Rydyng_ every
master and journeyman shall give their attendance to the steward, and
likewise bring him to church, upon pain of 12_d._ for every master, and
6_d._ for every journeyman, for every such default, to the discretion of
the master of the occupation.”
At this festival there was held a curious kind of mock trial. A Lord of
Misrule was appointed, before whom any unpopular person, so unlucky as
to be captured, was dragged to answer a charge of felony; the imputed
crime being such as his appearance might suggest, a negligence in his
attire, or a breach of manners. With ludicrous gravity a mock trial was
then commenced, and judgment was gravely pronounced, when the culprit
was hurried off to receive his punishment. In this his apparel was
generally a greater sufferer than his person, as it commonly terminated
in his being thrown into the water or the mire.[74] “Take him before the
mayor of Halgaver;” “Present him in Halgaver Court,” are old Cornish
proverbs.--_Parochial History of Cornwall_, 1868, vol i. p. 104. Murray,
_Handbook for Cornwall_, 1865, p. 244.
[74] Carew, in his _Survey of Cornwall_ (1811, p. 296), speaking of
this custom, says: “The youthlier sort of Bodmin townsmen use
sometimes to sport themselves by playing the box with strangers whom
they summon to Halgaver. The name signifieth the goat’s moor, and such
a place it is, lying a little without the town, and very full of
quagmires. When these mates with any raw serving man, or other young
master, who may serve and deserve to make pastime, they cause him to
be solemnly arrested, for his appearance before the mayor of Halgaver,
where he is charged with wearing one spur, in going untrussed or
wanting a girdle, or some such like felony; and after he hath been
arraigned and tried, with all requisite circumstances, judgment is
given in formal terms, and executed in some ungracious prank or other,
more to the scorn than hurt of the party condemned. Now and then they
extend their merriment with the largest, to the prejudice of
over-credulous people, persuading them to fight with a dragon lurking
in Halgaver, or to see some strange matter there; which concludeth at
least with a training them into the mire.”
KENT.
Becket’s Fair, says Hasted in his _History of Canterbury_ (1801, vol. i.
p. 104), was held on the feast of St. Thomas à Becket, and was so called
from this day being the anniversary of the Archbishop’s translation
from his tomb to his shrine, and as such was fixed for this purpose, as
a means of gathering together a greater multitude for the celebration of
this solemn day.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
In some parts of this county the Sunday after St. Thomas à Becket’s Day
goes by the name of Relic Sunday.--_Time’s Telescope_, 1822, p. 192.
JULY 9.] STAFFORDSHIRE.
There existed at one time, at Wolverhampton, an annual procession, on
July 9th (the eve of the great fair), of men in antique armour, preceded
by musicians playing the “fair tune,” and followed by the steward of the
Deanery Manor, the peace-officers, and many of the principal
inhabitants. Tradition says the ceremony originated at the time when
Wolverhampton was a great emporium of wool, and resorted to by merchants
of the staple from all parts of England. The necessity of an annual
force to keep peace and order during the fair (which is said to have
lasted fourteen days, but the charter says only eight) is not
improbable. It was finally discontinued by Sir William Pulteney, who was
the lessee of the Deanery Manor, to the great dissatisfaction of the
people of Wolverhampton. These processions were the remains of the
Corpus Christi pageantry, which were always celebrated at the annual
fairs, and attended by men armed and equipped as if for war.--Shaw,
_History of Staffordshire_, 1798-1801, p. 165; Oliver, _Historical
Account of the Collegiate Church of Wolverhampton_, 1836, p. 44.
JULY 12.] IRELAND.
At Maghera, County Down, on the 12th of July, the anniversary of the
battle of Aughrim, the Orangemen assemble, walk in their insignia, and
dine together.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_, 1844, vol. i. p. 594.
JULY 15.] ST. SWITHIN’S DAY.
St. Swithin was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the time of King
Ethelbert, and the great patron saint of the cathedral and city of
Winchester. In some church-books there are entries of gatherings of
“Saint Swithine’s farthyngs” on this day. There is an old proverb which
says:
“St. Swithin’s Day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain:
St. Swithin’s Day, if thou be fair,
For forty days ’twill rain na mair.”
There is also a quaint saying, that when it rains on St. Swithin’s Day,
it is the saint christening the apples.--See Timbs’ _Things not
Generally Known_, 1856, p. 153.
SURREY.
In the Churchwardens’ accounts of the parish of Horley, under the years
1505-6, is the following entry, which implies a gathering on this
saint’s day:--
“Itm. Saintt Swithine farthyngs the said 2 yeres, 30_s._ 8_d._”
YORKSHIRE.
Sports were at one time annually celebrated at Cloughton on Saturday
evening after the 15th July.--Cole, _Historical Sketches of Scalby,
Burniston, and Cloughton_, 1829, p. 63.
JULY 17.] ST. KENELM’S DAY.
WORCESTERSHIRE.
At Clent, in the parish of Hales Owen, a fair was formerly held in a
field in which St. Kenelm’s Chapel is situated. It is, says Brand, of
very ancient date, and probably arose from the gathering together of
persons to visit the shrine of St. Kenelm on the feast of the saint,
17th of July. On the Sunday after this fair, St. Kenelm’s wake was held,
at which a curious custom was practised, called “Crabbing the Parson,”
the origin of which is said to have arisen on this wise:--“Long, long
ago, an incumbent of Frankley, to which St. Kenelm’s is attached, was
accustomed, through horrid, deep-rutted, miry roads, occasionally to
wend his way to the sequestered depository of the remains of the
murdered saint-king, to perform Divine service. It was his wont to carry
some provisions with him, with which he refreshed himself at a
farm-house near the scene of his pastoral duties. On one occasion,
however, having eaten up his store of provisions, he was tempted (after
he had donned his sacerdotal habit, and in the absence of the good dame)
to pry into the secrets of a huge pot, in which was simmering the
savoury dish the lady had provided for her household; among the rest
dumplings formed no inconsiderable portion of the contents. The story
runs that the parson poached sundry of them, hissing hot, from the
cauldron, and, hearing the footsteps of his hostess, he, with great
dexterity, deposited them in the sleeves of his surplice. She, however,
was conscious of her loss, and, closely following the parson to the
church, by her presence prevented him from disposing of them, and, to
avoid her accusation, he forthwith entered the reading-desk, and began
to read the service, the clerk beneath making the responses. Erelong, a
dumpling slipped out of the parson’s sleeve, and fell on the clerk’s
head; he looked up with astonishment, but taking the matter in good
part, proceeded with the service. Presently, however, another dumpling
fell on his head, at which he, with upturned eyes and ready tongue,
responded, “Two can play at that, master,” and, suiting the action to
the word, he immediately began pelting the parson with crabs, a store of
which he had gathered, intending to take them home in his pocket to
foment the sprained leg of his horse, and so well did he play his part,
that the parson soon decamped, amid the jeers of the old dame, and the
laughter of the few persons who were in attendance.”--Brand, _Pop.
Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 344.
JULY 20.] ST. MARGARET’S DAY.
CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
On the feast of St. Margaret in 1511, the Miracle Play of the Holy
Martyr St. George was acted on a stage in an open field at Bassingborne
in Cambridgeshire, at which there were a minstrel and three waits hired
from Cambridge, with a property-man and a painter. The following extract
from an old churchwarden’s book belonging to the parish of Bassingborne,
gives the various subscriptions and expenses connected with it:--
Memorandum:--Received at the play held on St. Margaret’s day, A.D.
MDXI., in Basingborn of the holy martyr St. George.
Received of the Township of Royston xii^{s}. Tharfield vi^{s} viii^{d},
Melton v^{s} iiii^{d}, Lillington x^{s} vi^{d}, Whaddon iv^{s} iiii^{d},
Steeplemenden iiii^{s}, Barly iv^{s} i^{d}, Ashwell iiii^{s}, Abingdon
iii^{s} iv^{d}, Orwell iii^{s}, Wendy ii^{s} ix^{d}, Wimpole ii^{s}
vii^{d}, Meldreth ii^{s} iv^{d}, Arrington ii^{s} iv^{d}, Shepreth
ii^{s} iv^{d}, Kelsey ii^{s} v^{d}, Willington i^{s} x^{d}, Fulmer i^{s}
viii^{d}, Gilden Morden i^{s}, Tadlow i^{s}, Croydon i^{s} i^{d}, Hattey
x^{d}, Wratlingworth ix^{d}, Hastingfield ix^{d}, Barkney viii^{d},
Foxten iv^{d}, Kneesnorth vi^{d}.
Item received of the town of Bassingborn on the Monday and Friday after
the play, together with other comers on the Monday, xiv^{s} v^{d}.
Item received on the Wednesday after the play, with a pot of ale at
Kneesnorth, all costs deducted, i^{s} vii^{d}.
_Expenses of the said Play._
First paid to the garnement man for garnements and propyrts and
playbooks, xx^{s}.
To a minstrel and three waits of Cambridge for the Wednesday, Saturday,
and Monday. Two of them the first day, and three the other days, v^{s}
xi^{d}.
Item in expences on the Players, when the play was shewed, in bread and
ale and for other vittails at Royston for those players, iii^{s} ii^{d}.
Item in expences on the play day for the bodies of vi. sheep, xxii^{d}
each, ix^{s} ii^{d}.
Item for three calves and half a lamb, viii^{s} ii^{d}.
Item paid five days board of one Pyke Propyrte, making for himself and
his servant one day, and for his horses pasture vi. days, i^{s} iv^{d}.
Item paid to turners of spits and for salt, ix^{d}.
Item for iv chickens for the gentlemen, iv^{d.}
Item for fish and bread and setting up the stages, iv^{d}.
Item to John Beecher for painting of three Fanchoms and four Tormentors.
Item to Giles Ashwell for easement of his croft to play in, i^{s}.
Item to John Hobarde, Brotherhood Priest, for the play book, ii^{s}
viii^{d}.
_Antiquarian Repertory_, 1808, vol. iii. p. 320.
NORFOLK.
To the west of Wereham Church, Norfolk, a well, called St. Margaret’s,
was much frequented in the times of Popery. Here, on St. Margaret’s Day,
the people regaled themselves with ale and cakes, music and dancing.
Alms were given, and offerings and vows made, at sainted wells of this
kind.--_Excursions in the County of Norfolk_, 1829, vol. ii. p. 145.
JULY 22.] ST. BRIDGET’S EVE.
IRELAND.
On St. Bridget’s Eve every farmer’s wife in Ireland makes a cake, called
_Bairinbreac_; the neighbours are invited, the madder of ale and the
pipe go round, and the evening concludes with mirth and festivity.--Col.
Vallancey, _Essay on the Antiquity of the Irish Language_, 1772, p. 21;
see Fosbroke’s _Encyclopædia of Antiquities_, 1840, p. 657.
JULY 25.] ST. JAMES’S DAY.
It is customary in London to begin eating oysters on St. James’s Day,
and in the course of the few days following upon their introduction,
the children of the humbler class employ themselves diligently in
collecting the shells which have been cast out from taverns and
fish-shops, and of these they make piles in various rude forms. By the
time that old St. James’s Day (August 5th) has come about, they have
these little fabrics in nice order, with a candle stuck in the top, to
be lighted at night. As the stranger occasionally comes in contact with
these structures, he is suddenly surrounded by a group of boys,
exclaiming, “Pray, remember the grotto!” by which is meant a demand for
a penny wherewith professedly to keep up the candle. Mr. Thoms considers
that in the grotto thus made, we have a memorial of the world-renowned
shrine of St. James at Compostella, which may have been formerly erected
on the anniversary of St. James by poor persons, as an invitation to the
pious, who could not visit Compostella to show their reverence to the
saint by alms giving to their needy brethren.--_Book of Days_, vol. ii.
p. 122; _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. i. p. 6.
KENT.
The rector of Cliff distributes at his parsonage-house, on St. James’s
day, annually, a mutton pie and a loaf to as many as choose to demand
it; the expense amounts to about £15 per annum.
LANCASHIRE.
It was customary at one time for the Corporation of Liverpool to give an
annual public dinner, in the Exchange, to two or three hundred of the
principal inhabitants, on the 25th July and 11th November, the days of
the commencement of the Liverpool fairs, which were considered as days
of festivity by all ranks of the community. On these days the mayor,
bailiffs, and burgesses, in their gowns, went in procession with a band
of music, from the Exchange to the middle of Dale Street, where they
passed round a large stone, whitewashed for the occasion, and thence
proceeded to another stone in the centre of Castle Street, and back to
the Exchange, where they dined. This ancient custom was discontinued
about the year 1760.--Corry, _History of Liverpool_, 1810, p. 94.
JULY 26.] MACE MONDAY.
BERKSHIRE.
The first Monday after St. Anne’s Day, July 26th, a feast is held at
Newbury, the principal dishes being bacon and beans. In the course of
the day a procession takes place; a cabbage is stuck on a pole, and
carried instead of a mace, accompanied by similar substitutes for other
emblems of civic dignity.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 1045.
JULY 29.] ST. OLAVE’S DAY.
Strype in his _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. pt. ii. p.
11), says: “On the 29th July, 1557, being St. Olave’s Day, was the
church holiday in Silver Street, the parish church whereof was dedicated
to that saint. And at eight of the clock at night began a stage play of
a goodly matter (relating, it is like, to that saint), that continued
unto twelve at midnight, and then they made an end with good song.”
AUGUST.] SWAN-UPPING.
Formerly the members of the Corporation of London, in gaily-decorated
barges, went up the Thames annually in August, for the purpose of
_nicking_ or marking, and counting their swans. They used to land off
Barnes Elms, and partake of a collation. This yearly progress was
commonly but incorrectly called “swan-hopping:” the correct designation
is shown by the ancient statutes to be “swan-upping,” the swans being
taken up and nicked, or marked. A “swan-with-two-nicks” indicated, by
his second nick, that he had been taken up twice.[75]
[75] Among the Loseley MSS. is an original roll of swan-marks, showing
the beaks of the swans to have been notched with stars, chevrons,
crosses, the initials of the owners’ names, or other devices.--See _N.
& Q. 2nd S._ vol. x. p. 393.
In the accounts of the Vintner’s Company (Egerton MS. 1143, fol. 2,) is
the following entry:--
“Money payd for expense } Item.--Payd in the grete ffroste to
for uppyng of } James the under swanyerd for
Swanes } upping of the Maister Swannes iiij_s._
} It--For bote hyr at the same tyme iiij_d._
AUGUST 1.] LAMMAS DAY.