were accustomed at All Hallow Tide, which they considered the beginning
of Christmas, to associate themselves for the festive objects connected
with the season. In 1629 they chose Bulstrode Whitelocke as Master of
the Revels, and used to meet every evening at St. Dunstan’s Tavern, in a
large new room, called “The Oracle of Apollo,” each man bringing friends
with him at his own pleasure. It was a kind of mock parliament, where
various questions were discussed as in our modern debating societies,
but these temperate proceedings were seasoned with mirthful doings, to
which the name of revels was given and of which dancing appears to have
been the chief. On All Hallows Day, “the Master (Whitelocke, then
four-and-twenty), as soon as the evening was come, entered the hall
followed by sixteen revellers. They were proper, handsome young
gentlemen, habited in rich suits, shoes and stockings, hats and great
feathers. The master led them in his bar gown, with a white staff in his
hand, the music playing before them. They began with the old masques;
after which they danced the _Brawls_,[80] and then the master took his
seat, while the revellers flaunted through galliards, corantos, French
and country dances, till it grew very late. As might be expected, the
reputation of this dancing soon brought a store of other gentlemen and
ladies, some of whom were of great quality, and when the ball was over
the festive party adjourned to Sir Sydney Montague’s chamber, lent for
the purpose to our young president. At length the court ladies and
grandees were allured, to the contentment of his vanity it may have
been, but entailing on him serious expense, and then there was great
striving for places to see them on the part of the London citizens. To
crown the ambition and vanity of all, a great German lord had a desire
to witness the revels, then making such a sensation at court, and the
Templars entertained him at great cost to themselves, receiving in
exchange that which cost the great noble very little--his avowal that
‘Dere was no such nople gollege in Christendom as deirs.’”--Whitelocke’s
_Memoirs of Bulstrode Whitelocke_, 1860, p. 56; quoted in _Book of
Days_, vol. ii. p. 538.
[80] Erroneously written _Brantes_ in the authority quoted.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.
If a girl had two lovers, and wished to know which would be the most
constant, she procured two brown apple pippins, and sticking one on each
cheek (after having named them from her lovers) while she repeated this
couplet:
“Pippen, pippen, I stick thee there,
That that is true thou may’st declare,”
patiently awaited until one fell off, when the unfortunate swain whose
name it bore was instantly discarded as being unfaithful. It is to this
custom that Gay has thus alluded:
“See from the core two kernels now I take,
This on my cheek for Lubberkin is worn,
And Booby Clod on t’other side is borne;
But Booby Clod soon falls upon the ground,
A certain token that his love’s unsound;
While Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last;
Oh! were his lips to mine but joined so fast.”
_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. iii. p. 286.
YORKSHIRE.
At Ripon, the women make a cake for every one in the family, whence this
eve is by them called _cake-night_.--_Gent. Mag._ 1790, vol. lx. p. 719.
WALES.
In North Wales there is a custom upon All Saints’ Eve of making a great
fire called _Coel Coeth_, when every family for about an hour in the
night, makes a great bonfire in the most conspicuous place near the
house, and when the fire is almost extinguished every one throws a white
stone into the ashes, having first marked it; then having said their
prayers turning round the fire, they go to bed. In the morning, as soon
as they are up, they come and search out the stones, and if any one of
them is found wanting they have a notion that the person who threw it in
will die before he sees another All Saints’ Eve.--Pennant MS., quoted by
Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 389.
In Owen’s _Account of the Bards_, preserved in Sir R. Hoare’s _Itinerary
of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales_ (vol. ii. p. 315), the following
particulars are given in connection with the above custom:--The autumnal
fire kindled in North Wales on the eve of the 1st of November is
attended by many ceremonies, such as running through the fire and smoke,
each casting a stone into the fire, and all running off at the
conclusion, to escape from the black short-tailed sow; then supping upon
parsnips, nuts, and apples; catching at an apple suspended by a string,
with the mouth alone, and the same by an apple in a tub of water; each
throwing a nut into the fire, and those that burn bright betoken
prosperity to the owners through the following year, but those that burn
black and crackle, denote misfortune. On the following morning the
stones are searched for in the fire, and if any be missing, they betide
ill to those who threw them in.
SCOTLAND.
Burns, in his notes upon Halloween, gives the following interesting
account of the superstitious customs practised by the Scottish
peasantry:
1. The first ceremony of Halloween is pulling each a stock or plant of
kail. They must go out hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first
they meet with; its being big or little, straight or crooked, is
prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their
spells--the husband or wife. If any _yird_, or earth stick to the root,
that is _tocher_ or fortune; and the taste of the _custoc_, that is the
heart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper and disposition.
Lastly, the stems, or--to give them their ordinary appellation--the
runts, are placed somewhere above the head of the door; and the
Christian names of the people, whom chance brings into the house are,
according to the priority of placing the runts, the names in question.
2. They go to the barn-yard, and pull each, at three several times, a
stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the _top-pickle_, the party in
question will come to the marriage-bed anything but a maid.
3. Burning the nuts is a famous charm, they name the lad and lass to
each particular nut as they lay them in the fire. Accordingly, as they
burn quietly together or start from beside one another, the course and
issue of the courtship will be.
4. Steal out all alone to the _kiln_, and darkling throw into the pot a
clue of blue yarn, wind it in a new clue off the old one; and towards
the latter end, something will hold the thread; demand, “Who hauds?”
i.e., who holds. An answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming
the Christian and surname of your future spouse.
5. Take a candle and go alone to a looking-glass, eat an apple before
it, and, some traditions say you should comb your hair all the time, the
face of your conjugal companion to be will be seen in the glass as if
peeping over your shoulder.
6. Steal out unperceived and sow a handful of hempseed, harrowing it
with anything you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat now and then,
“Hempseed I sow thee; hempseed, I sow thee; and him (or her) that is to
be my true love come after me and pou thee.” Look over your left
shoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person invoked in the
attitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions say, “Come after me, and show
thee,” that is show thyself, in which case it simply appears. Others
omit the harrowing, and say, “Come after me and harrow thee.”
7. _To win three wechts o’ naething._--This charm must likewise be
performed unperceived and alone, you go to the barn, and open both
doors, taking them off the hinges if possible; for there is danger that
they, being about to appear, may shut the doors and do you some
mischief. Then take that instrument used in winnowing the corn, which in
our dialect is called a _wecht_; and go through all the attitudes of
letting down corn against the wind. Repeat it three times; and the third
time an apparition will pass through the barn, in it at the windy door
and out at the other, having both the figure in question, and the
appearance or retinue marking the employment or station in life.
8. Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a bean stack, and fathom it
three times round. The last fathom of the last time, you will catch in
your arms the appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow.
9. You go out, one or more, for this is a social spell, to a south
running spring or rivulet, where three lairds’ lands meet, and dip your
left shirt sleeve. Go to bed in sight of a fire, and hang your wet
sleeve before it to dry. Lie awake, and sometime near midnight an
apparition, having an exact figure of the grand object in question, will
come and turn the sleeve as if to dry the other side of it.
10. Take three dishes, put clean water in one, foul water in another,
leave the third empty; blindfold a person, and lead him to the hearth
where the dishes are ranged; he (or she) dips the left hand; if by
chance in the clean water, the future husband or wife will come to the
bar of matrimony a maid; if in the foul, a widow; if in the empty dish,
it foretells with equal certainty no marriage at all. It is repeated
three times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes is altered.
ABERDEENSHIRE.
The following extract is taken from the _Guardian_ (November 11th,
1874):--Halloween was duly celebrated at Balmoral Castle. Preparations
had been made days beforehand, and farmers and others for miles around
were present. When darkness set in the celebration began, and her
Majesty and the Princess Beatrice, each bearing a large torch, drove out
in an open phaeton. A procession formed of the tenants and servants on
the estates followed, all carrying huge torches lighted. They walked
through the grounds and round the Castle, and the scene as the
procession moved onwards was very weird and striking. When it had
arrived in front of the Castle an immense bonfire, composed of old
boxes, packing-cases, and other materials, stored up during the year for
the occasion, was set fire to. When the flames were at their brightest a
figure dressed as a hobgoblin appeared on the scene, drawing a car
surrounded by a number of fairies carrying long spears, the car
containing the effigy of a witch. A circle having been formed by the
torch-bearers, the presiding elf tossed the figure of the witch into the
fire, where it was speedily consumed. This cremation over, reels were
begun, and were danced with great vigour to the stirring strains of
Willie Ross, her Majesty’s piper.
BANFFSHIRE.
In former times at Halloween, Christmas, and other holidays, the younger
part of the community of Cullen resorted to the sands and links of the
bay for the purpose of playing foot-ball, running foot-races, &c. They
left the town in procession, preceded by a piper and other music, and
were attended by numbers from the adjacent districts. The games were
keenly contested, and the victor was crowned by a bonnet adorned with
feathers and ribbons, previously prepared by the ladies. When the games
were over, the whole party had a dance on the green, with that merriment
and glee to which the etiquette and formation of the ballroom at the
present day are total strangers. Afterwards, the procession was again
formed, and returned to the town, the victor preceded by the music,
leading the way. A ball took place in the evening, at which he presided,
and, moreover, had the privilege of wearing his bonnet and
feathers.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1845, vol. xiii. p. 381.
MORAYSHIRE.
Shaw, in his _History of the Province of Moray_ (p. 241), considers the
festivity of this night as a kind of harvest-home rejoicing. He says, a
solemnity was kept on the eve of the 1st of November, as a thanksgiving
for the safe ingathering of the produce of the fields.
PERTHSHIRE.
On All Saints’ Even, the inhabitants of Callander, set up bonfires in
every village. When the bonfire is consumed, the ashes are carefully
collected into the form of a circle. There is a stone put in near the
circumference, for every person of the several families interested in
the bonfire; and whatever stone is removed out of its place or injured
before the next morning, the person represented by that stone is
devoted, or _fey_, and is supposed not to live twelve months from that
day.--Sinclair, _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1793, vol. xi. p. 621.
On the evening of the 31st of October (Old Style), the inhabitants of
Logierait practise the following custom:--Heath, broom and dressings of
flax are tied upon a pole; this faggot is then kindled; one takes it
upon his shoulders, and, running, bears it round the village; a crowd
attending him. When the first faggot is burnt out, a second is bound to
the pole and kindled in the same manner as before. Numbers of these
blazing faggots are often carried about together, and when the night
happens to be dark they form a splendid illumination.--Sinclair, _Stat.
Acc. of Scotland_, 1793, vol. v. p. 84.
IRELAND.
At this season the peasants assemble with sticks and clubs, and go from
house to house collecting money, bread-cake, butter, &c., for the feast,
repeating verses in honour of the solemnity, and demanding the
inhabitants to lay aside the fatted calf and to bring forth the black
sheep.[81] The women are employed in making the griddle cake and
candles; these last are sent from house to house in the vicinity, and
are lighted up on the next day before which they pray, or are supposed
to pray, for the departed soul of the donor. Hempseed is sown by the
maidens, and they believe that, if they look back, they will see the
apparition of the man intended for their future husbands; they hang a
smock before the fire on the close of the feast, and sit up all night
concealed in a corner of the room, convinced that his apparition will
come down the chimney and turn the smock. They also throw a ball of yarn
out of the window, and wind it up on a reel within, thinking that, if
they repeat the Paternoster backwards and look at the ball of yarn
without, they will see his apparition. They, moreover, dip for apples in
a tub of water, and endeavour to bring one up in the mouth; they suspend
a cord with a cross stick, with apples at one point and candles lighted
at the other, and endeavour to catch the apple, while it is in circular
motion, in the mouth. These and many other superstitious customs are
observed.--Valiancy, _Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis_, 1786, vol. iii.
p. 459.
[81] This was preparatory to the sacrifice of the black sheep on the
following day to Saman--See Soane’s _New Curiosities of Literature_,
1847, p. 219.
On Halloween, women take the yolk from eggs boiled hard, fill the eggs
with salt, and eat egg, shell and salt. They are careful not to quench
their thirst till morning.--_N. & Q. 4th. S._ vol. iv. p. 505.
NOV.] DERBYSHIRE.
At Duffield, a curious remnant of the right of hunting wild animals is
still observed--this is called the “squirrel hunt.” The young men of the
village assemble together on the Wakes Monday, each provided with a
horn, a pan, or something capable of making a noise, and proceed to
Keddleston Park, where, with shouting and the discordant noise of the
instruments, they frighten the poor little squirrels, until they drop
from the trees. Several having been thus captured the hunters return to
Duffield, and having released the squirrels amongst some trees,
recommence the hunt.--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p.
208.
At Duffield, the right of collecting wood in the forest is also
singularly observed. The young men in considerable numbers collect
together, and having taken possession of any cart they can find, yoke
themselves to it, and preceded by horns, remove any trees or other wood
from the various lanes and hedge-rows; this is done almost nightly,
between September and the Wakes, in the first week in November, when a
bonfire is made of the wood collected on the Wakes Monday.--_Ibid._ p.
208.
NOV. 1.] ALL SAINTS’ DAY.
This festival takes its origin from the conversion, in the seventh
century, of the Pantheon at Rome into a Christian place of worship, and
its dedication by Pope Boniface IV. to the Virgin and all the Martyrs.
The anniversary of this event was at first celebrated on the 1st of May,
but the day was subsequently altered to the 1st of November, which was
thenceforth, under the designation of the feast of All Saints, set apart
as a general commemoration in their honour. The festival has been
retained by the Anglican Church--_Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 529; See
Soane’s _Book of the Months_, 1849, vol. ii. p. 235.
A writer in the _Gent. Mag._ 1783 (vol. liii. p. 578), thinks the
custom prevailing among the Roman Catholics of lighting fires upon the
hills on All Saints’ night, the Eve of All Souls, scarcely needs
explaining, fire being, even among the Pagans, an emblem of immortality,
and well calculated to typify the ascent of the soul to heaven.
A correspondent of the same periodical (1788, vol. lviii. p. 602)
alludes to a custom observed in some parts of the kingdom among the
Papists, of illuminating some of their grounds upon the eve of All
Souls, by bearing round them straw, or other fit materials, kindled into
a blaze. This ceremony is called a _Tinley_, said to represent an
emblematical lighting of souls out of purgatory.
CHESHIRE.
On All Souls’ Eve, both children and grown-up people go from door to
door, a-souling, i.e., begging for soul cakes, or anything else they can
get. In some districts they perform a kind of play as well, but in all
instances the following, or a similar song, is sung:--
“You gentlemen of England, pray you now draw near
To these few lines, and you soon shall hear
Sweet melody of music all on this evening clear,
For we are come a-souling for apples and strong beer.
Step down into your cellar, and see what you can find,
If your barrels are not empty, we hope you will prove kind;
We hope you will prove kind with your apples and strong beer,
We’ll come no more a-souling until another year.
Cold winter it is coming on, dark, dirty, wet and cold,
To try your good nature, this night we do make bold;
This night we do make bold with your apples and strong beer,
And we’ll come no more a-souling until another year.
All the houses that we’ve been at, we’ve had both meat and drink,
So now we’re dry with travelling, we hope you’ll on us think;
We hope you’ll on us think with your apples and strong beer,
For we’ll come no more a-souling until another year.
God bless the master of this house, and the mistress also.
And all the little children that round the table go;
Likewise your men and maidens, your cattle and your store,
And all that lies within your gates we wish you ten times more;
We wish you ten times more with your apples and strong beer,
And we’ll come no more a-souling until another year.”
_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1850, vol. v. p. 252.
In the parish of Lymm it is customary, for a week or ten days before the
5th of November, for the skeleton of a horse’s head, dressed up with
ribbons, &c., having glass eyes inserted in the sockets, and mounted on
a short pole by way of handle, to be carried by a man underneath covered
with a horse-cloth. There is generally a chain attached to the nose,
which is held by a second man, and they are attended by several others.
In houses to which they can gain access, they go though some kind of
performance, the man with the chain telling the horse to rear, open its
mouth, &c. The object of course is to obtain money. The horse will
sometimes seize persons, and hold them fast till they pay for being set
free; but he is generally very peaceable, for, in case of resistance
being offered, his companions generally take to flight and leave the
poor horse to fight it out.--_N. & Q. 1st. S._ vol. i. p. 258.
LANCASHIRE.
At Great Marton, there was formerly a sort of procession of young people
from house to house, at each of which they recited psalms, and, in
return, received presents of cakes, whence the custom was called
_Psalm-caking_.--_Med. Ævi Kalend._ 1841, vol. i. p. 375.
MIDDLESEX.
At a pension held at Gray’s Inn in Michaelmas Term, 21 Henry VIII.,
there was an order made that all the fellows of this house who should be
present upon any Saturday at supper, betwixt the feasts of All Saints
and the Purification of our Lady, or upon any other day at dinner or
supper, when there are _revels_, should not depart out of the hall until
the said _revels_ were ended, upon the penalty of 12_d._
In 4 Edward VI. (17 Nov.), it was also ordered, that thenceforth there
should be no comedies, called _interludes_, in the house out of term
time, but when the feast of the Nativity of our Lord is solemnly
observed, and that when there shall be any such comedies, then all the
society at that time in common to bear the charge of the apparel.
In 4 Charles I. (17 Nov.), it was also ordered that all playing of
dice, cards, or otherwise, in the hall, buttery, or butler’s chamber,
should be thenceforth forbidden at all times of the year, the twenty
days of Christmas only excepted.--Herbert, _Antiquities of the Inns of
Court_, 1804, p. 336.
MONMOUTHSHIRE.
In this county, says Hone, _Year Book_ (p. 1288), a custom prevails
among the lower classes of begging bread for the souls of the departed
on All Saints’ Day; the bread thus distributed is called _dole_ bread.
SHROPSHIRE.
It is customary, says a correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_1st S._ vol. iv. p.
381) for the village children to go round to all their neighbours
_Souling_, collecting contributions, and singing the following
doggrel:--
“Soul! soul! for a soul-cake;
Pray, good mistress, for a soul-cake.
One for Peter, and two for Paul,
Three for them who made us all.
Soul! soul! for an apple or two;
If you’ve got no apples, pears will do.
Up with your kettle, and down with your pan,
Give me a good big one, and I’ll be gone.
Soul! soul! for a soul-cake, &c.
An apple or pear, a plum or a cherry,
Is a very good thing to make us merry.
Soul! soul! &c.”
The soul-cake referred to is a sort of bun, which at one time it was an
almost general custom for persons to make, to give to one another on
this day.
STAFFORDSHIRE.
Tollett, in his _Variorum_ Shakspeare (_The Two Gentlemen of Verona_,
ii. 2, note) says, On All Saints’ Day the poor people in Staffordshire,
and perhaps in other country places, go from parish to parish
_a-souling_, as they call it, i.e. begging and puling (or singing small,
as Bailey’s _Dictionary_ explains puling) for soul-cakes, or any good
thing to make them merry.” Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ (1849, vol. i. p. 393),
gives the following lines as sung on the occasion:
“Soul, soul, for a soul-cake,
Pray you, good mistress, a soul-cake.”
WESTERN ISLES OF SCOTLAND.
In St. Kilda, the inhabitants used to make a large cake in the form of a
triangle furrowed round, all of which was eaten the same
night.--Martin’s _Western Isles of Scotland_, 1716, p. 287.
From the same authority we learn that the inhabitants of Lewis had an
ancient custom of sacrificing to the sea-god called Shony. The
inhabitants round the island came to the church of St. Mulvay, each man
having his provisions with him. Every family furnished a peck of malt,
which was brewed into ale. One of their number was picked out to wade
into the sea up to the middle, and carrying a cup of ale in his hand, he
cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Shony, I give you this cup of ale,
hoping that you’ll be so kind as to send us plenty of sea-ware, for
enriching our ground the ensuing year;” and so threw the cup of ale into
the sea--this was performed in the night time. At his return to land,
they all went to church, where there was a candle burning upon the
altar; and then standing silent for a little time one of them gave a
signal, at which the candle was put out, and immediately all of them
went to the fields, where the rest of the night was spent in merriment.
IRELAND.
A correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_3rd S._ vol. i. p. 446) mentions a custom
at Wexford,[82] of lighting candles (more or less) in every window in
the house, on the night of the vigil of All Souls, and when travelling
along a country road where farmhouses and cottages are numerous, the
effect is quite picturesque on a dark November eve.
[82] This custom extends over the whole of Ireland, and is common in
some parts of the Continent.
NOV. 2.] ALL SOULS’ DAY.
All Souls’ Day is set apart by the Roman Catholic Church for a solemn
service for the repose of the dead. In this country the day was formerly
observed by ringing of the passing bell, making soul-cakes, blessing
beans, and other customs. Various tenures were held by services to be
performed on this day. The nut and apple omens of Hallow Even were
continued on this day. Soul-mass cakes were given to the poor; and at
Hallowasse frankincense was newly provided.--Timbs, _Something for
Everybody_, 1861, p. 115.
CHESHIRE.
From All Souls’ Day to Christmas Day, Old Hob is carried about; this
consists of a horse’s head enveloped in a sheet, taken from door to
door, accompanied by the singing of doggerel-begging rhymes.--_Jour. of
Arch. Assoc._ 1850, vol. v. p. 253.
DERBYSHIRE.
Formerly, at the village of Findern, the boys and girls used to go every
year in the evening of All Souls’ Day to the adjoining common, and light
up a number of small fires among the furze growing there, which they
called _Tindles_.--_Gent. Mag._ 1784, vol. iv. p. 836.
HEREFORDSHIRE.
In this county and also in Lancashire it was in days gone by usual for
the wealthy to dispense oaten cakes, called _soul-mass cakes_, to the
poor, who upon receiving them repeated the following couplet in
acknowledgment:
“God have your soul
Beens and all.”
See Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 392.
SHROPSHIRE.