_Boy Bishop at Eton_ (Vol. v., p. 557.).--The festival of St. Hugh,
_Bishop_ (_Pontificis_) of Lincoln, was kept on November 17.
For "Nihilensis," in the "Consuetudinarium Etonense," should be read
"Nicolatensis," as it stands in a Compatus of Winchester College, of the
date 1461: the Boy Bishop assuming his title on St. Nicholas' Day, Dec. 6,
and then performing his parody of Divine Offices for the first time; St.
Nicholas of Myra being, according to the legend, the patron of children.
It is singular that, whereas, as in other foundations, the Feast of the
Holy Innocents was appointed for the mummeries of the Boy Bishop at
Winchester by the founder, it was forbidden at Eton and King's, although
the statutes of the latter were borrowed almost literally from those of
Wykeham. It would therefore appear that there was some local reason for the
exception.