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OLD ENGLISH SPORTS
Pastimes and Customs
by
P. H. DITCHFIELD, M.A.
Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; Rector of Barkham, Berks
Hon. Sec. of Berks Archæological Society, etc.
First published by Methuen & Co., 1891
TO
LADY RUSSEL
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH THE AUTHOR'S
KINDEST REGARDS.
PREFACE.
Encouraged by the kind reception which his former book, _Our English
Villages_, met with at the hands of both critics and the public, the
author has ventured to reproduce in book-form another series of
articles which have appeared during the past year in the pages of
_The Parish Magazine_. He desires to express his thanks to Canon
Erskine Clarke for kindly permitting him to reprint the articles,
which have been expanded and in part rewritten. The Sports and
Pastimes of England have had many chroniclers, both ancient and
modern, amongst whom may be mentioned Strutt, Brand, Hone, Stow, and
several others, to whose works the writer is indebted for much
valuable information.
The object of this book is to describe, in simple language, the
holiday festivals as they occurred in each month of the year; and
the sports, games, pastimes, and customs associated with these rural
feasts. It is hoped that such a description may not be without
interest to our English villagers, and perhaps to others who love
the study of the past. Possibly it may help forward the revival of
the best features of old village life, and the restoration of some
of those pleasing customs which Time has deprived us of. The writer
is much indebted to Mr. E.R.R. Bindon for his very careful revision
of the proof-sheets.
BARKHAM RECTORY,
1891.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
JANUARY.
Dedication Festivals--New Year's Day--"Wassail"--Twelfth
Night--"King of the Bean"--St. Distaffs Day--Plough
Monday--Winter Games--Skating--Sword-dancing
CHAPTER II.
FEBRUARY.
Hunting--Candlemas Day--St. Blaize's Day--Shrove-tide--
Football--Battledore and Shuttlecock--Cock-throwing
CHAPTER III.
MARCH.
Archery--Lent--"Mothering" Sunday--Palm Sunday--
"Shere" Thursday--Watching the Sepulchre
CHAPTER IV.
APRIL.
Easter Customs--Pace Eggs--Handball in Churches--Sports confined
to special localities--Stoolball and Barley-brake--Water
Tournament:--Quintain--Chester Sports--Hock-tide
CHAPTER V.
MAY.
May-day Festivities--May-pole--Morris-dancers--The Book of
Sports--Bowling--Beating the Bounds--George Herbert's description
of a Country Parson
CHAPTER VI.
JUNE.
Whitsuntide Sports--Church-ales--Church-house--Quarter-staff--
Whistling and Jingling Matches--St. John's Eve--Wrestling
CHAPTER VII.
JULY.
Cricket--Club-ball--Trap-ball--Golf--Pall-mall--Tennis--Rush-bearing
CHAPTER VIII.
AUGUST.
Lammas Day--St. Roch's Day--Harvest Home--"Ten-pounding"
--Sheep-shearing--"Wakes"--Fairs
CHAPTER IX.
SEPTEMBER.
Hawking--Michaelmas--Bull and Bear-baiting
CHAPTER X.
OCTOBER.
Tournaments--"Mysteries"--"Moralities"--Pageants
CHAPTER XI.
NOVEMBER.
All-hallow Eve--"Soul Cakes"--Diving for Apples--The Fifth
of November--Martinmas--"Demands Joyous "--Indoor Games
CHAPTER XII.
DECEMBER.
St. Nicholas' Day--The Boy Bishop--Christmas Eve--Christmas
Customs--Mummers--"Lord of Misrule"--Conclusion
INDEX
CHAPTER I.
JANUARY.
"Come then, come then, and let us bring
Unto our pretty Twelfth-Tide King,
Each one his several offering."
HERRICK'S _Star Song_.
Dedication Festivals--New Year's Day--"Wassail"--Twelfth
Night--"King of the Bean"--St. Distaff's Day--Plough
Monday--Winter Games--Skating--Sword-dancing.
In the old life of rural England few things are more interesting
than the ancient sports and pastimes, the strange superstitions, and
curious customs which existed in the times of our forefathers. We
remember that our land once rejoiced in the name of "Merry England,"
and perhaps feel some regret that many of the outward signs of
happiness have passed away from us, and that in striving to become a
great and prosperous nation, we have ceased to be a genial,
contented, and happy one. In these days new manners are ever pushing
out the old. The restlessness of modern life has invaded the
peaceful retirement of our villages, and railway trains and cheap
excursions have killed the old games and simple amusements which
delighted our ancestors in days of yore. The old traditions of the
country-side are forgotten, and poor imitations of town manners have
taken their place. Old social customs which added such diversity to
the lives of the rustics two centuries ago have died out. Very few
of the old village games and sports have survived. The village
green, the source of so much innocent happiness, is no more; and
with it has disappeared much of that innocent and light-hearted
cheerfulness which brightened the hours of labour, and refreshed the
spirit of the toiling rustic, when his daily task was done. Times
have changed, and we have changed with them. We could not now revive
many of the customs and diversions in which our fathers took
delight. Serious and grave men no longer take pleasure in the
playthings which pleased them when they were children; and our
nation has become grave and serious, and likes not the simple joys
which diversified the lives of our forefathers, and made England
"merry."
Is it possible that we cannot restore some of these time-honoured
customs? The sun shines as brightly now as ever it did on a May-day
festival; the Christmas fire glows as in olden days. Let us try to
revive the spirit which animated their festivals. Let us endeavour
to realize how our village forefathers used to enjoy themselves, how
they used to spend their holidays, and to picture to ourselves the
scenes of social intercourse which once took place in our own
hamlets. Every season of the year had its holiday customs and quaint
manner of observance, some of them confined to particular counties,
but many of them universally observed.
In the volume, recently published, which treated of the story and
the antiquities of "Our English Villages," I pointed out that the
Church was the centre of the life of the old village--not only of
its religious life, but also of its secular every-day life. This is
true also with regard to the amusements of the people. The festival
of the saint, to whom the parish church was dedicated, was
celebrated with much rejoicing. The annual fair was held on that
day, when, after their business was ended, friends and neighbours
met together and took part in some of the sports and pastimes which
I shall try to describe. The other holidays of the year were
generally regulated by the Church's calendar, the great
festivals--Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday---being all
duly observed. I propose to record in these pages the principal
sports, pastimes, and customs which our forefathers delighted in
during each month of the year, the accounts of which are not only
amusing, but add to our historical knowledge, and help us to realize
something of the old village life of rural England.
We will begin with New Year's Day[1]. It was an ancient Saxon custom
to begin the year by sending presents to each other. On New Year's
Eve the wassail bowl of spiced ale was carried round from house to
house by the village maidens, who sang songs and wished every one "A
Happy New Year." "Wassail" is an old Saxon word, meaning "Be in
health." Rowena, the daughter of the Saxon king Hengist, offered a
flowing bowl to the British king Vortigern, welcoming him with the
words, "Lloured King Wassheil." In Devonshire and Sussex it was the
custom to wassail the orchards; a troop of boys visited the
orchards, and, encircling the apple-trees, they sang the words--
"Stand fast, bear well top,
Pray God send us a howling crop;
Every twig, apples big;
Every bough, apples enow;
Hats full, caps full,
Full quarter-sacks full."
Then the boys shouted in chorus, and rapped the trees with their
sticks.
The custom of giving presents on New Year's Day is as old as the
time of the Romans, who attached superstitious importance to it, and
thought the gifts brought them a lucky year. Our Christian
forefathers retained the pleasant custom when its superstitious
origin was long forgotten. Fathers and mothers used to delight each
other and their little ones by their mutual gifts; the masters gave
presents to their servants, and with "march-paynes, tarts, and
custards great," they celebrated the advent of the new year. Oranges
stuck with cloves, or a fat capon, were some of the usual forms of
New Year's gifts.
The "bringing-in" of the new year is a time-honoured custom; which
duty is performed by the first person who enters the house after the
old year has expired. In the North of England this important person
must be a dark man, otherwise superstitious folk believe that
ill-luck would befall the household. In other parts of England a
light-complexioned man is considered a more favourable harbinger of
good fortune.
The Christmas holidays extended over twelve days, which bring us to
January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. It is stated that "in the
days of King Alfred a law was made with regard to holidays, by
virtue of which the twelve days after the Nativity of our Saviour
were made festivals." Twelfth Day Eve was a great occasion among the
rustics of England, and many curious customs are connected with it.
In Herefordshire the farmers and servants used to meet together in
the evening and walk to a field of wheat. There they lighted twelve
small fires and one large one[2], and forming a circle round the
huge bonfire, they raised a shout, which was answered from all the
neighbouring fields and villages. At home the busy housewife was
preparing a hearty supper for the men. After supper they adjourned
to the ox-stalls, and the master stood in front of the finest of the
oxen and pledged him in a curious toast; the company followed his
example with all the other oxen, and then they returned to the house
and found all the doors locked, and admittance sternly refused until
they had sung some joyous songs.
In the south of Devonshire, on the eve of the Epiphany, the
best-bearing trees in the orchard were encircled by the farmer and
his labourers, who sang the following refrain--
"Here's to thee, old apple-tree,
Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blow,
And whence thou may'st bear apples enow!
Hats full! caps full!
Bushel-bushel-sacks full,
And my pockets full too! Huzza!"
The returning company were not allowed to enter the house until some
one guessed what was on the spit, which savoury tit-bit was awarded
to the man who first named it.
The youths of the village during the holidays had plenty of sport,
outdoor and indoor, which kept out the cold by wholesome exercise
and recreative games. Many a hard battle was fought with snowballs,
or with bat-and-ball on the ice; the barns were the scenes of many a
wrestling match or exciting game at skittles; and in the evenings
they played such romping games as blind-man's-buff, hunt the
slipper, and others of a similar character. While the company sat
round the yule-log blazing on the hearth, eating mince-pies, or plum
porridge, and quaffing a bowl of well-spiced elder wine, the mummers
would enter, decked out in ribands and strange dresses, execute
their strange antics, and perform their curious play. So the wintry
days passed until Twelfth Night, with its pleasing associations and
mirthful customs.
Twelfth Night was a very popular festival, when honour was done to
the memory of the Three Wise Men from the East, who were called the
Three Kings. The election of kings and queens by beans was a very
ancient custom. The farmer invited his friends and labourers to
supper, and a huge plumcake was brought in, containing a bean and a
pea. The man who received the piece of cake containing the bean was
called the King of the Bean, and received the honour of the company;
and the pea conferred a like privilege on the lady who drew the
favoured lot. The rest of the visitors assumed the rank of ministers
of state or maids of honour. The festival was generally held in a
large barn decorated with evergreens, and a large bough of mistletoe
was not forgotten, which was often the source of much merriment.
When the ceremony began, some one repeated the lines--
"Now, now the mirth comes
With the cake full of plums,
When Bean is King of the Sport here.
Beside, you must know,
The Pea also
Must revel as Queen of the Court here."
Then the cake was cut and distributed amid much laughter and merry
shouts. The holders of the bean and pea were hailed as king and
queen for the night, the band struck up some time-honoured melody,
and a country dance followed which was ever carried on with much
spirit. The king exercised his royal prerogative by choosing
partners for the women, and the queen performed a like office for
the men; and so they merrily played their parts till the hours grew
late.
But the holidays were nearly over, and the time for resuming work
had arrived. However, neither the women nor the men seemed to be in
any hurry to begin. The day after Twelfth Day was humorously called
St. Distaft's[3] Day, which was devoted to "partly work and partly
play." Herrick, the recorder of many social customs, tells us that
the ploughmen used to set on fire the flax which the maids used for
spinning, and received pails of water on their heads for their
mischief. The following Monday was called Plough Monday, when the
labourers used to draw a plough decked with ribbons round the
parish, and receive presents of money, favouring the spectators with
sword-dancing and mumming. The rude procession of men, clad in clean
smock-frocks, headed by the renowned "Bessy," who sang and rattled
the money-box, accompanied by a strangely-dressed character called
the Fool, attired in skins of various animals and having a long
tail, threw life into the dreary scenery of winter, as the
gaily-decked plough was drawn along the quiet country lanes from one
village to another. The origin of Plough Monday dates back to
pre-Reformation times, when societies of ploughmen called guilds
used to keep lights burning upon the shrine of some saint, to invoke
a blessing on their labour. The Reformation put out the lights, but
it could not extinguish the festival.
In the long winter evenings the country folk amused themselves
around their winter's fireside by telling old romantic stories of
errant knights and fairies, goblins, witches, and the rest; or by
reciting
"Some merry fit
Of Mayde Marran, or els of Robin Hood."
In the Tudor times there were plenty of winter games for those who
could play them, amongst which we may mention chess, cards, dice,
shovel-board, and many others.
And when the ponds and rivers were frozen, as early as the twelfth
century the merry skaters used to glide over the smooth ice. Their
skates were of a very primitive construction, and consisted of the
leg-bones of animals tied under their feet by means of thongs.
Neither were the skaters quite equal to cutting "threes" and
"eights" upon the ice; they could only push themselves along by
means of a pole with an iron spike at the end. But they used to
charge each other after the manner of knights in a tournament, and
use their poles for spears. An old writer says that "they pushed
themselves along with such speed that they seemed to fly like a bird
in the air, or as darts shot out from the engines of war." Some of
the less adventurous youths were content with sliding, or driving
each other forward on great pieces of ice. "Dancing with swords" was
a favourite form of amusement among the young men of Northern
nations, and in those parts of England where the Norsemen and Danes
settled, this graceful gymnastic custom long lingered.
[Illustration: DANCING ON THE VILLAGE GREEN.]
The old country dances which used to delight our fathers seem to be
vanishing. I have not seen for many years the village rustics
"crossing hands" and going "down the middle," and tripping merrily
to the tune of a fiddle; but perhaps they do so still.
In olden days the city maidens of London were often "dancing and
tripping till moonlight" in the open air; and later on we read that
on holidays, after evening prayer, while the youths exercised their
wasters and bucklers, the maidens, "one of them playing on a
timbrel, in sight of their masters and dames, used to dance for
garlands hanged athwart the streets." Stow, the recorder of this
custom, wisely adds, "which open pastimes in my youth, being now
suppressed, worser practices within doors are to be feared." In some
parts of England they still trip it gaily in the moonlight. A
clergyman in Gloucestershire tried to establish a cricket club in
his parish, but his efforts were all in vain; the young men
preferred to dance together on the village green, and the more manly
diversion had no charms for them. Dancing was never absent from our
ancestors' festivities, and round the merry May-pole
"Where the jocund swains
Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe strains;"
or in the festal hall, adorned with evergreens and mistletoe, with
tripping feet they passed the hours "till envious night commands
them to be gone."