MARCH.
"And now a solemn fast we keep,
When earth wakes from her winter sleep."
"And he was clad in cote and hode of grene;
A shefe of pecocke arrowes bryght and shene
Under his belt he bare ful thriftely,
Well could he dresse his tackle yomanly;
His arrowes drouped not with fethers lowe,
And in hande he bare a myghty bowe."
Archery--Lent--"Mothering" Sunday--Palm Sunday--
"Shere" Thursday--Watching the Sepulchre.
Of all the sports and pastimes of old England, archery was the most
renowned, and many a hard-fought victory has been gained through
the skill which our English archers acquired in the use of their
famous bows. "Alas, alas for Scotland when English arrows fly!" was
the sad lament of many a Highland clan, and Frenchmen often learnt
to their cost the force of our bowmen's arms. The accounts of the
fights of Creçy and Poitiers tell of the prowess of our archers; and
the skill which they acquired by practising at the butts at home has
gained many a victory. Archery was so useful in war that several
royal proclamations were issued to encourage the sport, and in many
parishes there were fields set apart for the men to practise.
Although the sport has died out as a popular pastime, the old name,
the butts, remains in many a town and village, recording the spot
where our forefathers acquired their famous skill. The name is still
retained in the neighbouring town of Reading, and in some old
records I find that in 1549 a certain "Will'm Watlynton received
xxxvi_s_. for making of the butts;" and there are several items of
charges in other years for repairing and renewing the same.
[Illustration: TWO ARCHERS WEARING ARMOR.]
Edward III. ordered "that every one strong in body, at leisure on
holidays, should use in their recreation bows and arrows, and learn
and exercise the art of shooting, forsaking such vain plays as
throwing stones, handball, football, bandyball, or cock-fighting,
which have no profit in them." Edward IV. ordered every Englishman,
of whatever rank, to have a bow his own height always ready for use,
and to instruct his children in the art. In every township the butts
were ordered to be set up, and the people were required to shoot
"up and down" every Sunday and feast-day, under penalty of one
halfpenny.
The sport began to decline in the sixteenth century, in spite of
royal proclamations and occasional revivals. Henry VIII. forbade the
use of the cross-bow, lest it should interfere with the practice of
the more ancient weapon, and many old writers lament over the decay
of this famous pastime of old England, which, as Bishop Latimer
stated in one of his sermons, "is a goodly art, a wholesome kind of
exercise, and much commended as physic."
The Finsbury archers had, in 1594, no less than one hundred and
sixty-four targets in Finsbury Fields, set up on pillars with
curious devices over them; but four years later Stow laments that
"by reason of closing in of common grounds, our archers, for want of
room to shoot abroad, creep into ordinary dicing-houses and
bowling-alleys near home."
The famous Robin Hood, who lived in the reign of Richard I., was the
king of archers. The exploits of this renowned outlaw and his merry
men form the subject of many old ballads and romances, and the old
oaks in Sherwood Forest could tell the tale of many an exciting
chase after the king's deer, and of many a luckless traveller who
had to pay dearly for the hospitality of Robin Hood and Little John.
The ballads narrate that they could shoot an arrow a measured mile,
but this is a flight of imagination which we can hardly follow!
"But he was an archer true and good,
And people called him Robin Hood;
Such archers as he and his men
Will England never see again."
Another ballad relates the prowess of William of Cloudslee, who
scorned to shoot at an ordinary target, and cutting a hazel rod
from a tree, he shot at it from twenty score paces, cleaving the rod
in two.
[Illustration: CROSS-BOW SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS (from MS. dated 1496).]
[Illustration: AN ARCHER.]
Like William Tell of great renown, our English archer could split an
apple placed on his son's head at the distance of six score paces.
In time of war the archers were armed with a body-armour, the arms
being left free. They had a long bow made of yew, a sheaf of arrows
winged with gray goose-feathers, a sword, and small shield. Such was
the appearance of the men who struck such terror among the knights
and chivalry of France, and won many victories for England before
the days of muskets and rifles.
We are now in the season of Lent, and our towns and villages were
very still and quiet during these weeks. But there was an old custom
on Refreshment[7] or Mid-Lent Sunday for people to visit their
mother-church and make offerings on the altar. Hence probably arose
the practice of "mothering," or going to visit parents on that day,
and taking presents to them. Herrick alludes to this pleasant custom
in the following lines--
"I'll to thee a simnell bring,
'Gainst thou go'st a mothering;
So that when she blesseth thee,
Half that blessing thou'lt give me."
Many a mother's heart would rejoice to welcome to the old village
home once again some fond youth or maiden who had gone to seek their
fortunes in the town, and many happy recollections would long linger
of "Mothering" Sunday. The cakes alluded to in the above verse,
which children presented to their parents on these occasions, were
called Simnells. In some parts of England--in Lancashire,
Shropshire, and Herefordshire--these cakes are still eaten on
Mid-Lent Sunday. Possibly they had some religious signification, for
the Saxons were in habit of eating consecrated cakes at their
festivals. The name Simnell is derived from a Latin word signifying
fine flour, and not from the mythical persons, Simon and Nell, who
are popularly supposed to have invented the cake. Hot cross buns are
a relic of an ancient rite of the Saxons, who ate cakes in honour of
the goddess of spring, and the early Christian missionaries strove
to banish the heathen ideas associated with the cakes (which latter
the people would not abandon) by putting a cross upon them.
In memory of our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the
people took branches of palm-trees and scattered them in the way, on
Palm Sunday our ancestors went in procession through the town or
village, bearing branches of willow, yew, or box (as there were no
palms growing in this country), which were subsequently carried to
the church and offered at the altar. This custom lingered on after
the Reformation, and until recent times the practice of going
a-palming, or gathering branches of willow, on the Saturday before
Palm Sunday, has continued. Sometimes in mediæval times a wooden
figure representing our Saviour riding upon an ass was drawn along
by the crowds in the procession, and the people scattered their
willow branches before the figure as it passed.
Thursday before Easter Day was called Shere, or Maundy, Thursday.
The first name is derived from the ancient custom of _shering_ the
head and clipping the beard on that day; and Maundy is a corruption
of the Latin word _mandatum_, which means "a command," and refers to
the command of our Lord to imitate His example in the humility which
He showed in washing the feet of His disciples. In memory of His
lowly act the kings and queens of England used to wash the feet of a
large number of poor men and women, and bestowed upon them gifts and
money. This practice was continued until the reign of James II., and
in our own day the Queen presents to a certain number of poor people
bags of silver pennies, called Maundy money, which is coined for
that special purpose.
Many of my readers are familiar with the rhyme concerning "Hot cross
buns," but perhaps they are not acquainted with the superstition
which our forefathers attached to them. A writer on Cornish customs
says: "In some of our farmhouses the Good Friday cake may be seen
hanging to the bacon-rack, slowly but surely diminishing, until the
return of the season replaces it by a fresh one. It is of sovereign
good in all manner of diseases that may afflict the family, or
flocks and herds. I have seen a little of this cake grated into a
warm mash for a sick cow." Hot cross buns were supposed to have
great power in preserving friendship. If two friends broke a bun in
half exactly at the cross, while standing within the church-doors on
Good Friday morning before service, and saying the words--
"Half for you, and half for me,
Between us two good-will shall be. Amen,"
then, so long as they kept their halves, no quarrel would arise
between them. In the West of England it was considered very sinful
to work on Good Friday, and woe betide the luckless housewife who
did her washing on that day, for one of the family, it was believed,
would surely die before the end of the year. There are many other
superstitions attached to the day, such as the preserving of eggs
laid on Good Friday, which were supposed to have power to extinguish
fire; the making of cramp-rings out of the handles of coffins, which
rings were blessed by the King of England as he crept on his knees
to the cross, and were supposed to be preservatives against cramp.
In old churchwardens' account-books we find such entries as the
following--
"To the sextin for watching the sepulture two nyghts viii_d_."
"Paide to Roger Brock for watching of the sepulchre 8_d_."
And as the nights were cold we find an additional item--
"Paid more to said Roger Brock for syses and colles, 3_d._"
These entries allude to the ancient custom of erecting on Good
Friday a small building to represent the Holy Sepulchre, and setting
a person to watch for two nights in remembrance of the soldiers
watching the grave in which our Lord's Body was laid. At the dawning
of the Easter morn the bells rang joyously, and all was life and
animation. The sun itself was popularly supposed to dance with joy
on the Feast of the Resurrection. But the manners and customs,
sports and pastimes, which were associated with Easter, I will
reserve for my next chapter.