_Souling._--On the 2nd of November, All Souls' Day, it is in Shropshire
the custom for the village children to go round to all their neighbours
souling, as they call it, collecting small contributions, and singing
the following verses, which I took down from two of the children
themselves:--
Soul! soul! for a soul-cake;
Pray, good mistress, for a soul-cake.
One for Peter, 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;
Pray, good mistress, 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 in the verses is a sort of bun, which until
lately it was an almost general custom for persons to make, and to give
to one another on the 2nd of November. Perhaps some of your readers can
state whether this custom prevails in other counties in England. It
seems to be a remnant of the practice of collecting alms, to be applied
to the benefit of the souls of the departed, for which especial masses
and services were formerly sung on All Souls' Day.