LOCAL CUSTOMS AND USAGES AT VARIOUS SEASONS.
Every greater or lesser festival of the church had its popular no less
than its ecclesiastical observances. The three great events of human
birth, marriage, and death, with their church rites of baptism, wedding,
and burial, naturally draw towards them many customs and usages deemed
fitting to such occasions. There are many customs in connexion with the
free and the inferior tenants of manors, and their services to the
manorial lord. Another class of customs will be found in observance in
agricultural districts amongst the owners, occupiers, and labourers of
farms and the peasantry generally. Lastly, as has been observed of the
English generally, every great occasion, collective or individual, must
have its festal celebration by eating and drinking in assembly. The
viands and the beverages proper to particular occasions, therefore,
constitute a not unimportant part of the local customs and usages of the
people; and hence demand a place in a volume of Folk-Lore. To these
subjects the present Part of this book is appropriated, and it is
believed that they will be found not less strikingly illustrative of the
manners and habits of the people of Lancashire, than the Superstitious
Beliefs and Practices recorded in the first Part of this little work.
CHURCH AND SEASON FESTIVALS.
The feasts of dedication of parish churches to their particular
tutelary saints, of course are much too numerous to be more than named
in a work of this nature. The eve of such anniversary was the yearly
wake [or watching] of the parishioners; and originally booths were
erected in the churchyards, and feasting, dancing, and other revelry
continued throughout the night. The parishioners attended divine service
on the feast day, and the rest of that day was then devoted to popular
festivities. So great grew the excesses committed during these prolonged
orgies, that at length it became necessary to close the churches against
the pageants and mummeries performed in them at these anniversaries, and
the churchyards against the noisy, disorderly, and tumultuous
merry-makings of the people. Thenceforth the great seat of the revels
was transferred from the church and its graveyard, to the village green
or the town market-place, or some space of open ground, large enough for
popular assemblages to enjoy the favourite sports and pastimes of the
period. Such were the general character and features of the wakes and
feasts of country parishes, changing only with the name of the patron
saint, the date of the celebration. But the great festivals of the
church, celebrated alike in city and town, in village and hamlet,
wherever a church "pointed its spire to heaven," were held with more
general display, as uniting the ceremonials and rites of the church,
with the popular festivities outside the sacred precincts. Of these
great festivals the chief were New Year's Day, Twelfth Night (Jan. 5),
Shrove or Pancake Tuesday, Ash-Wednesday or the first day of Lent,
Mid-Lent or Mothering Sunday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter,
Whitsuntide or Pentecost, May-Day, Midsummer Day (St. John's Eve and
Day, June 23 and 24), Michaelmas Day (Sept. 29), and Christmas Day, with
the Eve of the New Year. Of these we propose to notice various customs
and practices as observed in Lancashire from the beginning to the close
of the year.
NEW YEAR'S DAY.
In the church calendar this day is the festival of the Circumcision; in
the Roman church it is the day of no fewer than seven saints. But it is
much more honoured as a popular festival. Many families in Lancashire
sit up on New Year's Eve till after twelve o'clock midnight, and then
drink "a happy New Year" to each other over a cheerful glass. The church
bells, too, in merry peals ring out the Old Year, and ring in the New.
In the olden time the wassail-bowl, the spiced ale called "lamb's wool,"
and currant bread and cheese, were the viands and liquor in vogue on New
Year's Eve and Day. A turkey is still a favourite dish at dinner on New
Year's Day.
FIRE ON NEW YEAR'S EVE.
My maid, who comes from the neighbourhood of Pendle, informs me that an
unlucky old woman in her native village, having allowed her fire to go
out on New Year's Eve, had to wait till one o'clock on the following day
before any neighbour would supply her with a light.[143]
NEW YEAR'S LUCK.
Should a female, or a light-haired male, be the first to enter a house
on the morning of New Year's Day, it is supposed to bring bad luck for
the whole of the year then commencing. Various precautions are taken to
prevent this misfortune: hence many male persons with black or dark
hair, are in the habit of going from house to house, on that day, "to
take the New Year in;" for which they are treated with liquor, and
presented with a small gratuity. So far is the apprehension carried,
that some families will not open the door to any one until satisfied by
the voice that he is likely to bring the house a year's good luck by
entering it. Then, the most kindly and charitable woman in a
neighbourhood will sternly refuse to give any one a light on the morning
of New Year's Day, as most unlucky to the one who gives away light.
NEW YEAR'S FIRST CALLER.
For years past, an old lady, a friend of mine, has regularly reminded me
to pay her an early visit on New Year's Day; in short, to be her first
caller, and to "let the New Year in." I have done this for years, except
on one occasion. When I, who am of fair complexion, have been her first
visitor, she has enjoyed happy and prosperous years; but on the occasion
I missed, some dark-complexioned, black-haired gentleman
called;--sickness and trouble, and commercial disasters, were the
result.[144] [This is at variance with the preceding paragraph as to
the favourite colour of the hair, &c. Perhaps this differs in different
localities; but of this at least we are assured, that any male, dark or
fair, is regarded as a much more lucky "letter-in" of the New Year, than
any girl or woman, be she blonde or brunette.]
In Lancashire, even in the larger towns, it is considered at this time
of day particularly fortunate if "a black man" (meaning one of a dark
complexion) be the first person that enters the house on New Year's
Day.[145]
NEW YEAR'S DAY AND OLD CHRISTMAS DAY.
Some persons still keep Old Christmas Day. They always look for a change
of weather on that day, and never on the 25th December. The common
people have long begun their year with the 1st of January. The Act of
1752, so far as they were concerned, only caused the Civil and the
Ecclesiastical Year to begin together. In Hopton's _Year Book_ for A.D.
1612, he thus speaks of _January 1st_:--"January. New-yeares day in the
morning being red, portends great tempest and warre."
AULD WIFE HAKES.
Christmas and New Year's tea parties and dances are called "Auld Wife
Hakes" in the Furness district of Lancashire. The word _hake_ is never
used in the central part of the county.[146] Can this be from _hacken_
(? from _hacking_, chopping small), a pudding made in the maw of a sheep
or hog. It was formerly a standard dish at Christmas, and is mentioned
by N. Fairfax, _Bulk and Selvedge_, 1674, p. 159.[147] [To _hake_, is to
sneak, or loiter about.]
NEW YEAR'S GIFTS AND WISHES.
It was formerly a universal custom to make presents, especially from
superiors to dependents, and _vice versâ_. Now the custom is chiefly
confined to parents and elders giving to children or young persons. The
practice of making presents on New Year's Day existed among the Romans,
and also amongst the Saxons; from one or both of which peoples we have
doubtless derived it. The salutation or greeting on New Year's Day is
also of great antiquity. Pieces of Roman pottery have been found
inscribed "A happy new year to you," and one inscriber wishes the like
to himself and his son. In country districts, the homely phrase is: "A
happy New Year t'ye, and monny on 'em." In more polished society, and in
correspondence, "I wish you a happy New Year," or "The compliments of
the season to you."
SHROVETIDE.
This name, given to the last few days before Lent, is from its being the
custom for the people to go to the priest to be _shriven_, _i.e._, to
make their confession, before entering on the great fast of Lent, which
begins on Ash-Wednesday. _Tide_ is the old Anglo-Saxon word for time,
and it is still retained in Whitsuntide. After the people had made the
confession required by the ancient discipline of the church, they were
permitted to indulge in festive amusements, though restricted from
partaking of any repasts beyond the usual substitutes for flesh: hence
the Latin and continental name _Carnaval_,--literally "Carne, vale,"
"Flesh, farewell." In Lancashire and other Northern counties, three days
in this week had their peculiar dishes, viz.: "Collop Monday," "Pancake
Tuesday," and "Fritters Wednesday." Originally, collops were simply
slices of bread, but these were long ago discarded for slices or rashers
of bacon. Fritters were thick, soft cakes, made from flour batter, with
or without sliced apples intermixed. Shrovetide was anciently a great
time for cock-throwing and cock-fighting, and indeed of many other loose
and cruel diversions, arising from the indulgences formerly granted by
the church, to compensate for the long season of fasting and humiliation
which commenced on Ash-Wednesday. As Selden observes--"What the church
debars us on one day, she gives us leave to take on another; first we
feast, and then we fast; there is a carnival, and then a Lent."
SHROVE-TUESDAY, OR PANCAKE TUESDAY.
The tossing of pancakes (and in some places fritters) on this day was a
source of harmless mirth, and is still practised in the rural parts of
Lancashire and Cheshire, with its ancient accompaniments:--
"It is the day whereon the rich and poor,
Are chiefly feasted on the self-same dish,
When every paunch till it can hold no more,
Is fritter-filled, as well as heart can wish;
And every man and maid do take their turn
And toss their pancakes up for fear they burn,
And all the kitchen doth with laughter sound,
To see the pancakes fall upon the ground."[148]
Another writer gives this injunction:--
"Maids, fritters and pancakes enow see ye make,
Let Slut have one pancake for company's sake."[149]
COCK-THROWING AND COCK-FIGHTING.
Cock-fighting was a barbarous pastime of high antiquity, being practised
by the Greeks and Romans. In England it may be traced back to the
twelfth century, when it appears to have been a childish or boyish
sport. FitzStephen, in his description of London in the time of Henry
II., says: "Every year, on the morning of Shrove-Tuesday, the schoolboys
of the city of London, and of other cities and great towns, bring game
cocks to their masters, and in the fore-part of the day, till
dinner-time, are permitted to amuse themselves with seeing them fight."
The school was the cock-pit, and the master the comptroller or director
of the pastime. The victor, or hero of the school, who had won the
greatest number of fights was carried about upon a pole by two of his
companions. He held the cock in his hands, and was followed by other
boys bearing flags, &c. Cock-throwing was a sport equally cruel; but
only one cock was needed. The poor bird was tied to a peg or stake, by a
string, sometimes long, sometimes short, and the boys from a certain
distance, in turn, threw a stick at the cock. The victor in this case
was he whose missile killed the poor bird. Amongst the recognised
payments by the boys at the old Free Grammar Schools, was a penny yearly
to the master for the privilege of cock-fighting or cock-throwing on
Shrove-Tuesday. The statutes of the Manchester Free Grammar School, made
about 1525, show a creditable desire to abolish these barbarous sports.
One of these statutes, as to the fees of the master, provides that "he
shall teach freely and indifferently [not carelessly, but impartially]
every child and scholar coming to the same school, without any money or
other reward taking there-for, as cock-penny, victor-penny," &c. Another
is still more explicit:--"The scholars of the same school shall use no
cock-fights, nor other unlawful games, and riding about for victors,
&c., which be to the great let [hindrance] of virtue, and to charge and
cost of the scholars, and of their friends." At a much later period,
however, the scholars seem to have been allowed, on Easter Monday, to
have archery practice at a target, one of the prizes being a
dunghill-cock; but this was abolished by the late Dr. Smith, when high
master.
COCK-FIGHTING ABOUT BLACKBURN.
About thirty years ago cock-fighting formed a common pastime about
Mellor and Blackburn. A blacksmith, named Miller, used to keep a large
number of cocks for fighting purposes. He was said to have "sold himself
to the devil" in order to have money enough for betting; and it was
remarked that he rarely won! If the practice is still followed, it is
done _in secret_; but the number of game-cocks one sees kept by
"sporting characters" can scarcely admit of any other inference.
COCK-PENNY AT CLITHEROE.
In the Clitheroe Grammar School an annual present at Shrovetide is
expected from the scholars, varying in amount according to the
circumstances of the parents. With the exception of this _cock-penny_,
the school is free. The origin of this custom it is now difficult to
trace. Shrove-Tuesday, indeed, was a sad day for cocks. Cock-fighting
and throwing at cocks were among its barbarous sports. Schoolboys used
to bring game-cocks to the master, and delight themselves in
cock-fighting all the forenoon. In Scotland, the masters presided at the
fight, and claimed the runaway cocks called "forgers" [? 'fugees] as
their perquisites. The "cock-penny" may have been the substitute devised
by a less cruel age for the ordinary gratuity.[150]
COCK-FIGHTING AT BURNLEY.
The head master of Burnley Grammar School used to derive a portion of
his income from "cock-pence" paid to him by his pupils at Shrovetide.
This has been disused for half a century. Latterly it degenerated into a
"clubbing together" of pence by the pupils for the purpose of providing
themselves with materials for a carouse. This was, therefore, at last
prohibited.
SHROVETIDE CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.
Shrove-Tuesday was also called "Pancake Day," pancakes being the
principal delicacy of the day. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the
"pancake bell" rang at Poulton church, and operations were immediately
commenced. Great was the fun in "tossing" or turning the pancake by a
sudden jerk of the pan; while the appetites of the urchins never
flagged. Amongst the sports on Shrove-Tuesday, was pre-eminently
cock-fighting; though bull and bear baiting were also among the rude and
savage pastimes of the season.[151] In Poulton, on Shrove-Tuesday, the
pancake bell still warns the apprentice to quit his work, not indeed to
go to the confessional and be _shriven_, but to prepare for the feast of
the day.[152]
LENT.--ASH-WEDNESDAY.
The forty days' fast at the beginning of spring, in commemoration of the
temptation and fast of our Saviour in the wilderness, was called Lent,
from the Saxon name for Spring, _lengten-tide_. The fast, as prescribed
by the church, consisted in abstaining from flesh, eggs, preparations of
milk, and wine, and in making only one meal, and that in the evening.
Fish was not forbidden, though many restricted themselves to pulse and
fruit. Ash-Wednesday, the first day in Lent, was one of severe
discipline in the Roman church; and to remind the faithful, at the
beginning of the long penitential fast, that men are but "dust and
ashes," the priest, with ashes of the wood of the palm-tree, marked the
sign of the cross on the forehead of each confessing worshipper; whence
the name. Since the Reformation the observance of Lent by fasting is not
general in Lancashire.
MID-LENT SUNDAY, OR "MOTHERING SUNDAY."
The fourth or middle Sunday between Quadragesima (the first Sunday in
Lent) and Easter Sunday. It was of old called _Dominica Refectionis_, or
the Sunday of Refreshment, from the gospel of the day treating of the
miraculous feeding of the five thousand. It was originally called
"Mothering Sunday," from the ancient usage of visiting the mother or
cathedral churches of the dioceses, when Lent or Easter offerings were
made. The public processions have been discontinued ever since the
middle of the thirteenth century; but the name of Mothering Sunday is
still retained, a custom having been substituted amongst the people of
Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, and other counties, of those who have
left the paternal roof visiting their natural mother, and presenting to
her small tokens of their filial affection, in money, trinkets,
frumenty, or cakes. In some parts of Lancashire, the particular kind of
cakes have long been fixed by old custom, being what are called
"simnels," or, in the dialect of the district, "simlins;" and with these
sweet-cakes, it was, and in places is still, the custom to drink warm,
spiced ale, called "bragot." Another viand especially eaten on Mid-Lent
Sunday was that of fig or fag-pies.
SIMNEL CAKES.
In days of yore, there was a little alleviation of the severities of
Lent permitted to the faithful, in the shape of a cake called "Simnel."
Two English towns claim the honour of its origin,--Shrewsbury and
Devizes. The first makes its simnel in the form of a warden-pie, the
crust being of saffron and very thick; the last has no crust, is
star-shaped, and the saffron is mixed with a mass of currants, spice,
and candied lemon. Bury, in Lancashire, is almost world-famous for its
simnels and its bragot (or spiced sweet ale), on Mothering Sunday, or
Mid-Lent. As to the name, Dr. Cowell, in his _Law Directory or
Interpreter_ (folio, 1727), derives _simnell_ (Lat. _siminellus_), from
the Latin _simila_, the finest part of the flour: "_panis
similageneus_," simnel bread,--"still in use, especially in Lent." The
English _simnel_ was the purest white bread, as in the Book of Battle
Abbey: "Panem regiæ mensæ apsum, qui _simenel_ vulgo vocatur." (Bread
fit for the royal table, which is commonly called _simenel_.) Dr. Cowell
adds that it was sometimes called _simnellus_, as in the "Annals of the
Church of Winchester," under the year 1042, "conventus centum
_simnellos_" (the convent 100 _simnels_). He also quotes the statute of
51 Henry III. (1266-7), which enacts that "bread made into a _simnel_
should weigh two shillings less than wastel bread;" and also an old
manuscript of the customs of the House of Farendon (where it is called
"bread of symenel"), to the same effect. Wastel was the finest sort of
bread. Herrick, who was born in 1591, and died in 1674 (?) has the
following in his _Hesperides_:--
TO DIANEME.
A Ceremony in Gloucester.
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.
Bailey, in his Dictionary (folio 1764), says _simnel_ is probably
derived from the Latin _simila_, fine flour, and means, "a sort of cake
or bun, made of fine flour, spice, &c." It will thus appear that
_simnel_ cakes can boast a much higher antiquity than the reign of Henry
VII. (Lambert _Simnel_ probably taking his name from them, as a baker,
and not giving his name to them), and that they were not originally
confined to any particular time or place.[153]
In the _Dictionarius_ of John de Garlande, compiled at Paris in the
thirteenth century, the word _simineus_ or _simnels_, is used as the
equivalent to the Latin _placentæ_, which are described as cakes exposed
in the windows of the hucksters, to sell to the scholars of the
University and others.[154]
BURY.
There is an ancient celebration in Bury, on Mid-Lent Sunday, there
called "Simblin Sunday," when large cakes called "simblins" (_i.e._,
simnels), are sold generally in the town, and the shops are kept open
the whole day, except during Divine Service, for the purpose of vending
this mysterious aliment.[155] These cakes are a compound of currants,
candied lemon, sugar, and spice, sandwich-wise, between crust of short
or puff paste. They are in great request at the period, not only in
Bury, but in Manchester and most of the surrounding towns. A still
richer kind, approaching the bride-cake in character, are called "Almond
Simnels."
BRAGOT-SUNDAY.
Formerly it was the practice in Leigh to use a beverage on Mid-Lent
Sunday, called "bragot," consisting of a kind of spiced ale; and also
for the boys to indulge themselves by persecuting the women on their way
to church, by secretly hooking a piece of coloured cloth to their gowns.
A similar custom prevails in Portugal, at Carnival time, when many
persons that walk the streets on the three last days of the Intrudo,
have a long paper train hooked to their dress behind, on which the
populace set up the cry of "Raboleve," which is continued till the butt
of the joke is divested of his "tail." As to "Bragot," or more properly
"Braget" Sunday, it is a name given in Lancashire to the fourth Sunday
in Lent, which is in other places called "Mothering Sunday." Both
appellations arise out of the same custom. Voluntary oblations, called
_Quadragesimalia_ (from the Latin name of Lent, signifying forty days),
were formerly paid by the inhabitants of a diocese to the Mother
Cathedral Church, and at this time prevailed the custom of processions
to the Cathedral on Mid-Lent Sunday. On the discontinuance of
processions, the practice of "mothering," or visiting parents, began;
and the spiced ale used on these occasions was called _braget_, from the
British _bragawd_, the name of a kind of metheglin. Whitaker[156]
observes that this description of liquor was called "Welsh ale" by the
Saxons. Since his time, the liquor drunk on this day is principally
_mulled ale_, of which there is a large consumption in Lancashire on
Mid-Lent Sunday.[157]
FAG-PIE SUNDAY.
Fig-pies--(made of dry figs, sugar, treacle, spice, &c., and by some
described as "luscious," by others as "of a sickly taste")--or, as they
are locally termed, "fag-pies," are, or were at least till recently,
eaten in Lancashire on a Sunday in Lent [? Mid-Lent Sunday], thence
called "Fag-pie Sunday."[158]
In the neighbourhood of Burnley Fag-pie Sunday is the second Sunday
before Easter, or that which comes between Mid-Lent and Palm Sunday.
About Blackburn fig-pies are always prepared for Mid-Lent Sunday, and
visits are usually made to friends' houses in order to partake of the
luxury.
GOOD FRIDAY.
This name is believed to be an adoption of the old German _Gute_ or
_Gottes Freytag_, Good or God's Friday, so called on the same principle
that Easter Day in England was at no very remote period called "God's
Day." The length of the Church Services in ancient times, on this day,
occasioned it to be called Long Friday. In most parts of Lancashire,
buns with crosses stamped upon them, and hence called "cross buns," are
eaten on this day at breakfast; and it is in many places believed that a
cross bun, preserved from one Good Friday to another, will effectually
prevent an attack of the whooping-cough. Some writers declare that our
cross buns at Easter are only the cakes which our pagan Saxon
forefathers ate in honour of their goddess Eostre, and from which the
Christian clergy, who were unable to prevent people from eating them,
sought to expel the paganism by marking them with the cross. On the
Monday before Good Friday the youths about Poulton-le-Fylde and its
neighbourhood congregate in strange dresses, and visit their friends'
houses, playing antics, on which occasion they are styled "the Jolly
Lads."[159] It is stated that in some places in Lancashire, Good Friday
is termed "Cracklin' Friday," as on that day it is a custom for children
to go with a small basket to different houses, to beg small wheaten
cakes, which are something like the Jews' Passover bread; but made
shorter or richer, by having butter or lard mixed with the flour. "Take
with thee loaves and cracknels." (1 Kings xiv.)
EASTER.
This name is clearly traced to that of Eostre, a goddess to whom the
Saxons and other Northern nations sacrificed in the month of April, in
which our Easter usually falls. Easter Sunday is held as the day of our
Lord's resurrection. Connected with this great festival of the Church
are various local rites and customs, pageants and festivities; such as
_pace_ or _Pasche_ [_i.e._, Easter] egging, lifting or heaving, Ball
play, the game of the ring, guisings or disguisings, fancy cakes, "old
hob," "old Ball," or hobby horse, &c.
Easter-Day is a moveable feast, appointed to be held on the first Sunday
after the full moon immediately following the 21st of March; but if the
moon happen to be at the full on a Sunday, then Easter is held on the
following Sunday and not on the day of the full moon. Thus, Easter-Day
cannot fall earlier than the 22nd of March, nor later than the 25th of
April, in any year.
PASCHE, PACE, OR EASTER EGGS.
In Lancashire and Cheshire children go round the village and beg eggs
for the Easter dinner, accompanying their solicitation by a short song,
the burthen of which is addressed to the farmer's dame, asking for "an
egg, bacon, cheese, or an apple, or any good thing that will make us
merry;" and ending with
And I pray you, good dame, an Easter egg.
In the North of Lancashire, Cumberland, Westmorland, and other parts of
the North of England, boys beg on Easter Eve eggs to play with, and
beggars ask for them to eat. These eggs are hardened by boiling and
tinged with the juice of herbs, broom-flowers, &c. The eggs being thus
prepared, the boys go out and play with them in the fields, rolling them
up and down like bowls, or throwing them up like balls into the
air.[160]
PACE EGGING IN BLACKBURN.
The old custom of "pace egging" is still observed in Blackburn. It is an
observance limited to the week before Easter-Day, and is said to be
traceable up to the theology and philosophy of the Egyptians, Persians,
Gauls, Greeks, and Romans; among all of whom an egg was an emblem of the
universe, the production of the Supreme Divinity. The Christians
adopted the egg as an emblem of the resurrection, since it contains the
elements of a future life.
The immediate occasion of the observance may have been in the resumption
on the part of our forefathers of eggs as a food at Easter on the
termination of Lent; hence the origin of the term _pace_ or _pasque_
[rather from _Pasche_] that is, Easter egg. In a curious roll of the
expenses of the household of Edward I., communicated to the Society of
Antiquaries, is the following item in the accounts for Easter Sunday:
"For four hundred and a half of eggs, eighteen pence." The following
prayer, found in the ritual of Pope Paul V., composed for the use of
England, Ireland, and Scotland, illustrates the meaning of the custom:
"Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this Thy creation of eggs, that it may
become a wholesome sustenance to Thy faithful servants, eating it in
thankfulness to Thee, on account of the resurrection of our Lord." In
Blackburn at the present day, pace egging commences on the Monday and
finishes on the Thursday before the Easter-week. Young men in groups
varying in number from three to twenty, dressed in various fantastic
garbs, and wearing masks--some of the groups accompanied by a player or
two on the violin--go from house to house singing, dancing, and
capering. At most places they are liberally treated with wine, punch, or
ale, dealt out to them by the host or hostess. The young men strive to
disguise their walk and voice; and the persons whom they visit use their
efforts on the other hand to discover who they are; in which mutual
endeavour many and ludicrous mistakes are made. Here you will see
Macbeth and a fox-hunter arm in arm; Richard the Third and a black
footman in familiar converse; a quack doctor and a bishop smoking their
pipes and quaffing their "half and half;" a gentleman and an
oyster-seller; an admiral and an Irish umbrella-mender; in short, every
variety of character, some exceedingly well-dressed, and the characters
well sustained. A few years ago parties of this description were much
subject to annoyance from a gang of fellows styled the "Carr-laners,"
(so-called, because living in Carr-lane, Blackburn,) armed with
bludgeons, who endeavoured to despoil the pace-eggers. Numerous fights,
with the usual concomitants of broken eggs and various contusions, were
amongst the results. This lawless gang of ruffians is now broken up, and
the serious affrays between different gangs of pace-eggers have become
of comparatively rare occurrence. An accident, however, which ended
fatally, occurred last year [? 1842]. Two parties had come into
collision, and during the affray one of the young men had his skull
fractured, and death ensued. Besides parties of the sort we have
attempted to describe, children, both male and female, with little
baskets in their hands, dressed in all the tinsel-coloured paper,
ribbons, and "doll rags" which they can command, go up and down from
house to house; at some receiving pence, at others eggs, at others
gingerbread, some of which is called _hot_ gingerbread, having in it a
mixture of ginger and Cayenne, causing the most ridiculous contortions
of feature in the unfortunate being who partakes of it. Houses are
literally besieged by these juvenile troops from morning till night.
"God's sake! a pace-egg," is the continual cry. There is no particular
tune, but various versions of pace-egging and other songs are sung. The
eggs obtained by the juveniles are very frequently boiled and dyed in
logwood and other dyes, on the Easter Sunday, and rolled in the fields
one egg at another till broken. Great quantities of mulled ale are drunk
in this district on Easter Sunday. The actors do not take the eggs with
them; they are given at the places where they call. The actors are
mostly males; but in the course of one's peregrinations on one of these
evenings it is not unusual to discover one or two of the fair sex in
male habiliments, and supporting the character admirably. This old
custom of pace-egging was again observed this year [? 1843]
notwithstanding the fatal accidents we have mentioned, without any
molestation from the authorities, and without any accident
occurring.[161]
PACE OR PEACE EGGING IN EAST LANCASHIRE.
The week before Easter is a busy one for the boys and girls in East
Lancashire. They generally deck themselves up in ribbons and fantastic
dresses, and go about the country begging for money or eggs.
Occasionally they go out singly, and then are very careful to provide
themselves with a neat little basket, lined with moss. Halfpence or
eggs, or even small cakes of gingerbread, are alike thankfully received.
Sometimes the grown young men are very elaborately dressed in ribbons,
and ornamented with watches and other jewellery. They then go out in
groups of five or six, and are attended by a "fool" or "tosspot," with
his face blackened. Some of them play on musical instruments while the
rest dance. Occasionally young women join in the sport, and then the
_men_ are dressed in women's clothing, and the _women_ in men's.
EASTER SPORTS AT THE MANCHESTER FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
A gentleman, using the initials G. H. F., some years ago communicated to
a local paper the following facts relative to the sports of the scholars
at Easter in the early part of the nineteenth century:--"On Easter
Monday the senior scholars had a treat and various festivities. On the
morning of that day, masters and scholars assembled in the school-room,
with a band of music, banners, &c. One essential thing was a target, in
a square frame, to which were suspended one or more pairs of silver
buckles, constituting the chief archery prize, the second being a good
dunghill-cock. These were the only prizes, and they were duly contended
for by the scholars, the whole being probably devised in the old times,
with a view to keep the youth of Manchester in the practice of the old
English archery, which on the invention of gunpowder and fire-arms fell
rapidly into desuetude. The gay procession thus provided, the scholars,
bearing their bows and arrows, set out from the Grammar School, headed
by some reverend gentleman of the Collegiate church, by the masters of
the school, the churchwardens, &c.--the band playing some popular airs
of the day--and took its route by Long Millgate, to Hunt's Bank, and
along the Walkers' [_i.e._, fullers'] Croft, to some gardens, where it
was then the custom for artizans on Sunday mornings to buy 'a penny
posy.' Here the targets were set up, and the 'artillery practice,' as
it was the fashion to call archery, commenced. At its close the prizes
were awarded, and the procession returned in the same order, along
Hunt's Bank, the Apple Market, Fennel Street, Hanging Ditch, and Old
Millgate, to the Bull's Head, in the Market Place,--in those days a very
celebrated house, where the junior boys were treated with
_frumenty_--wheat stewed, and then boiled in milk with raisins,
currants, and spices, till it forms a thick, porridge-like mess,
exceedingly palatable to young folk. The masters and assistants, and the
senior scholars, partook of roast beef, plum pudding, &c. The abolition
of this Easter Monday custom, said to have been by Dr. Smith, was by no
means relished by the Grammar School boys."
"LIFTING" OR "HEAVING" AT EASTER.
This singular custom formerly prevailed in Manchester, and it is now
common in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, in the parish of Whalley, at
Warrington, Bolton, and in some other parts of Lancashire, especially in
rural districts, though it is by no means general, and in some places is
quite unknown. A Manchester man, in 1784, thus describes it:--"_Lifting_
was originally designed to represent our Saviour's resurrection. The men
lift the women on Easter Monday, and the women the men on Tuesday. One
or more take hold of each leg, and one or more of each arm, near the
body, and lift the person up, in a horizontal position, three times. It
is a rude, indecent, and dangerous diversion, practised chiefly by the
lower class of people. Our magistrates constantly prohibit it by the
bellman, but it subsists at the end of the town; and the women have of
late years converted it into a money job. I believe it is chiefly
confined to these northern counties."
The following [translated] extract from a document entitled _Liber
Contrarotulatoris Hospicii_, 13 Edward I. [1225], shows the antiquity of
the custom:--"To the Ladies of the Queen's Chamber, 15th of May; seven
ladies and damsels of the queen, because they took [or lifted] the king
in his bed, on the morrow of Easter, and made him pay fine for the peace
of the king, which he made of his gift by the hand of Hugh de Cerr [or
Kerr], Esq., to the lady of Weston, £14."[162]
On Easter Monday, between Radcliffe and Bolton, we saw a number of
females surround a male, whom they mastered, and fairly lifted aloft in
the air. It was a merry scene. What humour in the faces of these
Lancashire witches! What a hearty laugh! What gratification in their
eyes! The next day would bring reprisals: the girls would then be the
party to be subjected to this rude treatment.[163]
EASTER GAME OF THE RING.
In his _History of Lancashire_, Mr. Baines states that the Easter Game
of the Ring, little known in other parts of Lancashire, prevails at
Padiham, in the parish of Whalley, on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in
Easter week; when young people, having formed themselves into a ring,
tap each other repeatedly with a stick, after the manner of the holiday
folks at Greenwich. The stick may be a slight difference; but the game
of Easter ring, with taps of the hand, or the dropping of a handkerchief
at the foot, the writer has seen played at Easter and at Whitsuntide in
many villages and hamlets round Manchester.
PLAYING "OLD BALL."
This is an Easter custom. A huge and rude representation of a horse's
head is made; the eyes are formed of the bottoms of old broken wine or
other "black bottles"; the lower and upper jaws have large nails put in
them to serve as teeth; the lower jaw is made to move by a contrivance
fixed at its back end, to be operated on by the man who plays "Old
Ball." There is a stick, on which the head rests, which is handled and
used by the operator, to move "Old Ball" about, and as a rest. Fixed to
the whole is a sheet of rough sacking-cloth, under which the operator
puts himself, and at the end of which is a tail. The operator then gets
into his position, so as to make the whole as like a horse as possible.
He opens the mouth by means of the contrivance before spoken of. Through
the opening he can see the crowd, and he runs first at one and then
another, neighing like a horse, kicking, rising on his hind legs,
performing all descriptions of gambols, and running after the crowd; the
consequence is, the women scream, the children are frightened, and all
is one scene of the most ridiculous and boisterous mirth. This was
played by sundry "Old Balls" some five years ago, at the pace-egging
time, at Blackburn; but it has gradually fallen into disuse. This year
[? 1843] our informant has not heard it even mentioned. [It is still
continued in various parts of Lancashire, amongst others at Swinton,
Worsley, &c.] The idea of this rude game may have been taken from the
hobby-horse in the ancient Christmas mummings.--_Pictorial History of
Lancashire._ [From the editor of the above work calling this "playing
the old ball," and never marking the word ball by a capital B, he seems
to have supposed it meant a spherical ball; whereas "Old Ball"
throughout Lancashire is a favourite name for a cart-horse,--See a
further notice of "Old Ball" under Christmas.--EDS.]
ACTING WITH "BALL."
This is a curious practice, and is often substituted for "pace-egging."
The bones of a horse's head are fixed in their natural position by means
of wires. The bottoms of glass bottles do duty for eyes; and the head is
covered with the skin of a calf. A handle is then fixed in the upper
portion of the head, and the whole skull is supported on a stout pole
shod with an iron hoop. A sack is then made to fit the skull neatly, and
to hang low enough down so as to hide the person who plays "Ball." The
sack, or cover, is also provided with a tail so as to look as nearly
like a horse's tail as possible. Some five or six then take "Ball" about
the country and play him where they can obtain leave. Sometimes a
doggrel song is sung, while "Ball" prances about and snaps at the
company. As soon as the song is finished, "Ball" plays his most
boisterous pranks, and frequently hurts some of the company by snapping
their fingers between his teeth when they are defending themselves from
his attacks. The writer has seen ladies so alarmed as to faint and go
into hysterics:--on this account "Ball" is now nearly extinct in the
neighbourhoods of Blackburn, Burnley, &c.
EASTER CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.
Children and young people as Easter approached, claimed their
"pace-eggs" [from Pasche, the old term for Easter] as a privileged "dow"
[dole]. On the afternoon of Easter Sunday the young of both sexes amused
themselves in the meadows with these eggs, which they had dyed by the
yellow blossoms of the "whin," or of other colours by dyeing materials.
Others performed a kind of Morris or Moorish dance or play, called
"_Ignagning_," which some have supposed to be in honour of St. Ignatius;
but more probably its derivation is from "_ignis Agnæ_," a virgin and
martyr who suffered at the stake about this time of the year.
"Ignagning," says the Rev. William Thornber,[164] "has almost fallen
into disuse, and a band of boys, termed 'Jolly Lads,' has succeeded,
who, instead of reciting the combat of the Turk and St. George, the
champion of England, the death of the former, and his restoration to
life by the far-travelled doctor, now sing of the noble deeds of Nelson
and Collingwood; retaining, however, the freaks and jokes of 'Old
Toss-pot,' the fool of the party, who still jingles the small bells hung
about his dress." Easter Monday was a great day for the young people of
the neighbourhood going to the yearly fair at Poulton. Happy was the
maiden who could outvie her youthful acquaintance in exhibiting a
greater number of "white cakes," the gifts of admiring youths; thereby
proving beyond dispute the superior effects of her charms. Then the
excitement and exertion of the dance! At that time dancing consisted in
the feet beating time to a fiddle, playing a jig in double quick time;
one damsel succeeding another, and striving to outdo her companions in
her power of continuing this violent exercise, for much honour was
attached to success in this respect, the bystanders meanwhile
encouraging their favourites, as sportsmen do their dogs, with voice and
clapping of hands. Such was--
"The dancing pair that simply sought renown,
By holding out, to tire each other down."
On Good Friday a jorum of _browis_ and roasted wheat or _frumenty_ was
the treat for dinner; white _jannocks_, introduced by the Flemish
refugees, and _throdkins_[165] were also then eaten with great zest by
the hungry labourer.[166]
MAY-DAY CUSTOMS.
The Romans commenced the festival of Flora on the 28th April, and
continued it through several days in May, with various ceremonies and
rejoicings, and offerings of spring flowers and the branches of trees in
bloom, which, through the accommodation of the Romish church to the
pagan usages, remain to us as May-day celebrations to the present time.
It was formerly a custom in Cheshire [and Lancashire] for young men to
place birchen boughs on May-day over the doors of their mistresses, and
mark the residence of a scold by an alder bough. There is an old rhyme
which mentions peculiar boughs for various tempers, as an owler (alder)
for a scolder, a nut for a slut, &c. Ormerod thinks the practice is
disused; but he mentions that in the main street of Weverham are two
May-poles, which are decorated on May-day with all due attention to the
ancient solemnity; the sides are hung with garlands, and the top
terminated by a birch, or other tall slender tree with its leaves on;
the bark being peeled off and the stem spliced to the pole, so as to
give the appearance of one tree from the summit.[167] The principal
characteristics of May-day celebrations and festivities are of rejoicing
that the reign of winter is at an end, and that of early summer with its
floral beauties, has come. The hawthorn furnishes its white blossoms in
profusion; and the tall May-poles, gaily decorated with garlands of
leaves and flowers, and festoons of ribbons of the brightest colours,
are centres of attraction on the village green, for the youth of both
sexes to dance the May-pole dance, hand-in-hand, in a ring.
MAY SONGS.
Amongst the old customs of rural Lancashire and Cheshire is that of a
small party of minstrels or carollers going round from house to house
during the last few evenings of April, and singing a number of verses,
expressive of rejoicing that "cold winter is driven away," and that the
season is "drawing near to the merry month of May." The singers are
generally accompanied by one or two musical instruments, a violin and
clarionet for instance, and the tunes are very quaint and peculiar. Of
course for their good wishes for the master of the house, with his
"chain of gold," for the mistress, with "gold along her breast," and the
children "in rich attire," a trifling gift in money is made.[168]
MAY-DAY EVE.
The evening before May-day is termed "Mischief Night" by the young
people of Burnley and the surrounding district. All kinds of mischief
are then perpetrated. Formerly shopkeepers' sign-boards were exchanged;
"John Smith, grocer," finding his name and vocation changed, by the sign
over his door, to "Thomas Jones, tailor," and _vice versâ_; but the
police have put an end to these practical jokes. Young men and women,
however, still continue to play each other tricks, by placing branches
of trees, shrubs, or flowers under each others' windows, or before their
doors. All these have a symbolical meaning, as significant, if not
always as complimentary, as "the Language of Flowers." Thus, "a thorn"
implies "scorn;" "wicken" (the mountain ash) "my dear chicken;" a
"bramble," for one who likes to "ramble," &c. Much ill-feeling is at
times engendered by this custom.
MAY-DAY CUSTOM.
On the 1st of May the following custom is observed in some parts of
Lancashire, though now very nearly obsolete. Late on the preceding
night, or early on that morning, small branches of trees are placed at
the doors of houses in which reside any marriageable girls. They are
emblematical of the character of the maidens, and have a well-understood
language of their own, which is rhythmical. Some speak flatteringly;
others quite the reverse; the latter being used when the character of
the person for whom it is intended is not quite "above suspicion." A
malicious rustic wag may sometimes put a branch of the latter
description where it is not deserved; but I believe this is an
exception. I only remember a few of the various trees which are laid
under contribution for this purpose. _Wicken_ is the local name for
mountain ash.
_Wicken_, sweet chicken.
_Oak_, for a joke.
_Gorse, in bloom_, rhymes with "at noon" (I omit the epithet given here
to an unchaste woman) and used for a notorious delinquent.[169]
PENDLETON AND PENDLEBURY MAY-POLE AND GAMES.
The people of these townships for centuries celebrated May-day (a relic
of the ancient heathen festival of the goddess Flora) by the May-pole,
to which the watchful care of Charles I. and his royal progenitor
extended, when they printed in their proclamation and "Book of Sports,"
that after the end of divine service on Sundays, their "good people be
not disturbed, letted, nor discharged from the having of May-games, and
the setting up of the May-poles," &c. The ancient practice was to erect
the pole on May-day, and to surround it with a number of verdant boughs,
brought from "Blakeley Forest," which were decked usually with garlands
and flowers, and around which the people assembled to dance and
celebrate their May-games. "Pendleton Pole" is of much higher antiquity
than the Reformation; for in the will of Thomas del Bothe, who died 47
Edw. III. (1373) the sum of 30_s._ is bequeathed towards making the
causeway at Pendleton near "le Poll." In the time of the Commonwealth
the Pendleton Pole was taken down, in virtue of an ordinance of
Parliament against May-poles, and such other "heathenish vanities;" but
it was re-erected at the Restoration, and still presents its lofty head,
surmounted by a Royal Crown; though much of the spacious field of the
ancient May-games is now occupied by buildings [in 1780 the township
was little more than a fold of cottages, with its May-pole and green],
and much of the spirit of the rural sports of our ancestors has
subsided. In Pasquil's "_Palinodia_," (published in 1654) the decay of
May-games two centuries ago, is recorded and lamented:--
"Happy the age, and harmless were the days
(For then true love and amity was found);
When every village did a May-pole raise,
And Whitsun ales and May-games did abound,
And all the lusty younkers in a rout,
With merry lasses, danced the rod about;
Then friendship to their banquets bid the guests,
And poor men fared the better for their feasts.
The lords of castles, manors, towns, and towers,
Rejoiced when they beheld the farmers flourish,
And would come down unto the summer bowers,
To see the country gallants dance the Morice.
. . . . .
But since the summer poles were overthrown,
And all good sports and merriments decay'd,
How times and men are changed, so well is known,
It were but labour lost if more were said."
MAY CUSTOM IN SPOTLAND.
A custom of high antiquity and of primitive simplicity prevails in the
district of Spotland, in the parish of Rochdale. On the first Sunday in
May the young people of the surrounding country assemble at Knott Hill
yearly, for the purpose of presenting to each other their mutual
greetings and congratulations on the arrival of this cheering season,
and of pledging each other in the pure beverage which flows from the
mountain springs.[170]
MAY-DAY CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.
On the morning of the first day of May, many a May-bough[171] ornamented
the villages and towns of the Fylde, inserted by some mischievous
youngsters, at the risk of life or limb, in the chimney-tops of their
neighbours' houses. Then came a most imposing piece of pageantry, that
of "bringing-in May;" when a king and queen, with their royal attendants
and rustic band of music, mummers, &c., attracted the attention and
admiration of the country side. May-day with its pageants, sports,
games, dances, garlands, and May-poles, was peculiarly a season of
hilarity, merry-making, and good humour. The pageant of "bringing-in
May," was a favourite pastime at Poulton about fifty years ago [_i.e._,
about 1787]; the causeways were strewed with flowers, and at the door of
the house of each respectable inhabitant, sweetmeats, ale, and even
wine, were handed about as a treat and refreshment to the young, who
were thus affording them amusement. By degrees the pageant ceased; a
vigorous attempt, however, was made to revive it in 1818, with all its
honours; but the age-worn custom proved to be utterly incapable of
resuscitation. Another writer,[172] however, states that at
Poulton-le-Fylde and in its neighbourhood, some of the customs of the
olden time are still observed. Very recently May-day was ushered in with
a dance round the May-pole, and the lavish exhibition of garlands and
merriment.
THE MAY-POLE OF LOSTOCK.
The May-pole of Lostock, a village near Bolton, is probably the most
ancient upon record. It is mentioned in a charter by which the town of
Westhalchton [? Westhaughton] was granted to the Abbey of Cockersand,
about the reign of King John. The pole, it appears, had superseded a
cross, and formed one of the landmarks which defined the boundaries, and
it must therefore have been a permanent and not an annual erection. The
words of the charter are:--"De Lostock meypull, ubi crux situ fuit,
recta linea in austro, usque ad crucem super le Tunge."[173] (From
Lostock May-pole, where the cross was formerly, in a straight line to
the south, as far as to the cross upon the Tunge.)
ROBIN HOOD AND MAY-GAMES AT BURNLEY, IN 1579.
In a letter from Edmond Assheton, Esq., then a magistrate of Lancashire,
and aged 75, to William Farington, Esq. (who was also in the commission
of the peace), dated Manchester, May 12, 1580, the writer thus complains
of "lewd sports" and sabbath-breaking:--"I am sure, Right Worshipful,
you have not forgotten the last year stirs at Burnley about Robin Hood
and the May-games. Now, considering that it is a cause that bringeth no
good effect, being contrary to the best, therefore a number of the
justices of the peace herein in Salford Hundred have consulted with the
[Ecclesiastical] Commission [of Queen Elizabeth] to suppress those lewd
sports, tending to no other end but to stir up our frail natures to
wantonness; and mean not to allow neither old custom. Then their excuse
in coming to the church in time of divine service, for every man may
well know with what minds, after their embracings, kissings, and
unchaste beholding of each other, they can come presently prepared to
prayer. A fit assembly to confer of worse causes, over and besides their
marching and walking together in the night time. But chiefly because it
is a profanation of the Sabbath-day, and done in some places in
contempt of the gospel and the religion established, I pray God it be
not so at Burnley. It is called in the Scriptures the Lord's Day, and
was not lawful under the old law to carry a pitcher of water on the
Sabbath, or to gather sticks, but it was death. Such regard was had in
the time of the law to keeping holy the Sabbath. And do not we withdraw
even the practice and use of good and godly works upon the same day?
Then in reason the other should cease. Tell me, I pray you, if you can
find in the presence of the foresaid lewd pastimes, good example or
profit to the commonwealth, the defence of the realm, honour to the
prince, or to the glory of God? Then, let them continue; otherwise, in
my opinion, they are to be withdrawn. For to that end I address these
contents unto you, because we would not deal for any reformation within
the limits of your walk; and for the better credit of the consent of the
Commissioners, you may peruse how they mean to proceed against them of
Burnley who have revived their former follies, if you redress not the
same.... Your assured always to use, EDMOND ASSHETON. It will not be
long afore [there] will be order taken for this dancing, either by the
Privy Council or by the Bishops by their commandment. My meaning is, I
would have you to do it yourself, which will with one word be brought to
pass.... If you would set your hand to this precept with us, I think it
would end these disorders within prescribed."[174]
MAY-DAY IN MANCHESTER.
In the now olden days of coaching, this was a great day in Manchester.
The great coaching establishments, those of the royal mails, north,
south, east, and west, and all the highflyers, &c., turned out all their
spare vehicles and horses for a grand procession through the principal
streets of the town. Many of the mail and other coaches were newly
painted for the occasion; all the teams were provided with new harness
and gearing; the coachmen and guards had new uniforms; Jehu wore a great
cockade of ribbons, and a huge bouquet of flowers, and he handled the
new ribbons with a dignity and grace peculiar to this almost defunct
race. The guard, in bright scarlet uniform, blew on his Kent bugle some
popular tune of the time; and the horses wore cockades and nosegays
about their heads and ears; almost every coach on this occasion was
drawn by four horses, their coats shining with an extra polish for
May-day; and the cavalcade was really a pretty sight on a bright May-day
morning. Second only to it in decorative splendour, and in horseflesh,
was the display of lorries, wagons, drays, and carts, with their fine
draught-horses. Then came the milk-carts, with their drivers in dresses
covered with ribbons. These equine and asinine glories have passed
away, extinguished by the rail.
QUEEN OF THE MAY, &c.
The custom of choosing a May King and Queen is now disused. May-games,
and the May-pole, were kept up at the quiet little village of Downham
when all other places in the neighbourhood had ceased to celebrate
May-day. Nothing is now made of May-day, if we except the custom of
carters dressing their horses' heads and tails with ribbons on that day.
WHITSUNTIDE.
The Feast of Pentecost, or Whitsuntide, was formerly kept as a high
church festival, and by the people was celebrated by out-door sports and
festivities, and especially by the drinking assemblies called
"Whitsun-Ales." One writer (inquiring whether the custom of "lifting at
Easter" is a memorial of Christ being raised up from the grave) observes
that, "there seems to be a trace of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the
heads of the Apostles, in what passes at Whitsuntide Fair, in some parts
of Lancashire; where one person holds a stick over the head of another,
whilst a third, unperceived, strikes the stick, and thus gives a smart
blow to the first. But this probably is only local."[175] "Whit-week,"
as it is generally called, has gradually grown to be the great yearly
holiday of the hundred of Salford, and the manufacturing district of
which Manchester is the centre. This seems to have arisen from the
yearly races at Manchester being held from the Wednesday to the Saturday
inclusive, in that week. After the rise of Sunday-schools, their
conductors, desiring to keep youth of both sexes from the demoralizing
recreations of the racecourse, took them to fields in the neighbourhood
and held anniversary celebrations, tea-parties, &c., in the schools. The
extension of the railway system has led to "cheap trips" and "school
excursion trains" during Whitsuntide; which are occasionally taken to
Wales, the Lakes, and other great distances. Canal boats take large
numbers of Sunday scholars to Dunham Park, Worsley, &c. Short excursions
are made in carts, temporarily fitted with seats. It is customary for
the cotton-mills, &c., to close for Whitsuntide week to give the hands a
holiday; the men going to the races, &c., and the women visiting
Manchester on Whit-Saturday, thronging the markets, the Royal Exchange,
the Infirmary Esplanade, and other public places; and gazing in at the
"shop windows," whence this day is usually called "Gaping Saturday." The
collieries, too, are generally closed in Whit-week; and in some the
underground horses are brought to the surface to have a week's daylight,
the only time they enjoy it during the year. The mills, coalpits, &c.,
generally have the requisite repairs of machinery, &c., made during this
yearly holiday--those at least which would necessitate the stoppage of
the work at another time.
WHIT-TUESDAY.--KING AND QUEEN AT DOWNHAM.
The last rural queen chosen at Downham is still living in Burnley. The
lot always fell to the prettiest girl in the village, and certainly it
must be admitted that in this instance they exercised good judgment. A
committee of young men made the selection; then an iron crown was
procured and dressed with flowers. The king and queen were ornamented
with flowers, a procession was then formed, headed by a fiddler. This
proceeded from the Inn to the front of "Squire Assheton's," Downham
Hall, and was composed of javelin men, and all the attendants of
royalty. Chairs were brought out of the Hall for the king and queen, ale
was handed round, and then a dance was performed on the lawn, the king
and queen leading off. The procession next passed along through the
village to the green, where seats were provided for a considerable
company. Here again the dancing began, the king and queen dancing the
first set. The afternoon was spent in the usual games, dances, &c. On
the next night all the young persons met at the inn, on invitation from
the king and queen--each paid a shilling towards the "Queen's Posset." A
large posset was then made and handed round to the company. After this
the evening was spent in dancing and merry-making.
ROGATIONS OR GANG DAYS.
These days are so named from the Litanies or Processions of the Church,
before Holy Thursday or Ascension Day. It was a general custom in
country parishes to "gang" or go round the boundaries and limits of the
parish, on one of the three days before Holy Thursday, or the Feast of
our Lord's Ascension; when the minister, accompanied by his
churchwardens and parishioners, was wont to deprecate the vengeance of
God, beg a blessing on the fruits of the earth, and preserve the rights
and properties of the parish. In some parishes this perambulation took
place on Ascension Day itself. In a parochial account-book, entitled "A
Record of the Acts and Doings of the thirty men of the parish of
Kirkham," Lancashire, is the following entry under the year 1665: "Spent
on going perambulations on Ascension Day, 1_s._ 6_d._"
OATMEAL CHARITY AT INCE.
Under the name of Richardson's Charity, a distribution takes place
annually on the Feast of the Ascension or Holy Thursday (ten days before
Whit-Sunday) of _five loads of oatmeal_, each load weighing 240 lb.
Three loads are given to the poor of the township of Ince, one to the
poor of Abram, and the other to the poor of Hindley; adjacent
townships, all in the parish of Wigan. The Charity Commissioners, in
their twenty-first report, state that the meal is provided by Mr.
Cowley, of Widnes, the owner of an estate in Ince, formerly the property
of Edward Richardson, who, as the commissioners were informed, directed
by his will that this distribution should be made for fifty years from
the time of his death. The year 1784 was given as the date of this
benefaction, in the Returns made to Parliament in 1786. Mr. Cowley has
himself had the disposal of this charity. The charity would, according
to this statement, legally cease in 1836.
NAMES FOR MOONS IN AUTUMN.
In Lancashire, as well as in the South of Scotland and the South of
Ireland, the moon of September is commonly called "the harvest moon,"
that of October "the huntsman's moon."[176]
"GOOSE-INTENTOS."
In "An Universal Etymological English Dictionary," by N. Bailey, London,
1745, I read:--"Goose-intentos, a goose claimed by custom by the
husbandmen in Lancashire, upon the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost,
when the old Church prayers ended thus: 'ac bonis operis jugiter
præstat esse _intentos_.'" These words occur in the old Sarum books, in
the Collect for the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost; in the present
Liturgy, in that for the seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.[177]
Blount, in his _Glossographia_, says that "in Lancashire the husbandmen
claim it as a due to have a goose-intentos on the sixteenth Sunday after
Pentecost: which custom takes its origin from the last word of the old
Church prayer of that day:--'Tua nos Domine, quæ sumus, gratia semper et
præveniat et sequatur; ac bonis operibus jugiter præstet esse
_intentos_.' The vulgar people called it 'a goose with ten toes.'"
Beckwith, in his new edition of Blount's _Fragmenta Antiquitatis_
(London, 4to, 1815, p. 413), after quoting this passage, remarks:--"But
besides that the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, or after Trinity
rather, being movable, and seldom falling upon Michaelmas Day, which is
an immovable feast, the service for that day could very rarely be used
at Michaelmas, there does not appear to be the most distant allusion to
a goose in the words of that prayer. Probably no other reason can be
given for this custom, but that Michaelmas Day was a great festival, and
geese at that time most plentiful. In Denmark, where the harvest is
later, every family has a roasted goose for supper on St. Martin's Eve
[Nov. 10]." It must be borne in mind that the term _husbandman_ was
formerly applied to persons of a somewhat higher position in life than
an agricultural labourer, as for instance to the occupier and holder of
the land. In ancient grants from landlords of manors to their free
tenants, among other reserved rents, boons, and services, the landlord
frequently laid claim to a good stubble goose at Michaelmas. After all,
the connexion between the goose and the collect is not apparent.[178]
ALL SOULS' DAY.--NOV. 2.
So named, because in the Church of Rome prayers are offered on this
day for "all the faithful deceased."
There is a singular custom still kept up at Great Marton, in the Fylde
district, on this day. In some places it is called "soul-caking," but
there it is named "psalm-caking,"--from their reciting psalms for which
they receive cakes. The custom is changing its character also--for in
place of collecting cakes from house to house, as in the old time, they
now beg for money. The term "psalm" is evidently a corruption of the old
word "sal," for soul; the mass or requiem for the dead was called
"Sal-mas," as late as the reign of Henry VI.
GUNPOWDER PLOT AND GUY FAWKES.
The anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605, is still more
or less kept in many parts of Lancashire, in towns by the effigy of Guy
Fawkes being paraded about the streets, and burnt at night with great
rejoicing; and by the discharge of small cannon, guns, pistols, &c., and
of fireworks. In the country the more common celebration is confined to
huge bonfires, and the firing of pistols and fireworks. In some places,
especially about Blackburn, Burnley, and that district, as well as in
villages about Eccles, Worsley, &c., it is customary for boys for some
days before the 5th of November, to go round to their friends and
neighbours to beg for coals. They generally take their stand before the
door, and either say or sing some doggerel, to the following effect:--
"Remember, remember,
The Fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot;
A stick and a stake,
For King George's sake,
We hope it will ne'er be forgot."
CHRISTMAS.
In the olden time, before the Reformation, Christmas was the highest
festival of the Church. In some rural parts of Lancashire it is now but
little regarded, and many of its customs are observed a week later,--on
the eve and day of the New Year. But still there linger in many places
some relics of the old observances and festivities, as the carols, the
frumenty on Christmas Eve, the mummers, with "old Ball," or the
hobby-horse, and the decoration of churches and dwellings with boughs of
evergreen shrubs and plants; in the centre of which is still to be
found, in many country halls and kitchens, and in some also in the
towns, that mystic bough of the mistletoe, beneath whose white berries,
it is the custom and licence of the season to steal a kiss from fair
maidens, and even from matrons "forty, fat, and fair."
CREATURES WORSHIPPING ON CHRISTMAS EVE.
I have been told in Lancashire, that at midnight on Christmas Eve the
cows fall on their knees, and the bees hum the Hundredth Psalm. I am
unwilling to destroy the poetry of these old superstitions; but their
origin can, I think, be accounted for. Cows, it is well known, on rising
from the ground, get up on their knees first; and a person going into
the shippon at midnight would, no doubt, disturb the occupants, and by
the time he looked around, they would all be rising on their knees. The
buzzing of the bees, too, might easily be formed into a tune, and, with
the Hundredth Psalm running in the head of the listener, fancy would
supply the rest.[179]
CHRISTMAS MUMMING.
Mr. J. O. Halliwell, in his _Nursery Rhymes of England_, relates the
following as a Christmas custom in Lancashire:--The boys dress
themselves up with ribands, and perform various pantomimes, after which
one of them, who has a blackened face, a rough skin coat, and a broom in
his hand, sings as follows:--
Here come I,
Little David Doubt;
If you don't give me money,
I'll sweep you all out.
Money I want,
Money I crave;
If you don't give me money,
I'll sweep you all to the grave.
THE HOBBY HORSE, OR OLD BALL.
In an old painted window at Betley, Staffordshire, exhibiting in twelve
diamond-octagon panes, the mummers and morris-dancers of May-day, the
centre pane below the May-pole represents the old hobby-horse, supposed
to have once been the King of the May, though now a mere buffoon. The
hobby (of this window) is a spirited horse of pasteboard, in which the
master dances and displays tricks of legerdemain, &c. In the horse's
mouth is stuck a ladle, ornamented with a ribbon; its use being to
receive the spectators' pecuniary donations. In Lancashire the old
custom seems to have so far changed, that it is the head of a dead horse
that is carried about at Christmas, as described amongst the Easter
customs. "Old Ball" bites everybody it can lay hold of, and holds its
victims till they buy their release with a few pence.
CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.
The Rev. W. Thornber[180] describes the Christmas gambols and customs in
the Fylde nearly a century ago, as having been kept up with great
spirit. The midnight carols of the church-singers[181]--the penny laid
on the hob by the fireside, the prize of him who came first to the outer
door, to "let Christmas in,"--the regular round of visits--the treat of
mince pies[182]--in turn engrossed their attention. Each farm-house and
hut possessed a pack of cards, which were obtained as an alms from the
rich, if poverty forbade the purchase. Night after night of Christmas
was consumed in poring over these dirty and obscured cards. Nor were the
youngsters excluded from a share in the amusements of this festal
season. Early, long before dawn, on Christmas morning, young voices
echoed through streets and lanes, in the words of the old song--
Get up old wives,
And bake your pies,
'Tis Christmas-day in the morning;
The bells shall ring,
The birds shall sing,
Tis Christmas-day in the morning.
Many an evening was beguiled with snap-dragon, bobbing for apples,
jack-stone, blind-man's buff, forfeits, hot cockles, hunting the
slipper, hide lose my supper, London Bridge, turning the trencher, and
other games now little played. Fortune-telling by cards, &c., must not
be omitted. In the bright frost and moonshine, out-door sports were
eagerly pursued, guns were in great request, to shoot the shore-birds,
and many found pleasure in "watching the fleet;" others played at
foot-ball in the lanes or streets; or engaged in the games of
prison-bars, tee-touch-wood, thread-my-needle, horse-shoe, leap-frog,
black-thorn, cad, bandy, honey-pot, hop-scotch, hammer and block, bang
about and shedding copies. Cymbling for larks[183] was a very common
pastime; now it is scarcely known by name, and few have retained any of
the implements or instruments requisite to practise the art. Tradesmen
presented their customers with the Yule-loaf,[184] or two mould candles
for the church, or some other Christmas-box. The churches and
house-windows were decked with evergreens; a superstition derived
probably from the Druids, who decked their temples and houses with
evergreens in December, that the Sylvan Spirits might avoid the chilly
frosts and storms of winter, by settling in their branches. For some
weeks before Christmas, a band of young men called "Mutes," roused at
early morn the slumbering to their devotions, or to activity in their
domestic duties. The beggar at the door, craving an _awmas_ [? alms] or
_saumas_ [soul-mass] cake, reminded the inmates that charity should be a
characteristic of the season. The Eve of Christmas Day was named "Flesh
Day," from the country people flocking to Poulton to buy beef, &c.,
sufficient to supply the needs of the coming year. On the morning of
Christmas Day the usual breakfast was of black puddings, with jannock,
&c.
CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS AT WYCOLLER HALL.
At Wycoller Hall, the family usually kept open house the twelve days at
Christmas. The entertainment was [in] a large hall of curious ashlar
work, [on] a long table, plenty of _frumenty_, like new milk, in a
morning, made of husked wheat boiled, roasted beef, with a fat goose and
a pudding, with plenty of good beer for dinner. A round-about
fire-place, surrounded with stone benches, where the young folks sat and
cracked nuts, and diverted themselves; and in this manner the sons and
daughters got matching, without going much from home.[185]
CAROLS, &c.
"Carol" is supposed to be derived from _cantare_ to sing, and _rola_, an
interjection of joy. Amongst our Christmas customs that of carol-singing
prevails over a great part of Lancashire. It is the old custom of
celebrating with song the birth of the Saviour, even as the angels are
said to have sung "Glory to God in the highest," &c., at this great
event. Almost every European nation has its carols. Our earliest
Christian forefathers had theirs; one or two Anglo-Norman carols have
been preserved, and some of every century from the thirteenth to the
eighteenth. Numerous books containing carols have been printed (one by
Wynkin de Worde), and it would occupy too much space to insert even the
most popular of these carols here. A verse of one common to Lancashire
and Yorkshire must suffice:--
God rest you all, merry gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay;
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas-day.
The town or the village waitts go about after midnight, waking many a
sleeper with their homely music, which sounds all the sweeter for being
heard in the stilly night. Various items of payment to the Manchester
waitts occur in the Church Leet Books of that manor. A dance tune called
"The Warrington Waitts" occurs in a printed Tune-Book of 1732. Hand-bell
ringing, a favourite Lancashire diversion, is much practised about
Christmas.
FOOTNOTES:
[143] Hermentrude, in _Notes and Queries_, 3rd ser., vol. ii. p. 484.
[144] Prestoniensis, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd ser., vol. ii. p. 326.
[145] Hampson's _Medii Ævi Kalendarium_, vol. i. p. 98.
[146] Prestoniensis, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, vol. iii. p.
50.
[147] Halliwell's _Archaic and Provincial Dictionary_.
[148] Pasquil's _Palinodia_.
[149] _Ploughman's Feasting Days_, stanza 3.
[150] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._
[151] See Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_.
[152] See also, under BELLS, the Pancake Bell.
[153] _Notes and Queries_, 2nd ser., V.
[154] For the Simnel cakes of Shrewsbury, &c., see _Book of Days_, I.
336.
[155] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.
[156] _History of Manchester_, II. 265.
[157] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.
[158] H. T. Riley, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd ser., ii. 320.
[159] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._
[160] Hone's _Every-Day Book_, ii. 450; Brand's _Popular Antiquities,
&c._
[161] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._
[162] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.
[163] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._
[164] _History of Blackpool_, p. 92.
[165] _Browis_ or _brewis_ is broth or pottage; _frumenty_, is hulled
wheat boiled in milk, and flavoured with cinnamon, sugar, allspice; and
_jannocks_, oaten bread in large, coarse loaves; _throdkins_, a cake
made of oatmeal and bacon.
[166] Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_.
[167] Hone's _Every-Day Book_, ii. 597.
[168] For the words of these songs, see Harland's _Ballads and Songs of
Lancashire_, p. 116; and for words and music, Chambers's _Book of Days_,
i. 546.
[169] A. B., Liverpool, in _Notes and Queries_, v. 581.
[170] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.
[171] These boughs, says Mr. Thornber, in his _History of Blackpool_,
were emblematical of the character of the maiden thus conspicuously
distinguished; an elder-bough for a scold, one of ash for a swearer, &c.
[172] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._
[173] Dugdale's _Monast. Anglic._, vol. vi. p. 906.
[174] _Farington Papers_, p. 128.
[175] _Gent. Mag._, vol. liii., for July, 1783, p. 578.
[176] M. F., in _Notes and Queries_, 3rd series, ii. 397.
[177] Aquinas, in _Notes and Queries_, 3rd series, v., April 2., 1864.
[178] Ed. _Notes and Queries_.
[179] Wellbank, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, viii. 242.
[180] See _History of Blackpool_.
[181] Here is the specimen of one sung from house to house during
Christmas:--
We're nather cum to yare hase to beg nor to borrow,
But we're cum to yare hase to drive away o sorrow;
A suop o' drink, as yau may think, for we're varra droy,
We'll tell yau what we're cum for--a piece o' Christmas poye.
[182] The mince-pie, made of a compound of Eastern productions,
represented the offerings of the wise men who came from far to worship
the Saviour, bringing spices. Its old English coffin-shape was in
imitation of the manger in which the infant Jesus was laid.
[183] We have not been able to find any account of this mode of catching
larks, at least, under the name here given.
[184] The baker formerly gave his customers a baby of paste; and in my
own recollection a cake, decorated with the head of a lamb, named "the
Ewe loaf," was the Christmas present of bakers at Poulton. On Christmas
Eve the houses were illuminated with candles of an enormous size.--W. T.
[185] From a family MS. of the Cunliffes, quoted in Baines's
_Lancashire_, iii. 244.
EATING AND DRINKING CUSTOMS.
In many instances of particular Church Festivals, and of popular
celebrations, we have already enumerated various viands appropriated to
special occasions, as the turkey to New Year's Day; the pancake to
Shrove-Tuesday; the simnel, carlins, bragot, and fig-pie to Mid-Lent
Sunday; the goose to Michaelmas; frumenty, mince-pies, &c., to
Christmas. A few remain, however, for notice here:--Eccles cakes,
Ormskirk gingerbread, Everton toffy, and other sweet cakes have "all
seasons for their own." The two rival shops in Eccles, on opposite sides
of Church-street, the one called "The genuine Eccles cake shop, from
over the way," and the other "The real Eccles cake shop, never removed,"
so much puzzle the stranger and visitor, that purchases are often made
at both in order to secure the real, genuine, original article.
THE HAVERCAKE LADS.
Formerly the bread eaten by the labouring classes in the parish of
Rochdale and others in the east of Lancashire was oat-cake, which was
also pretty generally in use in the west of Yorkshire. A regiment of
soldiers raised in these two adjoining districts at the beginning of the
last war took the name of the "Havercake Lads," assuming as their badge
an oat cake [oats are called havers], which was placed (for the purpose
of attracting recruits) on the point of the recruiting sergeant's sword.
Oat bread is still eaten in various manufacturing and hilly districts of
Lancashire, but not nearly so generally as half a century ago.[186]
WOODEN SHOES AND OATEN BREAD OR JANNOCKS.
Both these are said to have been introduced by the Flemish immigrant
weavers about the year 1567. Their sabots, however, were made entirely
of wood, lined with a little lamb's skin, to protect the top of the
foot; while the _clogs_ of the present day have strong leather tops
[often brass clasps] and thick wooden soles. The kind of bread
introduced by the Flemings into Bolton and other manufacturing districts
of Lancashire was made of oatmeal in the form of a loaf, and called
_jannock_; but the gradual change in manners and improvement in social
condition have almost banished this food, and wheaten-bread and
oat-cakes have almost altogether taken its place.
In the _Shepherd's Play_, performed at Chester in 1577, in honour of the
visit to that city of the Earl of Derby, the third Shepherd says:--
And brave ale of Halton I have,
And what meat I had to my hire;
A pudding may no man deprave,
And a _jannock_ of Lancaster-shire.
Jannock is now used in Leigh more commonly than in most other parts of
Lancashire. Warrington ale was no less celebrated than Halton ale, and a
song in praise of the former is printed in Harland's _Lancashire
Ballads_.[187]
PORK PASTIES.
In West Houghton, at the annual feast or wakes, there is a singular
local custom of making large flat pasties of pork, which are eaten in
great quantities on the Wakes Sunday, with a liberal accompaniment of
ale; and people resort to the village from all places for miles round,
on this Sunday, just as they rush into Bury on Mid-Lent or Mothering
Sunday to eat simnels and drink bragot ale.
FOOTNOTES:
[186] Baines's _Lancashire_.
[187] P. 199.
BIRTH AND BAPTISMAL CUSTOMS.
Many of the customs attending child-bearing, churching, and christening
are not peculiar to Lancashire, but common nearly all over England. The
term "the lady in the straw," merely meant the lady confined to her bed,
as all beds were anciently stuffed with straw. It was formerly the
custom in Lancashire, as elsewhere, for the husband against the birth of
the child to provide a large cheese and a cake. These were called "the
groaning" cheese and cake; and throughout the north of England the first
cut of the sick wife's cheese, or groaning cheese, is taken and laid
under the pillows of young women to cause them to dream of their lovers.
Amongst customs now obsolete was the giving a large entertainment at the
churching. Now it is usually given at the christening.
PRESENTS TO WOMEN IN CHILDBED.
In a note on an entry of _Nicholls's Assheton's Journal_, Dr. Whitaker
and its Editor, the Rev. Canon Raines, say that the custom of making
presents to women in childbed, is yet called "prēsĕnting" in
Craven. It is now quite obsolete in South Lancashire, although it
continued to be observed to the middle of the eighteenth century. In a
MS. journal of 1706 is an entry "John Leigh brought my wife a
groaning-cake: gave him 6_d._" Other entries in the same journal show
that money gifts ranged from 1_s._ 6_d._ to 5_s._ (the last being to the
minister's wife); besides smaller gifts to maids and midwives, and
bottles of wine, syrup of ginger, and other creature comforts to the
person confined.
TEA-DRINKING AFTER CHILDBIRTH.
In some parts of North Lancashire it is customary to have a tea-drinking
after the recovery from childbirth. All the neighbours and friends are
invited--sometimes many more than can be comfortably accommodated--and
both tea and rum are plentifully distributed. After tea, each visitor
pays a shilling towards the expense of the birth feast; and the evening
is spent in the usual gossip.
TURNING THE BED AFTER CHILDBIRTH.
An attendant was making a bed occupied by the mother of a child born a
few days previously. When she attempted to turn it over, to give it a
better shaking, the nurse energetically interfered, peremptorily
forbidding her doing so till a month after the confinement, on the
ground that it was decidedly unlucky; and said that she never allowed it
to be done till then, on any account whatever.[188]
AN UNBAPTIZED CHILD CANNOT DIE.
The _Morning Herald_ of the 18th June, 1860, notices a case of attempted
infanticide near Liverpool. The wretched mother, having gained access to
a gentleman's grounds, laid her child on the ground and covered it with
sods. The child was happily discovered and its life saved. The mother
was apprehended and charged with having attempted to murder her child.
She confessed that she was guilty, and added ["the tender mercies of the
wicked are cruel"] that she had previously succeeded in getting the
child baptized, as she believed it could not otherwise have died. This
is a strange bit of folk-lore.[189]
GIFTS TO INFANTS.
It is a custom in some parts of Lancashire, as well as in Yorkshire,
Northumberland, and other counties, that when an infant first goes out
of the house, in the arms of the mother or the nurse, in some cases the
first family visited, in others every neighbour receiving the call,
presents to or for the infant an egg, some salt, some bread, and in some
cases a small piece of money. These gifts are to ensure, as the gossips
avow, that the child shall never want bread, meat, or salt to it, or
money, throughout life. The old custom of sponsors giving the child
twelve tea-spoons, called "Apostle Spoons," is now obsolete. The gift of
a coral with bells, is supposed to have had its origin in a very ancient
superstition. Coral, according to Pliny, was deemed an amulet against
fascination; and it was thought to preserve and fasten the teeth. The
coral-bells (especially if blest by the priest) would scare away evil
spirits from the child.
CHANGELINGS.
There is even yet in some parts of Lancashire a strong dread of the
fairies or witches coming secretly and exchanging their own ill-favoured
imps, for the newly born infant; and various charms are used to prevent
the child from being thus stolen away.
FOOTNOTES:
[188] A. B., Liverpool, in _Notes and Queries_, vi. 432.
[189] W. S. Simpson, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, x. p. 184.
BETROTHING AND BRIDAL OR WEDDING CUSTOMS.
BETROTHING CUSTOMS.
The common custom of breaking a piece of silver or gold (if it be
crooked, so much the luckier) between lovers of the humbler classes,
especially when the man is going to a distance, is believed to have had
its origin in a sort of betrothal or promise of marriage, much practised
amongst the ancient Danes, called _Hand-festing_, which is mentioned by
Ray in his Collection or Glossary of Northumbrian Words. It means
hand-fastening or binding. In betrothal it was also the custom to change
rings, formed of two links or hoops, called gemmel rings, from
_gemelli_, twins.
CURIOUS WEDDING CUSTOM.
An ancient custom at weddings of the poorer classes in Lancashire, and
in some parts of Cumberland, is thus described:--The Lord of the Manor,
in whose jurisdiction the marriage takes place, allowed the parties a
piece of ground for a house and garden. All their friends assembled on
the wedding-day, and the bridegroom having provided a dinner and drink,
they set to work and constructed a dwelling for the young couple, of
clay and wood, what is called post and petrel, or wattle and daub. Many
of these "clay biggins" still remain in the Fylde district and the
northern parts of Lancashire. The relatives of the pair supplied the
most necessary part of the furniture, and thus they were enabled to
"start fair" in the world.[190]
COURTING AND WEDDING CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.
On the occasion of a marriage, a christening, or a churching, each guest
either sent or presented some offering of money or food; thus providing
a sufficient stock of provisions for the entertainment without much, if
any, cost to the host. The preliminaries before marriage, the addresses
paid by the swain to his sweetheart after the day's labour was done,
were styled "the sitting-up," the night being the time allotted to
courtship, by the kitchen fire, after the other members of the family
had retired to rest. This "sitting-up" was regularly observed every
Saturday night if the lover was faithful; if otherwise, the price of the
"lant" (?) of the forsaken fair was transmitted by her to the rival
preferred by her inconstant swain. On the wedding-day, when a bride and
her "groom" left the house to have the marriage rites solemnized, some
relative or servant threw at or after the smiling pair a "shuffle"
(_Pantoufle_, an old shoe or slipper)--a custom in its origin said to be
Jewish--as a preventive of future unhappiness, an omen of good-luck and
prosperity. At the church-door an idle crowd was always ready for the
"perry,"--that is, to contest for the dole of scattered half-pence, or
if disappointed, to deprive the bride of her shawl or shoes, till some
largess was bestowed. The day was spent in the company of a merry party
of friends, who, after the ceremony of "throwing the stocking" over the
bed of the wedded pair was performed, retired to their homes.[191]
ANCIENT BRIDAL CUSTOM.--THE BRIDE'S CHAIR AND THE FAIRY HOLE.
On the lower declivity of Warton Crag, in the parish of Warton (which
abuts on Morecambe Bay and the Westmorland border), commanding a
beautiful and extended prospect of the bay, a seat called "The Bride's
Chair" was resorted to on the day of marriage by the brides of the
village; and in this seat they were enthroned with due solemnity by
their friends; but the origin and the object of the custom, which has
now fallen in disuse, are unknown. Not far from Warton Crag are three
rocking-stones placed in a line, about forty feet asunder, the largest
stone lying in the middle. A cave is also mentioned by Lucas, named "The
Fairy Hole," where dwarf spirits called Elves or Fairies, were wont to
resort.[192]
BURNLEY.
An ancient custom prevails at Burnley Grammar School, by which all
persons married at St. Peter's Church in that town are fined by the
boys. As soon as a wedding is fixed the parish clerk informs the boys,
and on the day appointed they depute two of their number to wait upon
the groomsman and demand a fee. There is no fixed sum named; but enough
is got to purchase books and maintain a tolerable library for the use of
the pupils. Former pupils always pay a liberal fine.
MARRIAGES AT MANCHESTER PARISH CHURCH.
"Th'owd Church," as the collegiate church of Manchester was provincially
designated before it attained the dignity of a cathedral, was known and
celebrated far and wide over the extensive parish. Its altar has
witnessed the joining together of thousands of happy [and unhappy]
couples. The fees here being less than those demanded at other churches,
which had to pay tribute to it, it was of course the most popular
sanctuary in the whole parish for the solemnization of matrimony. At the
expiration of Lent (during which the marriage fees are doubled) crowds
of candidates for nuptial honours present themselves; indeed so numerous
are they that the ceremony is performed by wholesale on Easter Monday. A
chaplain of facetious memory [the Rev. Joshua Brookes] is said to have
on one of these occasions accidentally united the wrong parties. When
the occurrence was represented to him, his ready reply was, "Pair as you
go out; you're all married; pair as you go out." This verbal certificate
appeared to give general satisfaction, and each bridegroom soon found
his right bride. Sir George Head, in his _Home Tour through the
Manufacturing Districts, in the summer of 1835_, thus describes what he
saw of these wholesale Monday marriages:--"I attended the Old Church at
Manchester one Monday morning, in order to witness the solemnization of
several marriages, which I had reason to suppose were then and there to
take place. I had heard on the preceding Sunday the banns proclaimed as
follows:--'For the first time of asking, 65; for the second time, 72;
for the third time, 60. Total, 197.' Having been informed that it would
be expedient to be on the spot at eight in the morning I repaired
thither at that hour. Operations, however, did not commence before ten.
The latter is the usual time of proceeding to business, although in
cases of persons married by licence 8 o'clock is the hour. When all was
ready and the church doors opened, the clergyman and clerk betook
themselves to the vestry; and the people who were about to be married,
and their friends, seated themselves in the body of the church opposite
the communion table, on benches which were placed there for the purpose.
Not less than fifty persons were assembled, among whom I took my seat
quietly, without being noticed. A party who had arrived in a narrow _vis
à vis_ fly, most exclusively paraded in the meantime up and down (as if
unwilling to identify themselves with the humbler candidates of
matrimony) in another part of the church. The people at first took their
seats in solemn silence, each one inquisitively surveying his neighbour;
but as the clergyman and clerk were some time in preparation, the men
first began to whisper one to another and the women to titter, till by
degrees they all threw off their reserve, and made audible remarks on
the new comers. There was little _mauvaise honte_ among the women, but
of the men, poor fellows! some were seriously abashed; while among the
hymeneal throng there seemed to prevail a sentiment that obtains pretty
generally among their betters, namely, inclination to put shy people out
of conceit with themselves. Thus, at the advance of a sheepish-looking
bridegroom, he was immediately assailed on all sides with 'Come in, man;
what art thou afraid of? Nobody 'll hurt thee!' And then a general laugh
went round in a repressed tone, but quite sufficient to confound and
subdue the new comer. Presently a sudden buzz broke out, 'The
clergyman's coming;' and all was perfectly silent. About twelve couples
were to be married; the rest were friends and attendants. The former
were called upon to arrange themselves all together around the altar.
The clerk was an adept in his business, and performed the duties of his
office in a mode admirably calculated to set the people at their ease
and direct the proceedings. In appointing them to their proper places,
he addressed each in an intonation of voice perfectly soft and soothing,
and which carried with it more of encouragement as he made use of no
appellative but the Christian name of the person spoken to. Thus he
proceeded:--'Daniel and Phœbe; this way, Daniel, take off your
gloves, Daniel. William and Anne; no, Anne; here, Anne; t'other side,
William. John and Mary; here, John; oh! John.' And then addressing them
all together, 'Now, all of you give your hats to some person to hold.'
Although the marriage service appeared to me (adds Sir George) to be
generally addressed to the whole party, the clergyman was scrupulously
exact in obtaining the accurate responses from each individual."
* * * * *
Many wedding customs, as the bridesmaids and best men, the wedding-ring,
the nuptial kiss in the church, the bouquet borne in the hand of the
bride, &c., the scattering of flowers in her path, the throwing of an
old shoe after her for luck, the giving gloves, &c., are of ancient
origin, and are the relics of Anglo-Saxon or Danish usages.
FOOTNOTES:
[190] Hampson's _Medii Ævi Kalend._ i. 289.
[191] See Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_.
[192] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.
DYING, DEATH-BED, AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS.
DYING HARDLY.
Persons are said to "die hardly," as the phrase is, meaning to be
unable to expire, when there are pigeons' feathers in the bed. Some will
not allow dying persons to lie on a feather-bed, because they hold that
it very much increases their pain and suffering, and actually retards
their departure. On the other hand, there is a superstitious feeling
that it is a great misfortune, nay, even a _judgment_, not to die in a
bed.
BURYING IN WOOLLEN.
By a statute of 30 Car. II., stat. I, cap. 3 (1678), entitled "An act
for the lessening the importation of linen from beyond the seas, and the
encouragement of the woollen and paper manufactures of the kingdom," it
is enacted that the curate of every parish shall keep a register, to be
provided at the charge of the parish, wherein to enter all burials and
affidavits of persons being buried in woollen; the affidavit to be taken
by any justice of the peace, mayor, or such like chief officer, in the
parish where the body was interred; and if there be no officer, then by
any curate within the city where the corpse was buried (except him in
whose parish the corpse was buried), who must administer the oath and
set his hand gratis. No affidavit to be necessary for a person dying of
the plague. It imposes a fine of £5 for every infringement; one half to
go to the informer, and the other half to the poor of the parish. This
act was repealed by the 54 Geo. III. cap. 108 (1814). In the parish of
Prestwich, the first entry in the book provided for such purposes was in
August, 1678; and there is no entry later than 1681, which appears also
to be the limit of the act's observance in the adjacent parish of
Radcliffe; where the entries immediately follow the record of the burial
itself in the registers, and not in a separate book as at Prestwich.
Under the year 1679, is the following entry in the parish register of
Radcliffe:--
"An orphan of Ralph Mather's, of Radcliffe, was buried the 9th day of
April, and certified to be wound up in woollen only, under the hand of
Mr. William Hulme."
In the churchwardens' accounts of Prestwich, for the year 1681, is the
following item of receipt:--
"Received a fine of James Crompton, for burying his son, and not
bringing in an affidavit, according to the act for burying in woollen,
£2 10_s._"[193]
FUNERAL DOLE AND ARVAL CAKE.
In Lancashire, the funeral was formerly celebrated with great profusion
in meats and drinks, to which was added in those of the richer sort,
what was called a penny dole, or promiscuous distribution of that sum,
anciently delivered in silver to the poor. The effect of this custom,
says Lucas (as quoted by Dr. Whitaker[194]) was such, that he had seen
many "who would rather go seven or eight miles to a penny dole, than
earn sixpence in the same time by laudable industry." This custom of
distributing a small money alms or dole at funerals still existed in
parts of Lancashire within the last fifty years. One sexagenarian
informant told the writer that, when a lad, he went to the funeral of a
Mr. D., in the hamlet of Swinton, parish of Eccles, and there was what
he called "a _dow_, gi'en to every lad and every wench [boy or girl] as
went, far and near,--a penny a-piece; and them as carrit a choilt
[carried a child] had tuppence." Usually at country funerals, after the
interment, the relations first, and next their attendants, threw into
the grave sprigs of bay, rosemary, or other odoriferous evergreens,
which had been previously distributed amongst them. In some cases, a
messenger went round the neighbourhood, "bidding" parties to the
funeral, and at each house where he gave the invitation, he left a sprig
of rosemary, &c. After the rites at the grave, the company adjourned to
a neighbouring public-house, where they were severally presented with a
cake and ale, which was called an _arval_. This word seems to have
greatly puzzled Dr. Whitaker. It is the Sueo-Gothic _arföl_, which is a
compound of _arf_, inheritance, and _öl_, ale,--expressive of a feast
given by the heir, at the funeral, on succeeding to the estate. The
feast and its name were imparted to us by the Danes, whose _arfwöl_ is
described by Olaus Wormius as a solemn banquet, celebrated by kings and
nobles, in honour of deceased relations, whom they are succeeding.
DALTON-IN-FURNESS.
The most singular mode of conducting funerals prevails at this place. A
full meal of bread and cheese and ale is provided at the funeral house;
and, after the corpse is interred the parish clerk proclaims, at the
grave-side, that the company must repair to some appointed public-house.
Arrived there, they sit down by fours together, and each four is served
with two quarts of ale.[195] One half of this is paid for by the
conductor of the funeral, and the other half by the company. While they
are drinking the ale, the waiter goes round with cakes, serving out one
to each guest, which he is expected to carry home.[196]
OLD FUNERAL CUSTOMS AT WARTON.
A singular practice, which was growing obsolete in the time of Lucas
(says Dr. Whitaker) once prevailed in the parish of Warton; which was,
that most householders were furnished with a kind of family pall, or
finely wrought coverlet, to be laid over the bier when the corpse was
carried to church. Amongst other funeral customs at Warton, were the
great feasting and drinking; the funeral dole, distributed to the poor;
the casting of odoriferous herbs into the grave; and the cake and
_arval_-ale, already described, pp. 270, 271, _suprâ_.[197]
FUNERAL CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.
When the last offices of respect to a departed friend or neighbour were
to be rendered, a whole district, called "their side" of the country,
was "bidden" or invited to assist in carrying the remains to their
narrow home. At a stated hour the crowd assembled, not to mourn with
widowed wife or weeping children, but to consume ale and tobacco, and to
talk over their farms or trade till all was in readiness to depart for
the completion of the obsequies. A particular order was observed. From
the door of his former home, and into, and out of, the church, the
corpse was carried on the shoulders of four of his relatives--his
nearest kinsman, the chief mourner, walking in front with the clergyman.
At the close of the ceremony, after the sprigs of box or rosemary had
been deposited on the coffin, each person also adding a sprinkling of
dust, the rough voice of the parish clerk was heard grating harshly in
that solemn moment, inviting the "bidden" to show further their respect
to the deceased by partaking of a dinner provided at the village inn.
How the day terminated may be supposed, and indeed was a matter of sad
notoriety. Indeed, it was not very unusual to see those who were to
convey the dead to the sepulchre, tottering from intoxication under
their sad burden. The best features of these old-time funerals were that
doles in money were distributed to the aged and the very young; the poor
were fed, and sometimes warm cloaks or other useful articles of attire
were given, to be worn in memory of the departed.[198] Fifty-five years
ago, says Mr. Thornber, writing in 1837, the more respectable portion of
the inhabitants of Poulton were buried by candle-light--a custom long
observed by some of the oldest families in the town. It was regarded as
a sacred duty to expose a lighted candle in the window of every house as
the corpse passed through the streets towards the church for interment;
and he was poor indeed who did not pay this tribute of respect to the
dead. So late as 1813 this church was strewed with rushes.
MODE OF BURIAL OF A WIDOW WHO HAD TAKEN RELIGIOUS VOWS.
A daughter of William Balderstone, of Balderstone, in her widowhood,
makes a will of which the following is the commencement:--"Seventh day
of January, 1497. I, Dame Jane Pilkington, widow, make and ordain this
my last will and testament: First, I bequeath my bodye to be buried in
y^e Nunnes Quire of Monketon, in my habit, holding my hand upon my
breast, with my ring upon my finger, having taken in my resolves the
mantel and the ring," &c.[199]
FUNERAL CUSTOMS IN EAST LANCASHIRE.
In _Nicholas Assheton's Journal_, he mentions that the corpse of a Mrs.
Starkie was carried to church by four relatives; there was a sermon, and
afterwards dinner, forty messes being provided for. On this, Dr.
Whitaker remarks:--"An ancient usage. The nearest relations always took
up the corpse at the door; and once more, if the distance was
considerable, at the church gates. By forty messes, I suppose are to be
understood so many dishes of meat." The editor (the Rev. Canon Raines)
adds:--"This custom, which appears to be quite patriarchal, is still
prevalent in some of the country parishes in South Lancashire. The
custom of preaching funeral sermons on the day of the burial is now
exploded, although so recently as 1776 the vicar of one of the largest
parishes in Lancashire (Rev. John White, B.A., of Blackburn), objected
to the building of a church in his parish unless he had 'some
compensation made for the funeral sermons to be preached in it.'[200] I
should rather understand the forty messes to be dinners provided for
forty persons, although funerals in Lancashire at this period were
conducted on a scale of prodigality scarcely to be conceived." [_The
House and Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths_ give examples of three
burial customs--that of a dole to the poor; at one place 40_s._ 7_d._,
at another 57_s._ 4_d._, at a third 47_s._ 8_d._ (?) a penny to each
person; that of payment to the clergyman for a funeral sermon, in one
case 5_s._; and that of providing dinners for the mourners, chiefly for
those from a distance, in one case twenty-four messes of meat cost
58_s._ 8_d._; in another instance seventy dined at 6_d._ the mess or
meal, seventy-six and sixty-five at 5_d._; in all 211 persons attending
one funeral.--EDS.]
BIDDING TO FUNERALS.
Previously to the formation of cemeteries, and the employment of
omnibus-hearses, it was customary to invite large numbers to attend
funerals. Guests were invited by _dozens_; and as each entered the house
where the deceased lay, he was met at the door by a female attendant
habited in black, and wearing a white apron, who offered him spiced
liquor from a silver tankard. In the house each person was presented
with a bun and a slice of currant bread. When the time for closing up
the coffin arrived, each took his last look at the corpse and presented
a shilling, or more, to the nearest relative of the deceased; who always
sat at the head of the coffin for this purpose. In the neighbourhoods of
Little Hulton, Peel Yate, Walkden Moor, &c., it was till of late years
the custom for two persons to be nominated as "bidders" of guests to a
funeral. These went to the various houses of the persons to be invited,
and presented to each a sprig of rosemary; which the guest wore or
carried in the hand at the funeral. This inviting or "bidding" was
usually called "lating" or "lathing;" from the A.-S. verb _Lathian_, to
invite, bid, or send for.
SITUATION AND DIRECTION OF GRAVES.