Maundy Thursday is always the Thursday before Easter; its name has
occasioned some trouble to antiquaries. One writer conceives _maundy_ to
be corrupted from the _mandate_ of Christ to his disciples to break
bread in remembrance of him: or from his other _mandate_, after he had
washed their feet, to _love one another_.[45] With better reason it is
conceived to be derived from the Saxon word _mand_, which afterwards
became _maund_, a name for a basket, and subsequently for any gift or
offering contained in the basket. Thus Shakspeare says, “a thousand
favours from her _maund_ she drew:” and Hall in his satires, speaks of
“a _maund_ charged with household merchandize:” so also Drayton tells of
“a little _maund_ being made of osiers small;” and Herrick says,
“Behold, for us, the naked graces stay
With _maunds_ of roses, for to strew the way.”
The same poet speaks of _maundie_ at alms:
“All’s gone, and death hath taken
Away from us
Our _maundie_, thus
The widdowes stand forsaken.”
Thus then, “_Maundy Thursday_, the day preceding Good Friday, on which
the king distributes alms to a certain number of poor persons at
Whitehall, is so named from the _maunds_ in which the gifts were
contained.”[46]
According to annual custom, on Maundy Thursday, 1814, the royal
donations were distributed at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. In the
morning, Dr. Carey, the sub-almoner, and Mr. Hanby, the secretary to the
lord high almoner, Mr. Nost, and others belonging to the lord
chamberlain’s office, attended by a party of the yeomen of the guard,
distributed to seventy-five poor women, and seventy-five poor men, being
as many as the king was years old, a quantity of salt fish, consisting
of salmon, cod, and herrings, pieces of very fine beef, five loaves of
bread, and some ale to drink the king’s health. Mr. Hanby gave notice
that in future their cases must be certified by the minister of the
parish, by order of the lord almoner. At three o’clock they assembled
again, the men on one side the chapel, and the women on the other. A
procession entered, of those engaged in the ceremony, consisting of a
party of yeoman of the guard, one of them carrying a large gold dish on
his head, containing 150 bags, with seventy-five silver pennies in each,
for the poor people, which was placed in the royal closet. They were
followed by the sub-almoner in his robes, with a sash of fine linen over
his shoulder and crossing his waist. He was followed by two boys, two
girls, the secretary, and another gentleman, with similar sashes, &c.
&c., all carrying large nosegays. The church evening service was then
performed, at the conclusion of which the silver pennies were
distributed, and woollen cloth, linen, shoes and stockings, to the men
and women, and a cup of wine to drink the king’s health.
Anciently, on Maundy Thursday, the kings and queens of England washed
and kissed the feet of as many poor men and women as they were years
old, besides bestowing their _maundy_ on each. This was in imitation of
Christ washing his disciples’ feet. Queen Elizabeth performed this at
Greenwich, when she was thirty-nine years old, on which occasion the
feet of the same number of poor persons were first washed by the yeomen
of the laundry with warm water and sweet herbs, afterwards by the
sub-almoner, and lastly, by the queen herself; the person who washed,
making each time a cross on the pauper’s foot above the toes, and
kissing it. This ceremony was performed by the queen, kneeling, being
attended by thirty-nine ladies and gentlewomen. Clothes, victuals, and
money were then distributed among the poor.[47] James II. is said to
have been the last of our monarchs who performed this ceremony in
person. It was afterwards performed by the almoner. On the 5th of April,
1731, it being Maundy Thursday, the king being then in his forty-eighth
year, there was distributed at the Banquetting-house, Whitehall, to
forty-eight poor men and forty-eight poor women, boiled beef and
shoulders of mutton, and small bowls of ale, which is called dinner;
after that, large wooden platters of fish and loaves, viz. undressed,
one large old ling, and one large dried cod; twelve red herrings, and
twelve white herrings, and four half quartern loaves. Each person had
one platter of this provision; after which was distributed to them
shoes, stockings, linen and woollen cloth, and leathern bags, with
one-penny, two-penny, three-penny, and four-penny pieces of silver, and
shillings; to each about four pounds in value. His grace, the lord
archbishop of York, lord high almoner, performed the annual ceremony of
washing the feet of the poor in the Royal Chapel, Whitehall, as was
formerly done by the kings themselves.[48]
This day was also called _Shere Thursday_, and by corruption _Chare_
Thursday. Shere Thursday signified that it was the day whereon the
clergy were wont to shere or shear their heads, or get them shorn or
shaven, and to clip their beards against Easter-day.[49] In the
miraculous legend of St. Brandon it is related that he sailed with his
monks to the island of sheep, “and on _sherethursdaye_, after souper, he
wesshe theyr feet and kyssed them lyke as our lorde dyd to his
dyscyples.”[50] Maundy Thursday is nowhere observed in London except, as
before stated, at the Chapel Royal.
[45] Dunton’s British Apollo.
[46] Archdeacon Nares’s “Glossary,” wherein the authorities briefly
cited above are set forth at large.
[47] Gentleman’s Magazine.
[48] Lambarde.
[49] Brand’s Pop. Antiq. Nares’s Glossary, _Chare_ and _shere_.
[50] Golden Legend.
~Good Friday.~
A Holiday at all the Public Offices.
This and Christmas-day are the only two close holidays now observed
throughout London, by the general shutting up of shops, and the opening
of all the churches. The dawn is awakened by a cry in the streets of
“Hot-cross-buns; one-a-penny buns, two-a-penny buns; one-a-penny,
two-a-penny, hot-cross-buns!” This proceeds from some little
“peep-o’-day boy,” willing to take the “top of the morning” before the
rest of his compeers. He carries his covered buns in a basket hanging on
one arm, while his other hand is straightened like an open door, at the
side of his mouth, to let forth his childish voice, and he “pipes and
trebles _out_ the sound” to the extremity of his lungs. Scarcely has he
departed before others come; “another and another still succeeds,” and
at last the whole street is in one “common cry of _buns_.” Old men and
young men, young women and old women, big children and little children,
are engaged in this occupation, and “some cry now who never cried
before.” The bun-venders who eclipse the rest in voice and activity, are
young women who drive fruit-barrows--barrows, by the bye, are no more,
but of them by and bye. A couple of these ex-barrow-women trip along,
carrying a wicker clothes-basket between them, in which the
“hot-cross-buns” are covered, first by a clean flannel or green baize,
and outwardly by a clean white cloth, which coverings are slowly and
partially removed, for fear of letting the buns cool, when a customer
stops to buy, or calls them to the door. They continue their lengthened
cry, with a volume of concerted sound, unequalled by other rivals in the
ephemeral Good Friday trade. These scenes and sounds continue till
church-time, and resume in the afternoon. It partially commences on the
evening before Good Friday, but with little success.
Some thirty or forty years ago pastrycooks and bakers vied with each
other for excellence in making hot-cross-buns; the demand has decreased,
and so has the quality of the buns. But the great place of attraction
for bun-eaters at that time was Chelsea; for _there_ were the two
“_royal_ bun-houses.” Before and along the whole length of the long
front of each, stood a flat-roofed, neat, wooden portico or piazza of
the width of the foot-path, beneath which shelter “from summer’s heat
and winter’s cold,” crowds of persons assembled to scramble for a chance
of purchasing “royal hot cross Chelsea buns,” within a reasonable time;
and several hundreds of square black tins, with dozens of hot buns on
each tin, were disposed of in every hour from a little after six in the
morning, till after the same period in the evening of Good Friday.
Those who knew what was good, better than new comers, gave the
preference to the “old _original_ royal bun-house,” which had been a
_bun_-house “ever since it was a house,” and at which “the king himself
once _stopped_,” and who could say as much for the other? This was the
conclusive tale at the door, and from within the doors, of the “old
original bun-house.” Alas! and alack! there is _that_ house _now_; and
there is the house that was opened as its rival; but where are ye who
contributed to their renown and custom, among the apprentices and
journeymen, and the little comfortable tradesmen of the metropolis, and
their wives and children--where are ye? With ye hath the fame of
“Chelsea buns” departed, and the “royal bun-houses” are little more
distinguished than the humble graves wherein ye rest.
* * * * *
Formerly “hot-cross-buns” were commonly eaten in London by families at
breakfast, and some families still retain the usage. They are of the
usual form of buns; though they are distinguished from them inwardly by
a sweeter taste, and the flavour of all-spice, and outwardly by the mark
or sign of the cross. The “hot-_cross_-bun” is the most popular symbol
of the Roman catholic religion in England that the reformation has left.
Of the use of the cross, as a mark or sign in papal worship and
devotion, most readers are aware; for it has been insisted on by Roman
catholic writers from the days of Constantine to Alban Butler himself,
who giving example of its great virtue on Good Friday, says, “to add one
more instance, out of many, St. Teresa assures us, in her own life, that
one day the devil, by a phantom, appeared to sit on the letters of her
book, to disturb her at her devotions; but she drove him away _thrice_
by the sign of the cross, and at last sprinkled the book with holy
water; after which he returned no more.”[51] In the houses of some
ignorant people, a Good Friday bun is still kept “for luck,” and
sometimes there hangs from the ceiling a hard biscuit-like cake of open
_cross_-work, baked on a Good Friday, to remain there till displaced on
the next Good Friday by one of similar make; and of this the editor of
the _Every-Day Book_ has heard affirmed, that “it preserves the house
from fire;” “no fire ever happened in a house that had one.” This
undoubtedly is a relic of the old superstition; as is also a vulgar
notion in the west of England, that the straight stripe down the
shoulders of the ass, intersected by the long one from the neck to the
tail, is a _cross_ of honour conferred upon him by Christ, and that
before Christ rode upon the ass, that animal was not so distinguished.
Hot-cross-buns are the ecclesiastical _Eulogiæ_, or consecrated loaves,
bestowed in the church as alms, and to those who from any impediment
could not receive the host. They are made from the dough from whence the
host itself is taken, and are given by the priest to the people after
mass, just before the congregation is dismissed, and are kissed before
they are eaten. They are marked with the cross as our Good Friday buns
are. Winckelman relates this remarkable fact, that at Herculaneum were
found two entire loaves of the same size, a palm and a half, or five
inches in diameter. They were marked by a _cross_, within which were
four other lines; and so the bread of the Greeks was marked from the
earliest periods. Sometimes it had only four lines, and then it was
called _quadra_. This bread had rarely any other mark than a cross,
which was on purpose to divide and break it more easily.[52]
The _Tenebræ_, a Roman catholic service signifying _darkness_, is
performed on and before _Good Friday_, to denote the circumstances and
darkness at the crucifixion. This is partly symbolized by a triangular
candlestick with fourteen yellow wax candles and one white one, seven of
these yellow candles being on one side, the seven other yellow ones on
the other side, and the white wax candle being at the top. The fourteen
yellow candles represent the eleven apostles, the virgin Mary, and the
women that were with her at the crucifixion; the white candle at the top
is to represent Christ. Fourteen psalms are sung, and at the end of each
psalm one of the yellow candles is put out till the whole fourteen are
extinguished, and the white candle alone left alight. After this and the
extinction of the light on the altar, “the white candle is taken down
from the top of the triangular candlestick, and hid under the altar.”
The putting out of the fourteen candles is to denote the flight or
mourning of the apostles and the women; and the hiding of the white
candle denotes that Christ is in the sepulchre; then a noise is made by
beating the desks or books, and by beating the floor with the hands and
feet, and this noise is to represent the earthquake and the splitting of
the rocks at the crucifixion.[53]
In the church of St. Peter’s at Rome on Good Friday, the hundred burning
lamps on the tomb of St. Peter are extinguished, and a stupendous
illuminated cross depends from the immense dome of the cathedral, as if
it hung self-supported. But to relate the papal ceremonies pertaining to
the fast of lent, and its ensuing festival, would fill volumes of this
size, and we hasten from the devices of men to contemplate works which
all his art is incompetent to rival.
Nature! to me, thou art more beautiful
In thy most simple forms, than all that man
Hath made, with all his genius, and his power
Of combination: for he cannot raise
One structure, pinnacled, or domed, or gemm’d,
By architectural rule, or cunning hand,
Like to the smallest plant, or flower, or leaf,
Which living hath a tongue, that doth discourse
Most eloquent of Him, the great Creator
Of all living things. Man’s makings fail
To tell of aught but this, that he, the framer
Sought also to create, and fail’d, because
No life can he impart, or breath infuse,
To give inertness being.
[51] Butler’s Moveable Feasts, 1774, 8vo. p. 379.
[52] Fosbroke’s Brit. Monach. Herculaneum it will be remembered was
overwhelmed and destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius,
A. D. 79.
[53] Butler’s Moveable Feasts.
[Illustration: APRIL.]
Next came fresh April, full of lustyhed,
And wanton as a kid whose horne new buds;
Upon a bull he rode, the same which led
Europa floting through th’ Argolick fluds:
His horns were gilden all with golden studs,
And garnished with garlands goodly dight
Of all the fairest flowers and freshest buds
Which th’ earth brings forth; and wet he seem’d in sight
With waves, through which he waded for his love’s delight.
_Spenser._
This is the fourth month of the year. Its Latin name is _Aprilis_, from
_aperio_, to open or set forth. The Saxons called it, _Oster_ or
_Eastermonath_, in which month, the feast of the Saxon goddess,
_Eastre_, _Easter_, or _Eoster_ is said to have been celebrated.[54]
April, with us, is sometimes represented as a girl clothed in green,
with a garland of myrtle and hawthorn buds; holding in one hand
primroses and violets, and in the other the zodiacal sign, Taurus, or
the bull, into which constellation the sun enters during this month. The
Romans consecrated the first of April to Venus, the goddess of beauty,
the mother of love, the queen of laughter, the mistress of the graces;
and the Roman widows and virgins assembled in the temple of Virile
Fortune, and disclosing their personal deformities, prayed the goddess
to conceal them from their husbands.[55]
In this month the business of creation seems resumed. The vital spark
rekindles in dormant existences; and all things “live, and move, and
have their being.” The earth puts on her livery to await the call of her
lord; the air breathes gently on his cheek, and conducts to his ear the
warblings of the birds, and the odours of new-born herbs and flowers;
the great eye of the world “sees and shines” with bright and gladdening
glances; the waters teem with life, man himself feels the revivifying
and all-pervading influence; and his
---- spirit holds communion sweet
With the brighter spirits of the sky.
[54] Sayer’s Disquisitions.
[55] Lempriere.
~April 1.--All Fools’ Day.~
_St. Hugh_, Bp. A. D. 1132. _St. Melito_, Bp. A. D. 175. _St.
Gilbert_, Bp. of Cathness, A. D. 1240.
On the first of April, 1712, Lord Bolingbroke stated, that in the wars,
called the “glorious wars of queen Anne,” the duke of Marlborough had
not lost a single battle--and yet, that the French had carried their
point, the succession to the Spanish monarchy, the pretended cause of
these wars. Dean Swift called this statement “a due donation for ‘_All
Fools’ Day_!’”
On the first of April, 1810, Napoleon married Maria Louisa, archduchess
of Austria, on which occasion some of the waggish Parisians called him
“_un poisson d’Avril_,” a term which answers to our _April fool_. On the
occasion of his nuptials, Napoleon struck a medal, with Love bearing a
thunderbolt for its device.
It is customary on this day for boys to practise jocular deceptions.
When they succeed, they laugh at the person whom they think they have
rendered ridiculous, and exclaim, “_Ah! you April fool!_”
[Illustration: AH! YOU APRIL FOOL!]
_Thirty_ years ago, when buckles were worn in shoes, a boy would meet a
person in the street with--“Sir, if you please, your shoe’s
_unbuckled_,” and the moment the accosted individual looked towards his
feet, the informant would cry--“Ah! you April fool!” _Twenty_ years ago,
when buckles were wholly disused, the urchin-cry was--“Sir, your shoe’s
_untied_;” and if the shoe-wearer lowered his eyes, he was hailed, as
his buckled predecessor had been, with the said--“Ah! you April fool!”
Now, when neither buckles nor strings are worn, because in the year 1825
no decent man “has a _shoe_ to his foot,” the waggery of the day
is--“Sir, there’s something _out_ of your pocket.” “Where?” “There!”
“What?” “Your _hand_, sir--Ah! you April fool!” Or else some lady is
humbly bowed to, and gravely addressed with “Ma’am, I beg your pardon,
but you’ve _something on your face_!” “Indeed, my man! what is it?”
“Your _nose_, ma’am--Ah! you April fool!”
The tricks that youngsters play off on the _first of April_ are various
as their fancies. One, who has yet to know the humours of the day, they
send to a cobbler’s for a pennyworth of the best “stirrup oil;” the
cobbler receives the money, and the novice receives a hearty cut or two
from the cobbler’s strap: if he does not, at the same time, obtain the
information that he is “an April fool,” he is sure to be acquainted with
it on returning to his companions. The like knowledge is also gained by
an errand to some shop for half a pint of “pigeon’s milk,” or an inquiry
at a bookseller’s for the “Life and Adventures of Eve’s Mother.”
Then, in-door young ones club their wicked wits,
And almost frighten servants into fits--
“Oh, John! James! John!--oh, quick! oh! Molly, oh
Oh, the trap-door! oh, Molly! down below!”
“What, what’s the matter!” scream, with wild surprise
John, James, and Molly, while the young ones’ cries
Redouble till they come; then all the boys
Shout “Ah! you April fools!” with clamorous noise;
And little girls enticed down stairs to see,
Stand peeping, clap their hands, and cry “te-hee!”
Each gibing boy escapes a different way,
And meet again some trick, “as good as that,” to play.
*
Much is written concerning the custom of fool-making on the first of
April, but with this result only, that it is very ancient and very
general.[56] As a better opportunity will occur hereafter, nothing will
be said here respecting “fools” by profession.
The practice of making fools on this day in North Britain, is usually
exercised by sending a person from place to place by means of a letter,
in which is written
“On the first day of April
Hunt the _gowk_ another mile.”
This is called “hunting the _gowk_;” and the bearer of the “fools’
errand” is called an “April _gowk_.” Brand says, that _gowk_ is properly
a _cuckoo_, and is used here _metaphorically_ for a fool; this appears
correct; for from the Saxon “_geac_, a cuckoo,” is derived _geck_,[57]
which means “one easily imposed on.” Malvolio, who had been “made a
_fool_” by a letter, purporting to have been written by Olivia, inquires
of her
“Why have you suffered me to be--
--Made the most notorious _geck_ and _gull_
That e’er invention play’d on?”
Olivia affirms, that the letter was not written by her, and exclaims to
Malvolio
“Alas, poor _fool_! how have they baffled thee!”
_Geck_ is likewise derivable “from the Teutonic _geck_, _jocus_.”[58]
The “April fool” is among the Swedes. Toreen, one of their travellers,
says, “We set sail on the first of April, and the wind made _April
fools_ of us, for we were forced to return before Shagen.” On the Sunday
and Monday preceding Lent, people are privileged at Lisbon to play the
_fool_: it is thought very jocose to pour water on any person who
passes, or throw powder in his face; but to do both is the perfection of
wit.[59] The Hindoos also at their Huli festival keep a general holiday
on the 31st of March, and one subject of diversion is to send people on
errands and expeditions that are to end in disappointment, and raise a
laugh at the expense of the persons sent. Colonel Pearce says, that
“high and low join in it; and,” he adds, “the late Suraja Doulah, I am
told, was very fond of making Huli fools, though he was a mussulman of
the highest rank. They carry the joke here (in India) so far, as to send
letters making appointments, in the name of persons, who, it is known,
must be absent from their house at the time fixed upon; and the laugh is
always in proportion to the trouble given.”[60]
The _April fool_ among the French is called “_un poisson d’Avril_.”
Their transformation of the term is not well accounted for, but their
customs on the day are similar to ours. In one instance a “joke” was
carried too far. At Paris, on the 1st of April, 1817, a young lady
pocketed a watch in the house of a friend. She was arrested the same
day, and taken before the correctional police, when being charged with
the fact, she said it was an April trick (_un poisson d’Avril_.) She was
asked whether the watch was in her custody? She denied it; but a
messenger was sent to her apartment, and it was found on the
chimney-place. Upon which the young lady said, she had made the
messenger _un poisson d’Avril_, “an April fool.” The pleasantry,
however, did not end so happily, for the young lady was jocularly
recommended to remain in the house of correction till the 1st of April,
1818, and then to be discharged as _un poisson d’Avril_.[61]
* * * * *
It must not be forgotten, that the practice of “making April fool” in
England, is often indulged by persons of maturer years, and in a more
agreeable way. There are some verses that pleasantly exemplify this:[62]
_To a_ LADY, _who threatened to make the_ AUTHOR _an_ APRIL FOOL.
Why strive, dear girl, to make a fool
Of one not wise before,
Yet, having ’scaped from folly’s school,
Would fain go there no more?
Ah! if I must to school again,
Wilt thou my teacher be?
I’m sure no lesson will be vain
Which thou canst give to me.
One of thy kind and gentle looks,
Thy smiles devoid of art,
Avail, beyond all crabbed books,
To regulate my heart.
Thou need’st not call some fairy elf,
On any April-day,
To make thy bard forget himself,
Or wander from his way.
One thing he never can forget,
Whatever change may be,
The sacred hour when first he met
And fondly gazed on thee.
A seed then fell into his breast;
Thy spirit placed it there:
Need I, my Julia, tell the rest?
Thou seest the blossoms here.
* * * * *