[57] The staple of this paper is selected and condensed from a series of
learned articles, entitled "The Rights, Disabilities, and Usages of the
Ancient English Peasantry;" in the _Law Magazine and Law Review_,
published by Messrs. Butterworth. Some of the ancient law terms have
been omitted, in order to better adapt this abstract for popular
reading.
[58] In our day, the beadle is most familiar to us as an officer of the
church. Formerly, one of his duties was a strange one. We read of the
beadle, in a church, going round the edifice during service, carrying a
long staff, at one end of which was a fox's brush, and at the other a
knob: with the former, he gently tickled the faces of the female
sleepers, while on the heads of their male compeers he bestowed with the
knob a terrible rap.
At Acton church, in Cheshire, some five and twenty years ago, one of the
churchwardens, or the apparitor, used to go round the church during
service, with a long wand in his hand; and if any of the congregation
were asleep, they were instantly awoke by a tap on the head.
In the church at Dunchurch, a similar custom existed: a person, having a
stout wand, shaped like a hay-fork at the end, stept stealthily up and
down the naves and aisles, and whenever he saw an individual asleep, he
touched him so effectually, that the spell was broken; this being
sometimes done by fitting the fork to the nape of the neck.