Wakes were originally established to commemorate the erection of the
church in the parish where they were held. They were then celebrated on
the Sunday, and the parson did not deem it "unworthy his high vocation"
to enjoy a gambol on the village-green after the morning service. In the
larger towns, most of the churches had weekly fairs or markets attached
to them, these also being held on the Sabbath. As late as the
commencement of the fourteenth century, Wolverhampton had a market
every Sunday morning, the shingles being arranged round the old
Collegiate Church; and when the voice of worship ceased, the Babel of
the Fair began. During the fourteenth century, however, the custom of
holding Sunday markets was abolished, but the village Wake continued to
be celebrated on the sacred day, until the commencement of the present
century. The leading diversions of Wake-time in this district were, as
is pretty generally known, bull and badger baiting, cock-fighting,
pigeon-flying, boxing, running, and wrestling. There is, we think, a
very fair standard of comparison between past and present, presented to
us in the subject of Wake festivals; and for this reason we have thought
it worth while briefly to compare Wake-time in the Black Country half a
century ago with the corresponding season now. We think it will be
allowed that, after taking into consideration all educational and other
advantages, there has been a progress towards social and moral
excellence among our working men and women which is deserving of all
praise.
The traditions of Bull-baiting, Cock-fighting, and other exhibitions of
brutality which characterised Wakes in this district forty or fifty
years ago, have in many cases been so distorted and magnified by
frequent repetition that they can no longer be accepted as truthful
pictures of the festivals which it was the humour of our ancestors to
establish and be pleased with.
During the past half-century, there have been some brutal exhibitions of
this class. In the _Staffordshire Advertiser_, November 23, 1833, we
read of bulls being shockingly tortured in the neighbourhood of Dudley.
At Rowley Regis, a two-year-old bull was worried most brutally, his
horns being torn off, and his head and face mangled in the most
appalling manner.
In the following year the _Wolverhampton Chronicle_ publishes this
intelligence:--"At Wilhenhall Wakes, two bulls were baited in the
streets of that town, and more than usual cruelty was displayed on the
occasion, as one of the bulls died on the night after being baited." At
Darlaston Wakes, about the same period, three bulls, three bears, and
two badgers underwent baiting simultaneously; to say nothing of dog and
cock fights.
These instances might, of course, be multiplied by records of each town
in the district, but they will suffice to show the extent of the
barbarity which distinguished the Wakes of our forefathers. The
ludicrous was sometimes associated with the cruelties in these scenes.
At Tipton on one occasion, the bull broke loose, and, dashing madly
through the crowd, entered the open door of a house, at whose fire a
huge piece of Wake beef was roasting. From the force of habit, the bull
tossed the smoking joint to the ceiling, and disappeared, to the great
joy of the affrighted inmate. On another occasion, at Bloxwich, some wag
stole the bull at midnight, and when the excited crowd assembled on the
morrow, from all parts of the district, they were doomed to
disappointment. The circumstance gave rise to a local proverb still in
use. When great expectations are baffled, the circumstance is
instinctively likened to "the Bloxwich bull." The remembrance of this
barbarous pastime is perpetuated in the topographical nomenclature of
the district, where, following the example of Birmingham, almost every
town and village has its Bull King.
The stronghold of Cock-fighting was at Wednesbury, where the "cookings"
were resorted to by persons from all parts of the kingdom. In a
_Directory of Walsall_, 1813, we read:--"The cockpit is situate on the
left-hand side of the entrance into Park Street, from Digbeth, at the
bottom of a yard belonging to Mr. Fox, known by the sign of the New Inn.
It is spacious and much frequented at the Wakes, at which period only it
is used."
The minor sports and pastimes were the interludes between the tragedies,
and served to complete the day's programme of the Black Country
Wake-time. Forty years ago it was dangerous to pass through a town
during the Wakes. The inhabitants who took active part in these sports
were so infuriated with drink and excitement, and their feelings were so
hardened by scenes of torture, that they regarded neither the limb nor
life of any who happened to offend them. There was no amusement provided
either for young or old but the most vicious and degrading, and the
Wakes seldom passed by without some other blood than that of bulls being
spilt--the blood of comrades, and too frequently of wives and children,
who dared to remonstrate with a furious husband and father in his
orgies.
Happily, modern Wakes have been divested of nearly all the
characteristics of the olden festivals. The only vestiges which
distinguish them are the booths, clowns, and drinking bouts; and these
amusements are only indulged in by children and the lowest class of the
population. Among the features recently introduced in connexion with
district Wakes may be enumerated out-door fêtes, flower-shows, bazaars,
and excursions. Temperance Societies and Working Men's Institutes select
Wake-time for their celebrations. Two of the most successful exhibitions
ever held in the district were inaugurated at the Wakes of Willenhall,
in 1857, and at those of Bilston a year or two later, both in connexion
with the progress of popular education. The Right Hon. C. P. Villiers,
M.P. who was present on both occasions, and who knew this district in
its dark days, took occasion to compare the former Wake times with the
present, as an evidence of the social advancement of the Black Country.
The cultivation of cottage window-flowers, now happily so general
throughout the same district, is another refining agency, which has
helped in no small degree to root out the love for grosser sports among
the people. But, perhaps, the most powerful agent in improving the
character of modern Wakes is the influence of popular excursions. The
district is fortunate in its situation in this respect. Within easy
distance are the lawns and flowers of Enville, Hagley, Shugborough, and
Teddesley, which it is the delight of their noble owners to place at the
service of our working men and women; and the more recent facilities for
locomotion have also placed the Malvern slopes and Southport sands
within their reach. Wake-times are therefore now become seasons of
excursions, when hard-working men quit the factory bench and the dark
mine, to delight and refine their inner manhood with views of Nature's
fairest works. This, we think, is one great step towards the development
of a love for art among the artisans of our utilitarian district; and
Wake-times so spent will assuredly exert an influence for good through
the remainder of the year.[61]
Nevertheless, the Wakes are still disgraced by sad scenes of
intoxication and other excesses: the agencies of education and religion
are not working in vain in the district; let us hope that the progress,
though slow, may be sure.