Chapter XVI: Preface (16)

The ancient custom of providing children with a large apple on Allhallows Eve is still observed to a great extent at St. Ives. “Allan Day,” as it is termed, is the day of days to hundreds of children who would deem it a great misfortune were they to go to bed on Allan night without the time honoured allan apple to hide beneath their pillows. A large quantity of apples are thus disposed of, the sale of which is dignified by the term Allan Market.--Hunt’s _Romances of the West of England_, 1871, p. 388.

LANCASHIRE.

In Lancashire, says Hampson (_Med. Ævi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 365), it was formerly believed that witches assembled on this night to do “their deeds without a name,” at their general rendezvous in the forest of Pendle, a ruined and desolate farmhouse, denominated the _Malkin Tower_, from the awful purposes to which it was devoted. This superstition led to a ceremony called _lating_, or perhaps _leeting the witches_. It was believed that, if a lighted candle were carried about the fells or hills from eleven till twelve o’clock at night, and burned all that time steadily, it had so far triumphed over the evil power of the witches, who, as they passed to the Malkin Tower, would employ their utmost efforts to extinguish the light, and the person whom it represented might safely defy their malice during the season; but if by accident the light went out, it was an omen of evil to the luckless wight for whom the experiment was made. It was also deemed inauspicious to cross the threshold of that person until after the return from _leeting_, and not then unless the candle had preserved its light.--See _Year Book_, 1838, p. 1276.

ISLE OF MAN.

This festival, called by the islanders _Sauin_, was formerly observed in the Isle of Man by kindling of fires with all the accompanying ceremonies, to prevent the baneful influence of fairies and witches. The island was perambulated at night by young men who stuck up at the door of every dwelling-house, a rhyme in Manks, beginning:

“Noght oie howney hop-dy-naw,
This is Hollantide Eve,” &c.

On Hollantide Eve, boys go round the town shouting out a doggrel, of which the following is an extract:

“This is old Hollantide night,
The moon shines fair and bright;
I went to the well
And drank my fill;
On the way coming back
I met a pole-cat;
The cat began to grin
And I began to run;
Where did you run to?
I ran to Scotland;
What were they doing there?
Baking bannocks and roasting collops.

* * * * *

If you are going to give us anything, give us it soon,
Or we’ll be away by the light of the moon!”

For some peculiar reason, potatoes, parsnips, and fish, pounded together and mixed with butter, form always the evening meal.--Train, _History of the Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 123.

MIDDLESEX.

In the reign of Charles I., the young gentlemen of the Middle Temple were accustomed at All Hallow Tide, which they considered the beginning of Christmas, to associate themselves for the festive objects connected with the season. In 1629 they chose Bulstrode Whitelocke as Master of the Revels, and used to meet every evening at St. Dunstan’s Tavern, in a large new room, called “The Oracle of Apollo,” each man bringing friends with him at his own pleasure. It was a kind of mock parliament, where various questions were discussed as in our modern debating societies, but these temperate proceedings were seasoned with mirthful doings, to which the name of revels was given and of which dancing appears to have been the chief. On All Hallows Day, “the Master (Whitelocke, then four-and-twenty), as soon as the evening was come, entered the hall followed by sixteen revellers. They were proper, handsome young gentlemen, habited in rich suits, shoes and stockings, hats and great feathers. The master led them in his bar gown, with a white staff in his hand, the music playing before them. They began with the old masques; after which they danced the _Brawls_,[80] and then the master took his seat, while the revellers flaunted through galliards, corantos, French and country dances, till it grew very late. As might be expected, the reputation of this dancing soon brought a store of other gentlemen and ladies, some of whom were of great quality, and when the ball was over the festive party adjourned to Sir Sydney Montague’s chamber, lent for the purpose to our young president. At length the court ladies and grandees were allured, to the contentment of his vanity it may have been, but entailing on him serious expense, and then there was great striving for places to see them on the part of the London citizens. To crown the ambition and vanity of all, a great German lord had a desire to witness the revels, then making such a sensation at court, and the Templars entertained him at great cost to themselves, receiving in exchange that which cost the great noble very little--his avowal that ‘Dere was no such nople gollege in Christendom as deirs.’”--Whitelocke’s _Memoirs of Bulstrode Whitelocke_, 1860, p. 56; quoted in _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 538.

[80] Erroneously written _Brantes_ in the authority quoted.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

If a girl had two lovers, and wished to know which would be the most constant, she procured two brown apple pippins, and sticking one on each cheek (after having named them from her lovers) while she repeated this couplet:

“Pippen, pippen, I stick thee there,
That that is true thou may’st declare,”

patiently awaited until one fell off, when the unfortunate swain whose name it bore was instantly discarded as being unfaithful. It is to this custom that Gay has thus alluded:

“See from the core two kernels now I take,
This on my cheek for Lubberkin is worn,
And Booby Clod on t’other side is borne;
But Booby Clod soon falls upon the ground,
A certain token that his love’s unsound;
While Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last;
Oh! were his lips to mine but joined so fast.”

_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. iii. p. 286.

YORKSHIRE.

At Ripon, the women make a cake for every one in the family, whence this eve is by them called _cake-night_.--_Gent. Mag._ 1790, vol. lx. p. 719.

WALES.

In North Wales there is a custom upon All Saints’ Eve of making a great fire called _Coel Coeth_, when every family for about an hour in the night, makes a great bonfire in the most conspicuous place near the house, and when the fire is almost extinguished every one throws a white stone into the ashes, having first marked it; then having said their prayers turning round the fire, they go to bed. In the morning, as soon as they are up, they come and search out the stones, and if any one of them is found wanting they have a notion that the person who threw it in will die before he sees another All Saints’ Eve.--Pennant MS., quoted by Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 389.

In Owen’s _Account of the Bards_, preserved in Sir R. Hoare’s _Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales_ (vol. ii. p. 315), the following particulars are given in connection with the above custom:--The autumnal fire kindled in North Wales on the eve of the 1st of November is attended by many ceremonies, such as running through the fire and smoke, each casting a stone into the fire, and all running off at the conclusion, to escape from the black short-tailed sow; then supping upon parsnips, nuts, and apples; catching at an apple suspended by a string, with the mouth alone, and the same by an apple in a tub of water; each throwing a nut into the fire, and those that burn bright betoken prosperity to the owners through the following year, but those that burn black and crackle, denote misfortune. On the following morning the stones are searched for in the fire, and if any be missing, they betide ill to those who threw them in.

SCOTLAND.

Burns, in his notes upon Halloween, gives the following interesting account of the superstitious customs practised by the Scottish peasantry:

1. The first ceremony of Halloween is pulling each a stock or plant of kail. They must go out hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first they meet with; its being big or little, straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their spells--the husband or wife. If any _yird_, or earth stick to the root, that is _tocher_ or fortune; and the taste of the _custoc_, that is the heart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper and disposition. Lastly, the stems, or--to give them their ordinary appellation--the runts, are placed somewhere above the head of the door; and the Christian names of the people, whom chance brings into the house are, according to the priority of placing the runts, the names in question.

2. They go to the barn-yard, and pull each, at three several times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the _top-pickle_, the party in question will come to the marriage-bed anything but a maid.

3. Burning the nuts is a famous charm, they name the lad and lass to each particular nut as they lay them in the fire. Accordingly, as they burn quietly together or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the courtship will be.

4. Steal out all alone to the _kiln_, and darkling throw into the pot a clue of blue yarn, wind it in a new clue off the old one; and towards the latter end, something will hold the thread; demand, “Who hauds?” i.e., who holds. An answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming the Christian and surname of your future spouse.

5. Take a candle and go alone to a looking-glass, eat an apple before it, and, some traditions say you should comb your hair all the time, the face of your conjugal companion to be will be seen in the glass as if peeping over your shoulder.

6. Steal out unperceived and sow a handful of hempseed, harrowing it with anything you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat now and then, “Hempseed I sow thee; hempseed, I sow thee; and him (or her) that is to be my true love come after me and pou thee.” Look over your left shoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person invoked in the attitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions say, “Come after me, and show thee,” that is show thyself, in which case it simply appears. Others omit the harrowing, and say, “Come after me and harrow thee.”

7. _To win three wechts o’ naething._--This charm must likewise be performed unperceived and alone, you go to the barn, and open both doors, taking them off the hinges if possible; for there is danger that they, being about to appear, may shut the doors and do you some mischief. Then take that instrument used in winnowing the corn, which in our dialect is called a _wecht_; and go through all the attitudes of letting down corn against the wind. Repeat it three times; and the third time an apparition will pass through the barn, in it at the windy door and out at the other, having both the figure in question, and the appearance or retinue marking the employment or station in life.

8. Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a bean stack, and fathom it three times round. The last fathom of the last time, you will catch in your arms the appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow.

9. You go out, one or more, for this is a social spell, to a south running spring or rivulet, where three lairds’ lands meet, and dip your left shirt sleeve. Go to bed in sight of a fire, and hang your wet sleeve before it to dry. Lie awake, and sometime near midnight an apparition, having an exact figure of the grand object in question, will come and turn the sleeve as if to dry the other side of it.

10. Take three dishes, put clean water in one, foul water in another, leave the third empty; blindfold a person, and lead him to the hearth where the dishes are ranged; he (or she) dips the left hand; if by chance in the clean water, the future husband or wife will come to the bar of matrimony a maid; if in the foul, a widow; if in the empty dish, it foretells with equal certainty no marriage at all. It is repeated three times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes is altered.

ABERDEENSHIRE.

The following extract is taken from the _Guardian_ (November 11th, 1874):--Halloween was duly celebrated at Balmoral Castle. Preparations had been made days beforehand, and farmers and others for miles around were present. When darkness set in the celebration began, and her Majesty and the Princess Beatrice, each bearing a large torch, drove out in an open phaeton. A procession formed of the tenants and servants on the estates followed, all carrying huge torches lighted. They walked through the grounds and round the Castle, and the scene as the procession moved onwards was very weird and striking. When it had arrived in front of the Castle an immense bonfire, composed of old boxes, packing-cases, and other materials, stored up during the year for the occasion, was set fire to. When the flames were at their brightest a figure dressed as a hobgoblin appeared on the scene, drawing a car surrounded by a number of fairies carrying long spears, the car containing the effigy of a witch. A circle having been formed by the torch-bearers, the presiding elf tossed the figure of the witch into the fire, where it was speedily consumed. This cremation over, reels were begun, and were danced with great vigour to the stirring strains of Willie Ross, her Majesty’s piper.

BANFFSHIRE.

In former times at Halloween, Christmas, and other holidays, the younger part of the community of Cullen resorted to the sands and links of the bay for the purpose of playing foot-ball, running foot-races, &c. They left the town in procession, preceded by a piper and other music, and were attended by numbers from the adjacent districts. The games were keenly contested, and the victor was crowned by a bonnet adorned with feathers and ribbons, previously prepared by the ladies. When the games were over, the whole party had a dance on the green, with that merriment and glee to which the etiquette and formation of the ballroom at the present day are total strangers. Afterwards, the procession was again formed, and returned to the town, the victor preceded by the music, leading the way. A ball took place in the evening, at which he presided, and, moreover, had the privilege of wearing his bonnet and feathers.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1845, vol. xiii. p. 381.

MORAYSHIRE.

Shaw, in his _History of the Province of Moray_ (p. 241), considers the festivity of this night as a kind of harvest-home rejoicing. He says, a solemnity was kept on the eve of the 1st of November, as a thanksgiving for the safe ingathering of the produce of the fields.

PERTHSHIRE.

On All Saints’ Even, the inhabitants of Callander, set up bonfires in every village. When the bonfire is consumed, the ashes are carefully collected into the form of a circle. There is a stone put in near the circumference, for every person of the several families interested in the bonfire; and whatever stone is removed out of its place or injured before the next morning, the person represented by that stone is devoted, or _fey_, and is supposed not to live twelve months from that day.--Sinclair, _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1793, vol. xi. p. 621.

On the evening of the 31st of October (Old Style), the inhabitants of Logierait practise the following custom:--Heath, broom and dressings of flax are tied upon a pole; this faggot is then kindled; one takes it upon his shoulders, and, running, bears it round the village; a crowd attending him. When the first faggot is burnt out, a second is bound to the pole and kindled in the same manner as before. Numbers of these blazing faggots are often carried about together, and when the night happens to be dark they form a splendid illumination.--Sinclair, _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1793, vol. v. p. 84.

IRELAND.

At this season the peasants assemble with sticks and clubs, and go from house to house collecting money, bread-cake, butter, &c., for the feast, repeating verses in honour of the solemnity, and demanding the inhabitants to lay aside the fatted calf and to bring forth the black sheep.[81] The women are employed in making the griddle cake and candles; these last are sent from house to house in the vicinity, and are lighted up on the next day before which they pray, or are supposed to pray, for the departed soul of the donor. Hempseed is sown by the maidens, and they believe that, if they look back, they will see the apparition of the man intended for their future husbands; they hang a smock before the fire on the close of the feast, and sit up all night concealed in a corner of the room, convinced that his apparition will come down the chimney and turn the smock. They also throw a ball of yarn out of the window, and wind it up on a reel within, thinking that, if they repeat the Paternoster backwards and look at the ball of yarn without, they will see his apparition. They, moreover, dip for apples in a tub of water, and endeavour to bring one up in the mouth; they suspend a cord with a cross stick, with apples at one point and candles lighted at the other, and endeavour to catch the apple, while it is in circular motion, in the mouth. These and many other superstitious customs are observed.--Valiancy, _Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis_, 1786, vol. iii. p. 459.

[81] This was preparatory to the sacrifice of the black sheep on the
following day to Saman--See Soane’s _New Curiosities of Literature_,
1847, p. 219.

On Halloween, women take the yolk from eggs boiled hard, fill the eggs with salt, and eat egg, shell and salt. They are careful not to quench their thirst till morning.--_N. & Q. 4th. S._ vol. iv. p. 505.

NOV.] DERBYSHIRE.

At Duffield, a curious remnant of the right of hunting wild animals is still observed--this is called the “squirrel hunt.” The young men of the village assemble together on the Wakes Monday, each provided with a horn, a pan, or something capable of making a noise, and proceed to Keddleston Park, where, with shouting and the discordant noise of the instruments, they frighten the poor little squirrels, until they drop from the trees. Several having been thus captured the hunters return to Duffield, and having released the squirrels amongst some trees, recommence the hunt.--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 208.

At Duffield, the right of collecting wood in the forest is also singularly observed. The young men in considerable numbers collect together, and having taken possession of any cart they can find, yoke themselves to it, and preceded by horns, remove any trees or other wood from the various lanes and hedge-rows; this is done almost nightly, between September and the Wakes, in the first week in November, when a bonfire is made of the wood collected on the Wakes Monday.--_Ibid._ p. 208.

NOV. 1.] ALL SAINTS’ DAY.

This festival takes its origin from the conversion, in the seventh century, of the Pantheon at Rome into a Christian place of worship, and its dedication by Pope Boniface IV. to the Virgin and all the Martyrs. The anniversary of this event was at first celebrated on the 1st of May, but the day was subsequently altered to the 1st of November, which was thenceforth, under the designation of the feast of All Saints, set apart as a general commemoration in their honour. The festival has been retained by the Anglican Church--_Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 529; See Soane’s _Book of the Months_, 1849, vol. ii. p. 235.

A writer in the _Gent. Mag._ 1783 (vol. liii. p. 578), thinks the custom prevailing among the Roman Catholics of lighting fires upon the hills on All Saints’ night, the Eve of All Souls, scarcely needs explaining, fire being, even among the Pagans, an emblem of immortality, and well calculated to typify the ascent of the soul to heaven.

A correspondent of the same periodical (1788, vol. lviii. p. 602) alludes to a custom observed in some parts of the kingdom among the Papists, of illuminating some of their grounds upon the eve of All Souls, by bearing round them straw, or other fit materials, kindled into a blaze. This ceremony is called a _Tinley_, said to represent an emblematical lighting of souls out of purgatory.

CHESHIRE.

On All Souls’ Eve, both children and grown-up people go from door to door, a-souling, i.e., begging for soul cakes, or anything else they can get. In some districts they perform a kind of play as well, but in all instances the following, or a similar song, is sung:--

“You gentlemen of England, pray you now draw near
To these few lines, and you soon shall hear
Sweet melody of music all on this evening clear,
For we are come a-souling for apples and strong beer.

Step down into your cellar, and see what you can find,
If your barrels are not empty, we hope you will prove kind;
We hope you will prove kind with your apples and strong beer,
We’ll come no more a-souling until another year.

Cold winter it is coming on, dark, dirty, wet and cold,
To try your good nature, this night we do make bold;
This night we do make bold with your apples and strong beer,
And we’ll come no more a-souling until another year.

All the houses that we’ve been at, we’ve had both meat and drink,
So now we’re dry with travelling, we hope you’ll on us think;
We hope you’ll on us think with your apples and strong beer,
For we’ll come no more a-souling until another year.

God bless the master of this house, and the mistress also.
And all the little children that round the table go;
Likewise your men and maidens, your cattle and your store,
And all that lies within your gates we wish you ten times more;
We wish you ten times more with your apples and strong beer,
And we’ll come no more a-souling until another year.”

_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1850, vol. v. p. 252.

In the parish of Lymm it is customary, for a week or ten days before the 5th of November, for the skeleton of a horse’s head, dressed up with ribbons, &c., having glass eyes inserted in the sockets, and mounted on a short pole by way of handle, to be carried by a man underneath covered with a horse-cloth. There is generally a chain attached to the nose, which is held by a second man, and they are attended by several others. In houses to which they can gain access, they go though some kind of performance, the man with the chain telling the horse to rear, open its mouth, &c. The object of course is to obtain money. The horse will sometimes seize persons, and hold them fast till they pay for being set free; but he is generally very peaceable, for, in case of resistance being offered, his companions generally take to flight and leave the poor horse to fight it out.--_N. & Q. 1st. S._ vol. i. p. 258.

LANCASHIRE.

At Great Marton, there was formerly a sort of procession of young people from house to house, at each of which they recited psalms, and, in return, received presents of cakes, whence the custom was called _Psalm-caking_.--_Med. Ævi Kalend._ 1841, vol. i. p. 375.

MIDDLESEX.

At a pension held at Gray’s Inn in Michaelmas Term, 21 Henry VIII., there was an order made that all the fellows of this house who should be present upon any Saturday at supper, betwixt the feasts of All Saints and the Purification of our Lady, or upon any other day at dinner or supper, when there are _revels_, should not depart out of the hall until the said _revels_ were ended, upon the penalty of 12_d._

In 4 Edward VI. (17 Nov.), it was also ordered, that thenceforth there should be no comedies, called _interludes_, in the house out of term time, but when the feast of the Nativity of our Lord is solemnly observed, and that when there shall be any such comedies, then all the society at that time in common to bear the charge of the apparel.

In 4 Charles I. (17 Nov.), it was also ordered that all playing of dice, cards, or otherwise, in the hall, buttery, or butler’s chamber, should be thenceforth forbidden at all times of the year, the twenty days of Christmas only excepted.--Herbert, _Antiquities of the Inns of Court_, 1804, p. 336.

MONMOUTHSHIRE.

In this county, says Hone, _Year Book_ (p. 1288), a custom prevails among the lower classes of begging bread for the souls of the departed on All Saints’ Day; the bread thus distributed is called _dole_ bread.

SHROPSHIRE.

It is customary, says a correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_1st S._ vol. iv. p. 381) for the village children to go round to all their neighbours _Souling_, collecting contributions, and singing the following doggrel:--

“Soul! soul! for a soul-cake;
Pray, good mistress, for a soul-cake.
One for Peter, and two for Paul,
Three for them who made us all.

Soul! soul! for an apple or two;
If you’ve got no apples, pears will do.
Up with your kettle, and down with your pan,
Give me a good big one, and I’ll be gone.
Soul! soul! for a soul-cake, &c.

An apple or pear, a plum or a cherry,
Is a very good thing to make us merry.
Soul! soul! &c.”

The soul-cake referred to is a sort of bun, which at one time it was an almost general custom for persons to make, to give to one another on this day.

STAFFORDSHIRE.

Tollett, in his _Variorum_ Shakspeare (_The Two Gentlemen of Verona_, ii. 2, note) says, On All Saints’ Day the poor people in Staffordshire, and perhaps in other country places, go from parish to parish _a-souling_, as they call it, i.e. begging and puling (or singing small, as Bailey’s _Dictionary_ explains puling) for soul-cakes, or any good thing to make them merry.” Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ (1849, vol. i. p. 393), gives the following lines as sung on the occasion:

“Soul, soul, for a soul-cake,
Pray you, good mistress, a soul-cake.”

WESTERN ISLES OF SCOTLAND.

In St. Kilda, the inhabitants used to make a large cake in the form of a triangle furrowed round, all of which was eaten the same night.--Martin’s _Western Isles of Scotland_, 1716, p. 287.

From the same authority we learn that the inhabitants of Lewis had an ancient custom of sacrificing to the sea-god called Shony. The inhabitants round the island came to the church of St. Mulvay, each man having his provisions with him. Every family furnished a peck of malt, which was brewed into ale. One of their number was picked out to wade into the sea up to the middle, and carrying a cup of ale in his hand, he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Shony, I give you this cup of ale, hoping that you’ll be so kind as to send us plenty of sea-ware, for enriching our ground the ensuing year;” and so threw the cup of ale into the sea--this was performed in the night time. At his return to land, they all went to church, where there was a candle burning upon the altar; and then standing silent for a little time one of them gave a signal, at which the candle was put out, and immediately all of them went to the fields, where the rest of the night was spent in merriment.

IRELAND.

A correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_3rd S._ vol. i. p. 446) mentions a custom at Wexford,[82] of lighting candles (more or less) in every window in the house, on the night of the vigil of All Souls, and when travelling along a country road where farmhouses and cottages are numerous, the effect is quite picturesque on a dark November eve.

[82] This custom extends over the whole of Ireland, and is common in
some parts of the Continent.

NOV. 2.] ALL SOULS’ DAY.

All Souls’ Day is set apart by the Roman Catholic Church for a solemn service for the repose of the dead. In this country the day was formerly observed by ringing of the passing bell, making soul-cakes, blessing beans, and other customs. Various tenures were held by services to be performed on this day. The nut and apple omens of Hallow Even were continued on this day. Soul-mass cakes were given to the poor; and at Hallowasse frankincense was newly provided.--Timbs, _Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 115.

CHESHIRE.

From All Souls’ Day to Christmas Day, Old Hob is carried about; this consists of a horse’s head enveloped in a sheet, taken from door to door, accompanied by the singing of doggerel-begging rhymes.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._ 1850, vol. v. p. 253.

DERBYSHIRE.

Formerly, at the village of Findern, the boys and girls used to go every year in the evening of All Souls’ Day to the adjoining common, and light up a number of small fires among the furze growing there, which they called _Tindles_.--_Gent. Mag._ 1784, vol. iv. p. 836.

HEREFORDSHIRE.

In this county and also in Lancashire it was in days gone by usual for the wealthy to dispense oaten cakes, called _soul-mass cakes_, to the poor, who upon receiving them repeated the following couplet in acknowledgment:

“God have your soul
Beens and all.”

See Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 392.

SHROPSHIRE.

In this county the inhabitants set on a board a high heap of small cakes, called soul-cakes, of which they offer one to every person who comes to the house on this day, and there is an old rhyme, which seems to have been sung by the family and guests:

“A soul-cake, a soul-cake;
Have mercy on all Christian souls for a soul-cake.”

Kennett’s _Collections_, MS. _Bibl. Lansdown_, No. 1039, vol. 105, p.
12.

The same custom is mentioned, and with very little variation, by Aubrey in the _Remains of Gentilisme_; see _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. x. pp. 409, 525.

WALES.

The people of North Wales have a custom of distributing soul-cakes on All Souls’ Day, at the receiving of which the poor people pray to God to bless the next crop of wheat.--_Pennant._

SCOTLAND.

In the county of Aberdeen on All Souls’ Day, baked cakes of a particular sort are given away to those who may chance to visit the house where they are made. The cakes are called “dirge-loaf.”--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. ii. p. 483.

NOV. 5.] GUNPOWDER PLOT.

The 5th of November is not observed by the populace with nearly so much festive diversion as in former times. Originally, the burning of Guy Fawkes in effigy was a ceremony much in vogue, especially among the lower classes, but it is now confined chiefly to school-boys, and even with them it is not so popular as in days gone by. Formerly, the burning of “a good guy” was a scene of uproar perhaps unknown to the present day. The bonfire, for example, in Lincoln’s Inn Fields was conducted on a very grand scale. It was made at the Great Queen Street corner, immediately opposite Newcastle House. Fuel came all day long in carts properly guarded against surprise. Old people have recollected when upwards of two hundred cart-loads were brought to make and feed this bonfire, and more than thirty “guys” were burnt upon gibbets between eight and twelve o’clock at night.[83]

[83] The following extract is from the _Evening Standard_ (February
5th, 1875):--“This morning at ten o’clock the Yeomen of the Guard
(Beefeaters) made their usual search before the meeting of Parliament
for any barrels of gunpowder that might be stowed away in the vaults
under the Houses of Parliament.”

The butchers of Clare Market, also, were accustomed to celebrate this anniversary in a somewhat peculiar style; one of their body, personating Guy Fawkes, being seated in a cart, with a prayer-book in his hand, and a priest, executioner, &c., attending, was drawn through the streets, as if going to the place of execution; while a select party, with marrow-bones and cleavers, led the way, and others solicited money from the inhabitants and spectators. The sums thus obtained were spent at night in jollity and carousing.--_Sports, Pastimes, and Customs of London_, 1847, p. 39.

The following time-honoured rhyme is still sung, and varies in different parts of the country:

“Pray remember
The Fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot;
For I know no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Hollo boys! Hollo boys! Hurrah.”

In Poor Robin’s _Almanack_ for the year 1677 is the following:

“Now boys with
Squibs and crackers play,
And bonfire’s blaze
Turns night to-day.”

In some parts of the north of England the following song is sung:

“Happy was the man,
And happy was the day,
That caught Guy
Going to his play,
With a dark lanthorn
And a brimstone match
Ready for the prime to touch.

As I was going through the dark entry
I spied the devil.
Stand back! Stand back!
Queen Mary’s daughter.
Put your hand in your pocket,
And give us some money
To kindle our bonfire. Hurrah.”

Brand’s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 398.

DERBYSHIRE.

The rhyme formerly sung in many parts of this county is as below:

“Remember, remember,
Th’ fifth o’ November,
Th’ gunpowder plot,
Shall ne’er be forgot!
Pray gi’s a bit o’ coal,
Ter stick in th’ bun-fire hole!
A stick an’ a stake,
For King George’s sake--
A stowp an’ a reel,
Or else wey’ll steal.”

_Long Ago_, 1873, vol. i. p. 338.

LINCOLNSHIRE.

In this county the following quaint rhyme was sung on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot:

“Remember, remember
The fifth o’ November!
Guy and his companions’ plot:
We’re going to blow the Parliament up!
By God’s mercy we wase catcht,
With a dark lantern an’ lighted matcht!”

_Long Ago_, 1873, vol. i. p. 338.

MIDDLESEX.

It is stated in the register at Harlington, under the date of 1683, that half an acre of land was given by some person, whose name has been forgotten, for the benefit of the bell-ringers of the parish, to provide them with a leg of pork for ringing on the 5th of November. It is called the Pork Acre. The ground is let by the parish officers at 50_s._ a year, which is paid by them to the bell-ringer.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 27.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

The following is the rhyme formerly sung in this county:

“Gunpowder treason!
Gunpowder treason!
Gunpowder treason plot!
I know no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fox and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.

But, by God’s providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
Hollo, boys! hollo, boys! make the bells ring!
Hollo, boys! hollo, boys! God save the king! Hurrah.”

_Long Ago_, 1873, vol. i. p. 338.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

At Clifton the following rhyme is sung:

“Please to remember
The fifth of November.
Old Guy Faux
And gunpowder plot
Shall never be forgot,
While Nottingham castle
Stands upon a rock!”

_Long Ago_, 1873, vol. i. p. 338.

OXFORDSHIRE.

“The fifth of November,
Since I can remember,
Gunpowder treason and plot;
This was the day the plot was contriv’d,
To blow up the King and Parliament alive;
But God’s mercy did prevent
To save our King and his Parliament.

A stick and a stake
For King James’s sake!
If you won’t give me one,
I’ll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.”

This is the Oxfordshire song chanted by the boys when collecting sticks for the bonfire, and it is considered quite lawful to appropriate any old wood they can lay their hands on after the recitation of these lines. If it happen that a crusty chuff prevents them, the threatening _finale_ is too often fulfilled. The operation is called _going a-progging_. In some places they shout, previously to the burning of the effigy of Guy Fawkes,

“A penn’orth of bread to feed the Pope,
A penn’orth of cheese to choke him;
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a good old faggot to burn him.”

Halliwell’s _Pop. Rhymes_, 1849, pp. 253, 554.

Formerly, it was the custom for the undergraduates of Pembroke College, Oxford, to make verses on the 5th of November, and to have two copies of them, one to present to the master, the other to stick up in the Hall, and there to remain till a speech on this occasion was spoken before supper.--Pointer, _Oxoniensis Academia_, 1749, p. 109.

SUSSEX.

At Lewes on the 5th of November in each year, a great torchlight procession, composed of men dressed up in fantastic garbs, and with blackened faces, and dragging blazing tar barrels after them, parade the high street, while an enormous bonfire is lighted, into which, when at its highest, various effigies are cast. The day’s festivities not unfrequently terminate in a general uproar and scene of confusion. See _Lewes Times_, November 13th, 1856.

WESTMORELAND.

The following doggerel is sung in this county:

“I pray you remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot;
The king and his train had like to be slain--
I hope this day’ll ne’er be forgot.

All the boys, all the boys, let the bells ring!
All the boys, all the boys, God save the king!
A stick and a stake for King Jamie’s sake,--
I hope you’ll remember the bonfire!”

_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. vii. p. 32.

WILTSHIRE.

At Marlborough the rustics have the following peculiar custom at their bonfires. They form themselves into a ring of some dozen or more round the bonfire, and follow each other round it, holding thick club-sticks over their shoulders; while a few others, standing at distances outside this moving ring with the same sort of sticks, beat those which the men hold over their shoulders, as they pass round in succession, all shouting and screaming loudly. This might last half an hour at a time, and be continued at intervals till the fire died out.--_N. & Q. 1st. S._ vol. v. p. 355.

At Purton the boys, for several weeks before the 5th of November, used to go from house to house begging faggots for the bonfire, in the middle of which was burnt the effigy of Guy Fawkes. The following rhyme was sung on the occasion:

“My brave lads remember
The fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot;
We will drink, smoke, and sing, boys,
And our bells they shall ring, boys,
And here’s health to our King, boys,
For he shall not be forgot.”

See _Every Day Book_, 1827, vol. ii. p. 1379.

YORKSHIRE.

A very old custom prevails in the West Riding of Yorkshire, of preparing, against the anniversary of Gunpowder Plot, a kind of oatmeal gingerbread, if it may be so called, and of religiously partaking of the same on this day and subsequently. The local name of the delicacy is _Parkin_ and it is usually seen in the form of massive loaves, substantial cakes, or bannocks.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. iv. p. 368.

Blount, in his _Fragmenta Antiquitatis_ (Beckwith, 1815, p. 565), gives the following account of a custom observed at Doncaster. He says at this place on the 5th November, yearly, whether it happens on a Sunday, or any other day in the week, the town waits play for some time on the top of the church steeple, at the time when the congregation are coming out of the church from morning service, the tune of “God Save the King.” This has been done for four-score years at least, and very possibly ever since the 5th of November has been a festival, except that formerly the tune played was “Britons, strike home.” The waits always receive from the churchwardens sixpence a-piece for this service.

NOV. 6.] ST. LEONARD’S DAY.

ESSEX.

Every tenant of the Manor of Writtell, upon St. Leonard’s Day, pays to the lord for everything under a year old a halfpenny, for every yearling pig a penny, and for every hog above a year old twopence, for the privilege of pawnage in the lord’s woods: and this payment is called Avage or Avisage.--Blount’s _Law Dictionary_, 1717.

WORCESTERSHIRE.

A list of holy days published at Worcester, in 1240, ordains St. Leonard’s festival to be kept a half holy day, enjoins the hearing of mass, and prohibits all labour except that of the plough.--_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 1382.

NOV 9.] LORD MAYOR’S DAY.

The office of Chief Magistrate of London was held for life till about 1214, nor was it until more than a hundred years afterwards that the title of _Lord_ was given to the Mayor. This arose in the time of Richard II., on occasion of Walworth, the Mayor of the day, basely murdering Wat Tyler in Smithfield.

That which in later days has been called the _Lord Mayor’s Show_ was but a degenerate copy of the old _Pageant_ or _Triumph_, which assumed a variety of forms at different times, blending Paganism, Christianity, and chivalry in marvellous confusion. This, however, was not always the case, for at one time it became the fashion for the city to employ dramatists of note upon these matters; and there are yet extant certain pageants by Decker, Middleton, Webster, and others, though perhaps inferior writers.--Soane’s _Curiosities of Literature_.

With the processions, &c., of late years, most readers are sufficiently well acquainted from the newspapers of the day. Fully to describe those of former ages would require, however, a volume of no mean size; but some idea of their general character may be formed from the following brief sketch:--The first account of this annual exhibition known to have been published, was written by George Peele for the inauguration of Sir Wolstone Dixie, Knight, on the 29th of October (Old Style), 1585. On that occasion, as was customary to the times, there were dramatic representations in the procession of an allegorical character. Children were dressed to personify the city, magnanimity, loyalty, science, the country, and the river Thames. They also represented sailors, soldiers, and nymphs, with appropriate speeches. The show opened with a Moor mounted on a lynx. On Sir Thomas Middleton’s mayoralty, in 1613, the solemnity is described as unparalleled for the cost, art, and magnificence of the shows, pageants, chariots, morning, noon, and night triumphs. In 1655 the city pageants, after a discontinuance of about fourteen years, were revived. Edmund Gayton, the author of the description for that year, says that “our metropolis, for these planetary pageants, was as famous and renowned in foreign nations as for their faith, wealth, and valour.” In the show of 1659, an European, an Egyptian, and a Persian were personated. On Lord Mayor’s Day, 1671, the King, Queen, and Duke of York, and most of the nobility being present, there were “sundry shows, shapes, scenes, speeches, and songs in part;” and the like in 1672 and 1673, when the King again graced the triumphs. The King, Queen, Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Rupert, the Duke of Monmouth, foreign ambassadors, the chief nobility, and Secretary of State, were at the celebration of Lord Mayor’s Day in 1674, when there “were emblematical figures, artful pieces of architecture, and rural dancing, with pieces spoken on each pageant.”--See Hone’s _Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 1445.

NOV. 11.] ST. MARTIN’S DAY.

The festival of St. Martin, happening at that season when the new wines of the year are drawn from the lees and tasted, when cattle are killed for winter food, and fat geese are in their prime, is held as a feast day over most parts of Christendom. On the ancient clog almanacs, the day is marked by the figure of a goose, our bird of Michaelmas being, on the continent, sacrificed at Martinmas. In Scotland and the north of England, a fat ox is called a _mart_[84] clearly from Martinmas, the usual time when beeves are killed for winter use.--_Book of Days_, vol ii. p. 568.

[84] _Mart_, according to Skinner, is a fair, who considers it a
contraction of market. Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 400) says
that, had not _mart_ been the general name for a fair, one might have
been tempted to suppose it a contraction of Martin, the name of the
saint whose day is commemorated.

_Salt Silver._--In the glossary to Kennett’s _Parochial Antiquities_ (p. 496) is the following:--“Salt Silver.--_One penny paid at the Feast of St. Martin_, by the servile tenants to their lord, as a commutation for the service of carrying their lord’s salt from market to his larder.”

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

There is a house in Fenny Stratford, called St. Martin’s house, in the wall of which is a stone bearing the following inscription:--

“This house was settled on the parish officers of this town, for the annual observance of St. Martin’s Day.”--“Anno Domini 1752.”

The house is let at 5_l._ 4_s._ per annum, and the rent, after defraying the expense of repairs, is laid out in giving an entertainment to the inhabitants of the town.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 59.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE.

Within the manor of Whitlesea there is a custom for the inhabitants to choose, on the Sunday next after the feast of St. Martin, two persons called storers, to oversee the public business, and likewise to provide a common bull, in consideration whereof they enjoy a certain pasture called Bull Grass; and the major part of the freeholders and copyholders at a meeting grant the grass every year to any person who will take it, to have the same from Lady-day till the corn is carried out of Coatsfield.--Blount’s _Fragmenta Antiquitatis_, 1815, p. 576.

CUMBERLAND.

Thomas Williamson, by will, dated 14th December, 1674, gave the sum of 20_l._ to be laid out in land to be bestowed upon poor people born within St. John’s Chapelry or Castlerigg, in mutton or veal, at Martinmas yearly, when flesh might be thought cheapest, to be by them pickled or hung up and dried, that they might have something to keep them within doors upon stormy days.--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 63.

WARWICKSHIRE.

Dugdale, in his _Antiquities of Warwickshire_ (1730, vol. i. p. 4), says:--There is a certain rent due unto the lord of the Hundred of Knightlow, called _Wroth_ money or _Warth_ money or _Swarff_ penny, probably the same with _Ward_ penny. This rent must be paid every Martinmas Day, in the morning, at Knightlow Cross, before the sun riseth: the party paying it must go thrice about the cross, and say “The _Wrath_ money,” and then lay it in the hole of the said cross before good witness, for if it be not duly performed the forfeiture is thirty shillings and a white bull.

YORKSHIRE.

In the North Riding of Yorkshire it is customary for a party of singers, mostly consisting of women, to begin at the feast of St. Martin a kind of peregrination round the neighbouring villages, carrying with them a small waxen image of our Saviour adorned with box and other evergreens, and singing at the same time a hymn which, though rustic and uncouth, is nevertheless replete with the sacred story of the Nativity. The custom is yearly continued till Christmas Eve, when the feasting, or as they usually call it, “good living,” commences; every rustic dame produces a cheese preserved for the sacred festival, upon which, before any part of it is tasted, according to an old custom, she with a sharp knife makes rude incisions to represent the Cross. With this, and furmity made of barley and meal, the cottage affords uninterrupted hospitality.--_Gent. Mag._ 1811, vol. lxxxi. pt. i. p. 423.

IRELAND.

At St. Peter’s, Athlone, every family of a village, says Mason, in his _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_ (1819, vol. iii. p. 75), kills an animal of some kind or other: those who are rich kill a cow or a sheep, others a goose or a turkey; while those who are poor and cannot procure an animal of greater value, kill a hen or a cock, and sprinkle the threshold with the blood, and do the same in the four corners of the house, and this ceremonious performance is done to exclude every kind of evil spirit from the dwelling where this sacrifice is made, till the return of the same day in the following year.

NOV. 13.] ST. BRICE’S DAY.

_The Stamford Bull Running._--From time immemorial down to a late period this day was annually celebrated at the town of Stamford, in Lincolnshire, by a rough sport called bull-running. Butcher, in his _Survey of Stamford_ (1717, pp. 76, 77), alluding to this custom, says:--“The butchers of the town at their own charge provide the bull, and place him over-night in a stable or barn belonging to the alderman. The next morning proclamation is made by the common bell-man of the town that each one shut up his shop-door and gate, and that none, upon pain of imprisonment, do any violence to strangers, for the preventing whereof (the town being a thoroughfare and then being in Term time) a guard is appointed for the passing of travellers through the same without hurt. That none have any iron upon their bull-clubs or other staff which they pursue the bull with. Which proclamation made, and all the gates shut up, the bull is turned out of the alderman’s house, and the men, women, and children, with all the dogs in the town, run after him, &c.”

According to tradition the origin of the custom dates from the time of King John, when, one day, William, Earl of Warren, standing on the battlements of the castle, saw two bulls fighting in the meadow beneath. Some butchers, coming to part the combatants, one of the bulls ran into the town, causing a great uproar. The earl, mounting his horse, rode after the animal, and enjoyed the sport so much that he gave the meadow in which the fight began to the butchers of Stamford, on condition that they should provide a bull, to be run in the town annually, on the 13th of November, for ever after.

There is no documentary evidence on the subject, but the town of Stamford undoubtedly holds certain common rights in the meadow specified, which is still termed the bull-meadow.--See _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 574.

NOV. 14.] St. ERCONWALD’S DAY.

Strype, in his _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ (1822, vol. iii. pt. i. p. 322), says:--“It was commanded, that every priest in the diocese of London should go to St. Paul’s in procession in copes on St. Erconwald’s Day.” [November 14th, 1554].

NOV. 17.] QUEEN ELIZABETH’S ACCESSION.

Queen Elizabeth’s accession was long observed as a Protestant festival, and with the society of the Temple, the Exchequer, Christ’s Hospital, Westminster, and Merchant Taylors’ Schools, is, says Timbs, kept as a holiday. The Pope in effigy, in a chair of state, with the devil, a real person, behind him, caressing him, &c., was formerly paraded in procession on this day in the streets of London, and afterwards thrown into a bonfire. In Queen Anne’s time the Pretender was added to the Pope and the devil. There were also great illuminations in the evening. This anniversary was first publicly celebrated about 1570, twelve years after Elizabeth’s accession. (Timbs, _Something for Everybody_, p. 122.) Brayley in his _Londiniana_, vol. iv. p. 74, _et seq._, has given a very interesting account of these processions.

A correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_1st S._ vol. iv. p. 345) says that when he was at Christ’s Hospital the following curious custom prevailed on the 17th of November.

Two or more boys would take one against whom they had any spite or grudge, and having lifted him by the arms and legs, would bump him on the hard stones of the cloisters.

In reading _Sir Roger de Coverley_, with notes by Willis published in the _Traveller’s Library_, the same correspondent says that he found (at p. 134) what he considered a fair explanation. A full account is there given, he says, of the manner in which the citizens of London intended celebrating, in 1711, the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s accession on the 17th of November, some parts of which would almost seem to have been copied during the excitement against the papal bull in November 1850. Probably therefore, originally, the unfortunate boy who had to endure the rude bumping by his schoolfellows was intended to represent the Pope or one of his emissaries, and that those who inflicted the punishment were looked upon as good Protestants.

NOV. 23.] ST. CLEMENT’S DAY.