Chapter XIII: Part II (2)

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 Then, let them continue; otherwise, in my opinion, they are to be withdrawn.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.