More going on than last week: 366 sessions, 214 morris practices and 8 customs on the calendar, up from 162.
Sessions this week
By type, that’s:
- 154 tune sessions, among them 113 Irish sessions, 34 Scottish sessions, 16 beginner-friendly sessions and 13 English sessions.
- 135 mixed sessions: 30 Traditional, 19 beginner-friendly, 18 listeners welcome and 16 Irish ones.
- 70 song sessions, with 34 singaround sessions, 18 Traditional sessions, 10 listeners welcome sessions and 9 Shanties sessions among them.
- Plus 7 other sessions.
Morris practices this week
Here’s how they break down:
- 108 Cotswold morris practices.
- 59 Border morris practices.
- 42 North-West morris practices.
- 7 Molly morris practices.
Customs this week
The 8 customs, and where to find them:
- Ballinasloe October Fair, Ballinasloe, Monday to Sunday.
- Abingdon Michaelmas Fair, Abingdon, on Monday and Tuesday.
- Cirencester Mop, Cirencester, on Monday.
- Hull Fair, Hull, on Friday.
- Tewkesbury Mop Fair, Tewkesbury, on Friday.
- Bridgwater St Matthew’s Fair, Bridgwater, on Saturday.
- Eastbourne Bonfire, Eastbourne, on Saturday.
- Nottingham Goose Fair, Nottingham, on Sunday.
Looking ahead: Ballinasloe October Fair (Saturday 10 to Sunday 11 October), Hull Fair (Saturday 10 to Saturday 17 October) and Tewkesbury Mop Fair (Saturday 10 October).
The busiest day is Thursday, with 120 events.
Folklore from the old calendars
Kept once, and some of it still:
- Rushes for Dedication Day, Sunday, St Margaret's, Westminster: An Act of Convocation of 1536 ordered that the feast of the dedication of every church should be kept everywhere on the same day, the first Sunday in October, and the churches' own saints' days laid aside.
- Garlanding the new mayor’s street at Abingdon, Sunday, Abingdon, Berkshire: On the first Sunday the new mayor of Abingdon went to church after his election, the people of his street decked their houses with boughs and garlands and strewed the path with rushes.
- St Faith’s cake, Tuesday, North of England: On St Faith's Day, 6 October, girls in the north of England tried a love charm with a cake of flour, spring water, salt and sugar, made by three maidens or three widows who each had an equal share in it.
Find the books: Brand's Popular Antiquities at Amazon, Bookshop.org or AbeBooks; The Gentleman's Magazine Library at Amazon, Bookshop.org or AbeBooks. (Affiliate links: we may earn a small commission.)
New on the calendar
A warm welcome to the newest listings:
- Three Horseshoes Tune Session, Scotton, Lincolnshire
- Lord Harrowby Folk Session, Grantham, Lincolnshire
- Welbourn Irish Session, Welbourn, Lincolnshire
- Queen in the West Irish Session, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
- Lincoln Old Time American Music Session, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
- The Castle Sessions, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
- Louth Folk Club, Louth, Lincolnshire
- Gainsborough Folk Club Singaround, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
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Have a good week of it, and if you try somewhere new, tell them where you found it.