Folk Calendar

Friday 14 May

Happy birthday to Alasdair Fraser (72 today)

Born on this day: Frank Harte (1933), Gordon Duncan (1964) and Nansi Richards (1888)

Saturday 15 May

Happy birthday to Aly Bain (81 today) and John McCusker (54 today)

Sunday 16 May

Whitsun

Monday 17 May

Happy birthday to Dick Gaughan (79 today) and Sue Harris (78 today)

Folklore from the old calendars

The Greenhill Bower Still kept StaffordshireLichfield's show fair was held on Whit Monday, when members of the corporation and the town's best tradesmen walked in procession from the guildhall to Greenhill.
The Eynsham timber No longer kept OxfordshireAt Eynsham the townspeople might cut down on Whit Monday as much timber as they could haul by hand into the abbey yard, the churchwardens first marking the trees.
The Chester Whitsun plays Still kept CheshireChester's mystery plays were said to have been written by Randall Higgenett, a monk of Chester Abbey, and played on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Whitsun week.
Greenwich Fair No longer kept KentFor Londoners Whit Monday meant Greenwich Fair, and from early morning crowds poured along the Kent Road and down the river to it.
Drop handkerchief at the Devon revels No longer kept DevonA correspondent remembered from his boyhood in Devon that at the fairs and revels of Easter and Whitsuntide young men and women formed a ring to play drop handkerchief.
The Whitsuntide hirings in Cumberland No longer kept CumberlandFarm servants in Cumberland were hired by the half year at Whitsuntide and Martinmas.
Necton guild No longer kept NorfolkIn 1817 Major, later Colonel, Mason of Necton Hall set up a guild of rural sports on the afternoons of Whit Monday and Whit Tuesday, to gather the Whitsun holidays of the Norfolk villages at Necton.
Peppard Revel No longer kept OxfordshireThe Reading Mercury of 24 May 1819 advertised Peppard Revel for Whit Monday.
The stick blow at the Lancashire Whitsun fair No longer kept LancashireAt Whitsuntide fairs in parts of Lancashire a trick was played in which one person held a stick over another's head and a third, unseen, struck the stick so that it came down smartly on the victim.
The Boy’s Bailiff at Wenlock No longer kept ShropshireIn Whitsun week Much Wenlock kept a custom called the Boy's Bailiff.
Hocking and pigeon-holes at the Brentford Whitsun ale No longer kept MiddlesexA Brentford vestry of 1621 recorded that the townspeople had long met at Whitsuntide in their church house to eat and drink together, keeping up neighbourly feeling and raising a common stock for the church, the orphans and the poor.
Fetching in the Fly at Oxford No longer kept OxfordshireOn a day in the Whitsun holidays the master cook of Oxford for that year rode out on horseback with his brother cooks, all in silk doublets, to Bartholomew's or Bullingdon Green to fetch in the Fly.
The Corby toll Still kept NorthamptonshireEvery twentieth year on Whit Monday the people of Corby blocked every road into the parish and demanded a toll from all who passed.
Winlaton Hopping No longer kept County DurhamThe ironworking village of Winlaton held its hopping on the Monday and Tuesday after 14 May, with shows and stalls along Front Street.
The millers’ riding at Hinckley No longer kept LeicestershireAt Hinckley's Whit Monday fair the millers of the nearby villages used to ride in a decorated cavalcade, a show that had fallen out of favour until it was revived with new characters in 1786.
Rosley Fair from Whit Monday No longer kept CumberlandRosley Fair on its open hill opened on Whit Monday.
Whitsun jaunts to Islington and Newington No longer kept LondonOver the Whitsun holidays Londoners poured out to Islington, Newington and the villages nearby to eat and drink.
Whitsun rides in Moorfields No longer kept LondonAt Whitsuntide children paid for rides at the fairground in Moorfields, going up and down on the swings.
The Fool and the Megen No longer kept WalesAt Whitsuntide Welsh morris dancers, nine men with ribbons on their clothes and bells at their knees, danced to the tune of Country Bumpkin.
Guessing the man in green at Whitsuntide No longer kept WalesAt Whitsuntide the Welsh morris dancers were sometimes joined by a man dressed in green and entirely covered with ivy, leaves and flowers.
Nettles on the sluggard’s latch on Whit Monday No longer kept WalesEarly on Whit Monday farm boys and others went round the village with noise and song to wake the lazy, leaving a bunch of nettles tied to the latch of every sluggard's door.
Sweethearts paired for the Whit Monday dance No longer kept WalesIn the late eighteenth century, about a fortnight before Whitsun, Welsh farm boys went to a secluded spot in the woods and told each other their sweethearts' names, and the girls did the same.

Tuesday 18 May

Folklore from the old calendars

A hot May makes a fat churchyard Lore and belief EnglandAmong the weather proverbs Hone gathered from Dr Forster were two about May.
When the cuckoo comes to the bare thorn Lore and belief EnglandAmong the farming proverbs Dr Forster collected and Hone printed in May was one that read the season from the cuckoo.
Eton Montem and the salt-bearers No longer kept BuckinghamshireAt the Eton Montem the scholars marched in military dress to Salt Hill, while salt-bearers in fancy costume stopped travellers on the roads and gave a pinch of salt to everyone who paid toward the captain's purse, which could reach a thousand pounds.
The mock mayor of Costessy No longer kept NorfolkOn Whit Tuesday the poor of Costessy, near Norwich, elected a mock mayor in imitation of the Norwich city guild.
St Conwall’s Well near Huntingtower No longer kept PerthshireSt Conwall's Well, near Ruthven Castle or Huntingtower outside Perth, belonged to a saint whose day was kept on 18 May.

Wednesday 19 May

Happy birthday to John Sheahan (88 today) and Paul Brady (80 today)