Threshing the Hen

Shrove Tuesday · Cornwall and Wales

No longer kept

A hen that had not laid before Shrove Tuesday was counted useless. In Cornwall, Chambers says, she was laid on the barn floor and a man struck at her with a flail, keeping her if he killed her, and Brand heard of the same thing done in Wales. In another game a man carried a hen on his back with horse-bells hung beside it, followed by blindfolded men with boughs who often hit each other instead of the bird. At the end the hen was boiled with bacon for the pancake feast.

It was customary in Cornwall to take any one which had not laid eggs before Shrove-Tuesday, and lay it on a barn-floor to be thrashed to death.

From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 1, p. 238; Hone's Every-Day Book, vol. 1, col. 248. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

The Pancake Greaze Still kept LondonAt eleven on Shrove Tuesday a verger of Westminster Abbey with a silver baton led the school cook, in white apron, jacket and cap, into the schoolroom carrying a pancake.
The Ba’ of Scone No longer kept PerthshireChambers knew of no place where Shrovetide football was played with more energy than Scone, near Perth.
Barring Out the Master No longer kept CumberlandAt Fasten's Even the scholars of the free school at Bromfield claimed an old right to shut their master out for three days.
Holly Boy and Ivy Girl No longer kept KentLate in the eighteenth century a Kentish village kept a Shrovetide custom in two halves.
Lent Crocking No longer kept Dorset, WiltshireIn Dorset and Wiltshire boys went shroving in small bands, armed with the year's broken crockery.
Ludlow Rope-pulling No longer kept ShropshireOn Shrove Tuesday the Ludlow corporation handed a thick rope, thirty-six yards long, out of a window of the Market Hall at four o'clock.
The Pancake Bell Still kept EnglandOn Shrove Tuesday the church bells were set ringing in the morning, and one bell in particular, the Pancake Bell, told every household that it was time to start frying.
The First Pancake No longer kept EnglandBy custom the first pancake off the pan was given to the laziest member of the household or the last one out of bed, though since nobody would own to it, it usually went to the dog.
Football Day at Kingston No longer kept Middlesex, SurreyA Quaker travelling to Kingston upon Thames on Shrove Tuesday 1815 was told by the coachman that it was Football Day.
The Cock-penny No longer kept Ross and Cromarty, ScotlandCock-fighting was a regular Shrovetide sport, and in many schools it was sanctioned by the master, who took a small fee from each boy called the cock-penny.
The Hoddesdon Curfew and the Pancakes No longer kept HertfordshireA correspondent told Hone that the old curfew bell at Hoddesdon, once rung for putting out all fire and candle light, was still rung at four in the morning on Shrove Tuesday, as it had been time out of mind.
Throwing at Cocks No longer kept England, NorfolkThrowing sticks at a tethered cock was an old and cruel Shrove Tuesday sport, which Hone was glad to see dying out among decent people.
Fitz-Stephen’s Shrovetide No longer kept LondonThe earliest account of Shrovetide sport in England comes from William Fitz-Stephen, who died in 1191.
The Wives’ Football at Inveresk No longer kept MidlothianSir Frederick Eden, drawing on the Statistical Account of Scotland, recorded a standing Shrove Tuesday football match in a Midlothian parish between the married and the unmarried women.
The Ring in the Crowdie No longer kept ScotlandEden wrote that crowdie was the never-failing dinner of all ranks in Scotland on Shrove Tuesday, as pancakes were in England.
Sauty Bannocks and Dreaming Bannocks No longer kept HighlandsIn the Highlands the Fastern's E'en supper ended with sauty bannocks, made of eggs and meal with plenty of salt and toasted on the gridiron.
Shrove Tuesday Weather Lore and belief EnglandThe Shepherd's Almanack of 1676 recorded two pieces of weather lore for Shrove Tuesday.
Ringing the Pancake Bell in York Minster No longer kept YorkshireAt York it was an old custom that on Shrove Tuesday the apprentices, journeymen and servants of the city were free to go into the minster and ring the pancake bell.
Cocks for the Poor Rate at Pinner No longer kept MiddlesexIn the hamlet of Pinner, by Harrow on the Hill, throwing at cocks on Shrove Tuesday was a parish occasion, and the money it raised went towards the poor rate: the accounts record twelve shillings received for cocks at Shrovetide in 1622.
Stoning the doors in Scilly No longer kept Isles of ScillyHeath's account of the Isles of Scilly says that every Shrove Tuesday, once the throwing at cocks was over, the island boys spent the evening throwing stones at the doors of the houses.
The noon bell at Newcastle No longer kept NorthumberlandAt Newcastle upon Tyne the great bell of St Nicholas's church was tolled at twelve o'clock on Shrove Tuesday.
Dough-nut Day at Baldock No longer kept HertfordshireAt Baldock in Hertfordshire the children looked forward to Shrove Tuesday long beforehand and called it Dough-nut Day.
The pan’s hot No longer kept OxfordshireIn Oxfordshire the children went from door to door on Shrove Tuesday singing a shroving rhyme and begging for halfpence.
The freshmen’s caudle at Merton No longer kept OxfordshireAnthony a Wood described how the freshmen of Merton College were put through their paces on Shrove Tuesday in 1647.
The football over Alnwick Castle wall Still kept NorthumberlandBrand was told, and saw for himself on 5 February 1788, that at Alnwick the town waits came playing to the castle at two o'clock every Shrove Tuesday.
Great A, little A, this is pancake day No longer kept Northern EnglandIn parts of the north of England girls spent some of Shrove Tuesday playing battledore and shuttlecock, singing a rhyme as they played.
Flowers, flowers, high-do No longer kept EnglandEllis noted that in some places at Shrovetide, if flowers could be found so early in the year, the younger children carried a small garland about to collect a few pence.
Sown on Shrove Tuesday Lore and belief EnglandThe Book of Knowledge of 1703 held that whatever was planted or sown on Shrove Tuesday would always stay green.
The victor of the Shrovetide cock-fight No longer kept West CountryOn Shrove Tuesday the schoolboy whose cock had beaten all the rest went through the streets in triumph, decked with ribbons.
Crying to Bacchus at Eton No longer kept BuckinghamshireOn Shrove Tuesday, as soon as the clock struck nine, every boy in Eton school yelled a Greek cry to Bacchus as loud as he could.
The Danes and the Shrove Tuesday cocks No longer kept EnglandThrowing at cocks on Shrove Tuesday was said to be revenge on the birds whose crowing had betrayed an English plot against the Danes.
Hobthrust and the Fassen’s-eve cock Lore and belief Northern EnglandIn some northern farmhouses a cock and bacon were boiled on Shrove Tuesday evening, and everyone was expected to eat their fill.
Pancakes from the church leads at Sheffield No longer kept YorkshireAt Sheffield, pancakes were said to be thrown from the church roofs on Shrove Tuesday as the clock struck twelve.
Whemmeled on the muck-midden No longer kept Northern EnglandOn northern farms each servant, man or woman, had to fry and toss a pancake on Shrove Tuesday in order of seniority.
Crowdy and the ring in the Manx pancakes No longer kept Isle of ManOn the Isle of Man, crowdy was eaten for dinner on Shrove Tuesday instead of for breakfast, and supper was meat with a large pudding and pancakes.
Leek pasties at Earls Barton No longer kept NorthamptonshireOn Shrove Tuesday the shoemakers of Earls Barton carried a chaff-cutter and a heap of leeks onto the village green and chopped them in public for leek pasties.
Shrove Tuesday weddings at Kilrush No longer kept MunsterIn Kilrush Shrove Tuesday was the busiest wedding day of the year, and the Catholic priests were marrying couples from sunrise until midnight.
Shrove Tuesday football at Dorking No longer kept SurreyDorking played football through its main streets every Shrove Tuesday, and shopkeepers barricaded their fronts for the afternoon.
The Shrovetide ball and the bull-ring Still kept County DurhamIn a Durham town Hazlitt calls Sedgwick (Sedgefield), townspeople and country folk played a Shrovetide ball match.
The Bromfield silver bell and churchyard football No longer kept CumberlandWhen the Bromfield scholars had barred out their master at Fastings Even, one of the terms they always won was a cock-fight and a football match.
Shrovetide cockfights at Crosthwaite school No longer kept CumberlandAt Shrovetide the scholars of the school in Crosthwaite parish each brought a cock to fight at the school, and gave the master a present of money for allowing it.
Threshing the fat hen in Essex and Suffolk No longer kept Essex, SuffolkAt Shrovetide in Essex and Suffolk the farm men went shroving and threshed a fat hen, and if a blindfolded man could kill her she was theirs.
The King of Christmas at Norwich No longer kept NorfolkOn a Shrove Tuesday at Norwich a rider crowned as King of Christmas went through the streets on a horse trapped in tin foil, with the twelve months of the year going before him in disguise.
Leaden cocks at Shrovetide No longer kept EnglandWhen throwing at live cocks was stopped, toy cocks on heavy lead stands were put up for the boys at Shrovetide wakes and fairs, and whoever knocked one over kept it.
The owl in the Shrovetide pot at North Walsham No longer kept NorfolkAt North Walsham, about forty years before Strutt wrote, some jokers put an owl into the earthen pot used for Shrove Tuesday cock-throwing, and fixed the head and tail of a dead cock so they showed as a live bird's would.
Six silver glaives for the Chester runners No longer kept CheshireEvery Shrove Tuesday the shoemakers of Chester gave the drapers a leather football before the mayor at the cross on the Roodee, and the game was played from there to the Common Hall.
Cock broth for Shrovetide husbands No longer kept EnglandOn Shrove Tuesday the boys threw at cocks and killed them, and the birds went into the pot.
The Pancake-Bell and the father’s knell No longer kept EnglandPoor men liked the sound of the Shrove Tuesday pancake bell better than any other.
Cock-throwing given up at Newcastle No longer kept NorthumberlandBy 1777 the Shrove Tuesday sport of throwing at cocks had been given up at Newcastle upon Tyne.
Fugies and cock-fight dues at Applecross No longer kept Ross and CromartyOn Fastern's E'en, until the middle of the eighteenth century, cock-fights were held in many Scottish schools with the master presiding and keeping every runaway cock, called a fugie, as his perquisite.
Hurdles on the windows at Teddington No longer kept MiddlesexShrove Tuesday football at Teddington was played with such spirit that careful householders protected their windows with hurdles and bushes.
The pancake on the crow at Eton No longer kept BuckinghamshireIn Queen Elizabeth's time the cook at Eton fastened a pancake on Shrove Tuesday to the crow, the iron ring that served as a knocker, on the school door.
Shying at buried cocks at Manchester school No longer kept LancashireAt the grammar school in Manchester the master provided cocks on Shrove Tuesday, which were buried up to their necks for the boys to shy at, and he was well paid for them.
Going a-shroving near Salisbury No longer kept WiltshireIn the days before Shrovetide the boys round Salisbury went from door to door singing for apples, dumplings, cheese or pancake.
The apprentices’ Shrove Tuesday No longer kept LondonUntil a few years before Hone wrote, Shrove Tuesday was the great holiday of the London apprentices.
The Whipping Toms of the Newarke No longer kept LeicestershireOn Shrove Tuesday afternoon, men called Whipping Toms armed with waggon whips flogged anyone they could catch in the Newarke at Leicester, but only while a bell-man beside each of them kept ringing his bell.
Guttling Tuesday No longer kept WalesIn Wales Shrove Tuesday was still sometimes called Guttling or Guttes-Tuesday, from the feasting that came before the Lenten fast.
Knappan on the Berry Sands No longer kept PembrokeshireOn Shrove Tuesday every year the rough ball game of knappan was played on the Berry Sands between the parishes of Nevern and Newport in Pembrokeshire.
Buttermilk and a buried pancake on Shrove Tuesday Lore and belief WalesIn Wales it was said that anyone who drank buttermilk on Shrove Tuesday would never have freckles or sunburn, and that burying a piece of pancake brought luck for the next twelve months.

Threshing the Hen

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