The church-porch watchers of Burton

24 April · Burton, Lincolnshire

Lore and belief

In the north of England it was believed that anyone who watched in the church porch from eleven till one on St Mark’s Eve would see the ghosts of all who would be buried there in the coming year. In 1634 two men of Burton near Lincoln tried it and found themselves held fast, then saw the minister with his book lead five figures in winding-sheets into the church. Three of their neighbours died in turn, then a newborn child, and in January an old messenger who had crossed the Derbyshire hills in the frost. Chambers had the story from the papers of Gervase Hollis of Great Grimsby.

if a person, on the eve of St Mark's day, watch in the church porch, from eleven at night till one in the morning, he will see the apparitions of all those who are to be buried in the churchyard

From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 1, p. 549. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

Joe Brown the church watcher Lore and belief YorkshireIn Yorkshire a watcher at the church door at midnight on St Mark's Eve, Old Style, was said to see the souls of all who would be buried there within the year go into the church in the order they would die, those to drown coming in splashing and struggling.
The dumb cake Lore and belief NorthamptonshireA correspondent near Peterborough told Hone that girls in his district still made the dumb cake on St Mark's Eve.
Riddling the ashes Lore and belief EnglandCottage families on St Mark's Eve sifted the ashes over the hearth-stone at night, hoping not to find in the morning the footprint of anyone who would die that year.
The Scarborough watcher who saw herself Lore and belief YorkshireAbout eighty years before Henderson wrote, an old woman kept the St Mark's Eve watch in the porch of St Mary's, Scarborough, to see who would die that year.
Riddling chaff at Malton Lore and belief YorkshireIn Yorkshire people riddled chaff at midnight in a barn with its doors thrown open, to learn whether they would die within the year.
Running round the haystack on St Mark’s night Lore and belief YorkshireOn St Mark's night a Beverley woman ran nine times round a haystack with a ring in her hand to learn whether she would win the man she wanted.

The church-porch watchers of Burton

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