Customs

Tuesday 27 October

Wednesday 28 October

Thursday 29 October

Thu 29 Oct 09:00 16:00
Custom

Bampton Charter Fair

Sets off from Newton Square, Bampton, Devon
- Fair or wakes
Thu 29 Oct from 18:00
Custom

Punkie Night

St George’s Hall, Hinton St George, Somerset

Friday 30 October

Saturday 31 October

Hallowe'en

Sat 31 Oct 10:00 15:00
Custom

Hop tu Naa Festival at Cregneash

Cregneash Folk Village, Cregneash, Isle of Man
Sat 31 Oct from 17:30
Custom

Samhain Fire at Athboy

Sets off from Fair Green, Athboy, County Meath
Sat 31 Oct 18:30 22:30
Custom

Samhuinn Fire Festival

Sets off from Calton Hill, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh
Sat 31 Oct from 19:00
Custom

Derry Halloween Carnival Parade

Sets off from Guildhall Square, Derry, County Londonderry
- Procession
- Hallowe'en

Sat 31 Oct 19:30 16:00
Custom

Newick Bonfire

Sets off from The Green, Newick, East Sussex

Sunday 1 November

Folklore from the old calendars

All-Hallowtide revels at the Middle Temple No longer kept LondonThe young lawyers of the Middle Temple counted All-Hallowtide as the start of Christmas, and in the reign of Charles I they chose a Master of the Revels for the season.
The All Saints’ triplets Lore and belief WalesA correspondent signing himself Gwilym Sais sent Hone seven triplets for the first of November, the Welsh Calan Gaeaf, from William Owen Pughe's translations of the elegies of Llywarch Hen.
Dole bread in Monmouthshire No longer kept MonmouthshireBritton wrote in his Cathedral Antiquities that in Monmouthshire the poorer people, Catholic and Protestant alike, went begging bread for the souls of the dead on All Saints' Day.
Seed cake at Allhallows No longer kept WarwickshireBrand's servant, a Warwickshire man, told him that in that county a seed cake was had at Allhallows, marking the end of wheat sowing.
Souling in Staffordshire No longer kept StaffordshireTollett noted that on All Saints' Day the poor of Staffordshire went from parish to parish souling, begging and singing for soul cakes or anything else to make them merry.
The Cheshire souling song Still kept CheshireOn the eve of All Souls' Day parties of boys in Cheshire went souling from door to door, singing for apples, pears, plums, beer or money.
The first three days of winter Lore and belief BanffshireThe minister of Kirkmichael in Banffshire reported a Gaelic weather saying about the first three days of winter, which began at Hallowtide.
Ringing for all Christian souls No longer kept EnglandBefore the Reformation the church bells were rung all night at Allhallowtide for all Christian souls.
Pork, souse and sprats at All Saints No longer kept EnglandAll Saints was the season for pork and souse, the pickled parts of the pig, and for laying in sprats and spurlings.
Slaughter time at Hallowtide No longer kept EnglandHallowtide began the season for killing stock, and with it the husbandman's feasting.
Hallow-fair at Fordyce No longer kept BanffshireFordyce's yearly market was called Hallow-fair, and its charter of 1592 set it at All Hallows, to run for eight days.
The rough first day of winter Lore and belief WalesAn old Welsh triplet held that Calangauaf, the first day of winter, brought hard weather quite unlike the first day of summer, but that only God could foretell what was to come.

Monday 2 November

Folklore from the old calendars

Soul-mass cakes No longer kept Herefordshire, LancashireOn All Souls' Day in Lancashire and Herefordshire the well-off used to hand out oaten cakes, called soul-mass cakes, to the poor.
Old Hob No longer kept CheshireA correspondent told Hone of a Cheshire frolic called Old Hob, in which a man carried a dead horse's head covered with a sheet to frighten people.
The Shropshire soul-cake heap No longer kept ShropshireAubrey wrote that in his time, in Shropshire and elsewhere, a high heap of soul cakes was set on the board on All Souls' Day, lying one upon another like the shewbread in the pictures of old Bibles.
Tindles at Findern No longer kept DerbyshireAt Findern in Derbyshire the boys and girls went every year on the evening of All Souls' Day to the common and lit a number of small fires among the furze, which they called Tindles.
The Gill-Bushes dole on All Souls’ Day No longer kept CumberlandEvery year on 2 November the rent of a field called Gill-Bushes was given out to the poor of Blennerhasset in Torpenhow church.

Tuesday 3 November

Wednesday 4 November

Thursday 5 November

Bonfire Night

Thu 5 Nov 16:00 00:00
Custom

Ottery St Mary Tar Barrels

Sets off from The Square, Ottery St Mary, Devon
Thu 5 Nov 20:00 16:00
Custom

Shebbear Turning the Devil’s Stone

St Michael’s Church, Shebbear, Devon

Friday 6 November

Saturday 7 November

Sat 7 Nov from 18:00
Custom

Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival

Sets off from High Street, Bridgwater, Somerset
Sat 7 Nov from 18:30
Custom

Edenbridge Bonfire

Sets off from Recreation Ground, Edenbridge, Kent
Sat 7 Nov from 18:30
Custom

East Hoathly and Halland Carnival

Sets off from High Street, East Hoathly, East Sussex
Sat 7 Nov 19:30 22:00
Custom

Battle Bonfire

Sets off from Abbey Green, Battle, East Sussex

Sunday 8 November

Monday 9 November New moon

Folklore from the old calendars

The Lord Mayor’s Show Still kept LondonEach new Lord Mayor of London went in procession to Westminster to be sworn in on 9 November, with the livery companies, their banners and a few men in armour.
Sprats on Lord Mayor’s Day No longer kept LondonIn his food calendar for November Hone noted that the season for sprats opened on Lord Mayor's Day, 9 November.
The Stationers’ wine at Lambeth No longer kept LondonWhen the Lord Mayor went by water to Westminster, the Stationers' Company barge, usually first in the procession, called at Lambeth Palace and was given sixteen bottles of the archbishop's best wine.
A pair of gloves for the new moon Lore and belief NorthumberlandA Newcastle reader told Hone of a custom he called very common and very pleasant.
The New Moon Through Glass Lore and belief SuffolkA Suffolk correspondent of Chambers kept a night school for rough country lads, and one winter evening they caught sight of the new moon through the schoolroom window.
Money Spinners Lore and belief EnglandTo make sure of always having money in your pocket, the 1831 list advised putting in it the small spiders called money spinners, or keeping in your purse a bent coin or one with a hole in it.
Turning Money at the New Moon Lore and belief EnglandA Chelsea reader sent Hone a charm he called well known and almost universal in former days, handed down by grandmothers.
Greeting the New Moon Lore and belief HerefordshireIn notes made about 1678 and printed by Chambers, John Aubrey recorded that Highland women curtsied to the new moon.

Wednesday 11 November

Folklore from the old calendars

Wroth Silver at Knightlow Cross Still kept WarwickshireBefore sunrise on Martinmas morning the parishes of the hundred of Knightlow paid their wroth silver, or ward money, to the lord of the hundred at the stump of Knightlow Cross near Rugby.
The Martinmas mart No longer kept Northumberland, ScotlandMartinmas was the time to kill beasts and salt them down for winter, so in Scotland and the north of England a fat ox for killing was called a mart.
St Martin’s little summer Lore and belief EnglandSt Martin's little summer was the name for the spell of fine days that sometimes breaks into the usual stormy weather about the beginning of November.
Martinmas is past and gone at Wooler Lore and belief NorthumberlandA Wooler rhyme lamented that Martinmas had come and gone with Christmas drawing near and no mutton left in the house for the feast.
Martinmas stray-sheep day at Patterdale No longer kept Cumberland, WestmorlandIn the dales round Ullswater nobody went looking for a strayed sheep; whoever found one simply looked after it.
Martlemas beef hung up for Easter No longer kept EnglandAt Martinmas the farmer killed a beast and hung the beef up to dry in the chimney, keeping it until Easter.
Rose garlands and wine for the singers on St Martin’s Day No longer kept LondonThe City church of St Martin Outwich kept its patron's day with bread, ale, wine and rose garlands for the singers.
Young people on the hill at Martinmas No longer kept WiltshireThe antiquary William Stukeley believed that on St Martin's Day the young people of the neighbourhood used to gather on Martinsall Hill for the drinking of healths to St Martin, the Martinalia of the Saxons and Danes.

Wed 11 Nov All day
Custom, day 1 of 4

Loughborough Fair

Sets off from Devonshire Square, Loughborough, Leicestershire
- Fair or wakes
Wed 11 Nov from 06:45
Custom

Wroth Silver at Knightlow Cross

Sets off from Knightlow Cross, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire
- Ceremony
Wed 11 Nov 12:00 16:00
Custom

Firing the Fenny Poppers

Sets off from Leon Recreation Ground, Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire
- Fire
- Fire Customs

Thursday 12 November

Thu 12 Nov Loughborough Fair day 2 of 4 · All day

Friday 13 November

Fri 13 Nov Loughborough Fair day 3 of 4 · All day

Saturday 14 November

Sat 14 Nov Loughborough Fair day 4 of 4 · All day
Sat 14 Nov from 05:00
Custom

Hatherleigh Carnival and Tar Barrels

Sets off from Market Street, Hatherleigh, Devon
Sat 14 Nov from 11:00
Custom

Lord Mayor’s Show

Mansion House, London, Greater London
- Procession

Sunday 15 November

Monday 16 November

Tuesday 17 November

Friday 20 November

Sunday 22 November

Monday 23 November

Folklore from the old calendars

Old Clem at Woolwich No longer kept Kent, LondonOn the evening of St Clement's Day the blacksmiths' apprentices of Woolwich dockyard chose one of their seniors to be Old Clem, in a greatcoat, a mask, an oakum wig and a long white beard.
Clementing in Worcestershire No longer kept WorcestershireA correspondent born in Worcestershire remembered boys going in a band from house to house on the afternoon of St Clement's Day.
St Clement and the hatters Lore and belief IrelandHatters had a tradition that St Clement, fleeing his persecutors, put wool between his sandals and his blistered feet, and found at the end of his journey that it had pressed into a firm cloth.
The smiths’ ode for St Clement No longer kept LondonThe secretary of the Benevolent Institution of Smiths, writing from Southwark in 1825, asked Hone not to forget St Clement, the smiths' saint.
St Clement’s pot No longer kept StaffordshirePlot's Staffordshire recorded an old custom of going about on the night of St Clement's Day to beg drink to make merry with.
Queen Mary’s St Clement’s Day procession No longer kept LondonOn St Clement's Day in Queen Mary's reign a great procession went through the streets of London.

Tuesday 24 November Beaver Moon

Wednesday 25 November

Folklore from the old calendars

Cathar’ning No longer kept England, KentSt Catherine was the patron of spinsters, and on her day young women met to make merry together, which was called Cathar'ning.
St Catherine’s fast Lore and belief IrelandIn Ireland women and girls once fasted every Wednesday and Saturday of the year, and some also on St Catherine's Day.
The charms of St Catharine Lore and belief EnglandMother Bunch's Golden Fortune Teller gave a charm for St Catharine's night.
The Cattern bowl at Worcester No longer kept WorcestershireUntil shortly before Ellis wrote, the dean and chapter of Worcester gave out a rich mixture of wine and spices on St Catharine's Day, the last day of their yearly audit, to the people living in the cathedral precincts.
The ropemakers’ Queen Catherine at Chatham No longer kept KentOn St Catherine's night the ropemakers of Chatham dockyard carried a woman dressed as Queen Catherine, founder of the ropery, through Chatham, Rochester and Brompton by torchlight.
Laurel for St Catherine’s learned men Lore and belief EnglandBy St Catherine's Day only the evergreen laurel was left in leaf, and the rhyme of the saints' flowers says it crowned learned men on her feast, since Catherine was the patron of scholars.
Five hundred lights round St Paul’s steeple No longer kept LondonOn the evening of St Catherine's Day 1553, five hundred great lights were carried round the steeple of St Paul's in her procession.

Tuesday 27 October

Wednesday 28 October

Thursday 29 October

Friday 30 October

Saturday 31 October

Sunday 1 November

Monday 2 November

Tuesday 3 November

Wednesday 4 November

Thursday 5 November

Friday 6 November

Saturday 7 November

Sunday 8 November

Monday 9 November🌑 New moon

Wednesday 11 November

Thursday 12 November

Friday 13 November

Saturday 14 November

Sunday 15 November

Monday 16 November

Tuesday 17 November

Friday 20 November

Sunday 22 November

Monday 23 November

Tuesday 24 November🌕 Beaver Moon

Wednesday 25 November

Image credits

Monday 9 November New moon

Tuesday 24 November Beaver Moon