Customs

Customs, processions, games and wassails, in the order they come round.

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Sunday 21 March

Folklore from the old calendars

Going a-palming No longer kept LondonEarly on Palm Sunday men and boys went out from London to gather willow or sallow branches with their grey, velvety buds, which stood in for palms.
The Caistor gad-whip No longer kept LincolnshireEvery Palm Sunday a man from Broughton came to the north porch of Caistor church during the first lesson and cracked a great ox-whip, the gad-whip, three times.
The palm cross in Nantswell No longer kept CornwallBefore the Reformation people went on Palm Sunday to the well of Our Lady of Nantswell at Little Conan in Cornwall, carrying a cross made of palm.
Cakes from the steeple No longer kept EnglandA Protestant dialogue of 1554, quoted by Brand and Hone, mocked the old Palm Sunday processions, saying hardly one in ten thousand knew what they meant.
Hiring an angel for Palm Sunday No longer kept LondonLondon churchwardens' accounts show parishes paying players for the Palm Sunday procession.
No palm, no hand Lore and belief EnglandAn old saying held that whoever did not have a palm in his hand on Palm Sunday would have his hand cut off.
Hail be thou our King No longer kept SurreyDives and Pauper, printed in 1496, describes the priest in the Palm Sunday procession drawing up the veil before the rood and falling to the ground with all the people, saying three times Ave Rex Noster, hail be thou our King.
Fig Sunday at Kimpton No longer kept HertfordshireAt Kempton in Hertfordshire, as the book spells Kimpton, it had long been the custom for the villagers to eat figs on Palm Sunday, which they called Fig Sunday.
A bundle of box for Palm Sunday No longer kept ShropshireDomesday Book records under Shropshire a tenant who paid for half a carucate of land with a bundle of box twigs on Palm Sunday.
Double flowers from Palm Sunday sowing Lore and belief GloucestershireMr R.
Walking the corn on Palm Sunday No longer kept EnglandAfter taking the sacrament on Palm Sunday, young men and maids went out after dinner and walked about the cornfields to bless the corn.
Saugh palms on Palm Sunday No longer kept Northern EnglandMany country people in the North believed the saugh, or sallow willow, was the true palm strewn before Christ in Jerusalem.
Palm crosses on the cottage wall No longer kept Northern EnglandChildren in the North of England carried bright palm crosses on Palm Sunday, made of coloured materials arranged in one, two or even three crosses.
Willow palms from Kepier No longer kept County DurhamAs a boy in Durham, Henderson walked with his friends to the riverbank near Kepier Hospital to gather willow catkins for Palm Sunday.
Pawne bottles at the wells No longer kept YorkshireYorkshire children kept Palm Sunday with "pawne bottles", bottles holding a little sugar.
The Hentland Palm Sunday bun No longer kept HerefordshireOn Palm Sunday the churchwardens at Hentland gave the minister and congregation a cake or bun, and in earlier days a cup of beer as well, which was eaten in church.
Flowering Sunday in South Wales Still kept South WalesIn South Wales Palm Sunday was called Flowering Sunday, when people gathered in the churchyards and laid fresh flowers on the graves of their friends and family.
Bringing in the with before Easter No longer kept LondonIn the week before Easter great shows were made in London by carrying a twisted tree, called a with, into the king's palace and the houses of the nobility and gentry.
The wooden ass in the Palm Sunday procession No longer kept EnglandIn some English parishes before the Reformation, a wooden ass on wheels carrying a wooden figure of Christ was drawn in the Palm Sunday procession while the crowd threw willow branches in its path.
The Mallwyd yew for Palm Sunday No longer kept MerionethshireChurchyard yews once stood in for palms on Palm Sunday: their boughs were blessed that day and some were burnt to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday.
Palm flowers, cakes and juniper in the City churches No longer kept LondonBefore the Reformation London parishes bought palm, box, flowers and cakes for Palm Sunday, and sometimes juniper to sweeten the church.
Ale for the Passion singers at Reading No longer kept BerkshireAt St Laurence's church in Reading the singers of the Passion on Palm Sunday were rewarded with ale and wine.

Monday 22 March Worm Moon

Thursday 25 March

Folklore from the old calendars

The Tichborne Dole Still kept HampshireThe story is that the dying Lady Mabella asked her husband, Sir Roger Tichborne, for a dole of bread to be given every Lady Day, and he promised her as much land as she could go round while a brand burned, thinking she could not go far.
My Lord in my Lady’s lap Lore and belief EnglandAn old rhyme warned that when Easter Day fell on or near Lady Day, 25 March, England would suffer some misfortune.
Pope Ladies at St Albans No longer kept HertfordshireSt Albans sold buns called Pope Ladies on Lady Day, baked in the shape of ladies.
Our Lady’s smock at Lady Day Lore and belief EnglandCuckoo flower was called Our Lady's smock because it first flowered about Lady Day, and its name was taken to recall the Virgin's garment in honour of the Annunciation.
Entering the fallows at Lady Day No longer kept EnglandIn the open-field champion country a new farmer could enter on all the fallow land at Lady Day, half a year before his Michaelmas entry.
Shere Thursday No longer kept EnglandMaundy Thursday had an old English name, Shere Thursday, from the priests' custom of shearing their hair on that day.
Wolsey’s maundy at Peterborough No longer kept NorthamptonshireOn Maundy Thursday 1530 Cardinal Wolsey washed and kissed the feet of fifty-nine poor men in the Lady Chapel of Peterborough Abbey.
The royal maundy Still kept LondonOn Maundy Thursday the sovereign gave food, clothes and money to as many poor men and women as the years of the royal age, and once washed their feet as well.
Pottage crosses over the byre on Maundy Thursday No longer kept Highlands, Ross and CromartyOn the Thursday before Easter a cross cut on a stick and dipped in pottage was set over each sheep-cot, stable and cow-house.
Plucking the fen geese at Lady Day No longer kept LincolnshireThe great flocks of geese in the Lincolnshire fens had their first plucking of the year at Lady Day, for feathers and quills.
Rice and almonds for Shere Thursday at Barking Abbey No longer kept EssexThe nuns of Barking Abbey marked Shere Thursday, the day before Good Friday, with a special dish from the convent kitchen.
Pelting the target on Maundy Thursday No longer kept WalesOn Maundy Thursday Welsh schoolboys set up a target of wood or stone and pelted it with pebbles.
When Easter falls on Lady Day Lore and belief WalesThe Welsh held it a very evil omen for Wales when Easter Day fell on 25 March, Lady Day.
Monday fasts when Lady Day falls on a Monday Lore and belief EnglandIn the late fifteenth century some people fasted on every Monday of the year when Lady Day, the feast of Our Lady in Lent, fell on a Monday, trusting such new-found fasts to save them from sudden death.

Friday 26 March

Folklore from the old calendars

Good Friday bread Lore and belief EnglandBread baked on Good Friday was kept in the house all year, in the belief that a little of it grated into water would cure almost any illness, and diarrhoea especially.
Hot cross buns Still kept England, LondonIn London and all over England, though not in Scotland, Good Friday began with the street cry of hot cross buns, and a plate of them on every breakfast table.
Washing Molly Grime No longer kept LincolnshireIn Glentham church a tomb carries a carved figure the people called Molly Grime.
The Good Friday fast in Connaught No longer kept ConnachtIn Connaught poor Catholic families kept Good Friday with a total fast, giving their children nothing from midnight to midnight, even babies at the breast.
The clerk’s Good Friday cakes No longer kept Devon, DorsetIn some parishes of Dorset and Devon the parish clerk carried a few white cakes round to every house as an Easter offering.
Creeping to the cross at Durham No longer kept County DurhamBefore the Reformation a gold crucifix kept inside the image of Our Lady of Bolton in Durham Abbey was taken out every Good Friday, and everyone in the church crept to it.
The Good Friday sermon at Paul’s Cross No longer kept LondonFor a long time a learned man chosen by the bishop preached every Good Friday afternoon at Paul's Cross, the timber pulpit on stone steps in St Paul's churchyard, on the Passion.
Paste egging at West Derby No longer kept LancashireA Liverpool correspondent wrote to Hone on Good Friday 1826 about paste egging around West Derby, kept up by the young country people.
The passion-dock pudding No longer kept Northern EnglandIn the north of England a herb pudding was a dish nobody went without on Good Friday, and its chief ingredient was the leaves of the passion-dock.
The witches’ Good Friday meeting Lore and belief LancashireGood Friday was believed in Lancashire to be the witches' great day of gathering.
Fig-sue on Good Friday No longer kept Northern EnglandMany families across the North of England ate nothing but fig-sue for dinner on Good Friday.
The Fishlake bell tolled for Good Friday No longer kept YorkshireAt Fishlake, at eight on Good Friday morning, the great church bell was tolled slowly as for a death or funeral, instead of being rung for service as on other holy days.
Charlie Marston’s Good Friday potatoes Lore and belief County Durham, YorkshireIn the North Riding it was held impious to disturb the earth on Good Friday with spade, plough or harrow.
No washing on Good Friday Lore and belief YorkshireIn Cleveland it was said that clothes washed and hung out to dry on Good Friday would come in spotted with blood.
Long Rope Day at Brighton No longer kept SussexOn Good Friday the children of Brighton's back streets brought ropes up from the beach and skipped across the width of the street.
No iron in the fire on Good Friday Lore and belief Isle of ManOn Good Friday no iron was allowed in the fire on the Isle of Man, and even the tongs were put away; the fire was stirred with a rowan stick.
Mother Shipton and Ham Hill Lore and belief SomersetMid-Somerset labourers believed a prophecy of Mother Shipton that Ham Hill would be swallowed by an earthquake at noon on Good Friday 1879, and Yeovil flooded at the same moment.
A cross bun kept all year Lore and belief EnglandSome people kept one hot cross bun from Good Friday to the next Good Friday as a charm against the many crosses of life, out of piety and fear of disease.
No washing at Offenham on Good Friday Lore and belief WorcestershireThe poorer people of Offenham would not allow any washing to be about on Good Friday, for fear of much ill luck.
The Suffolk Good Friday loaf Lore and belief SuffolkA small loaf baked on Good Friday was hung in a corner of a Suffolk cottage, where it was believed never to go mouldy and to cure diseases such as the bloody flux.
The Bowaldeth Good Friday dole No longer kept CumberlandEvery Good Friday the interest on forty pounds was given to the poor of Bowaldeth, a quarter of Torpenhow parish.
Cross buns from the Easter bread Still kept EnglandBrand thought the cross buns sold on Good Friday in his day had come down from the cakes of Easter bread given as presents at Easter in the Greek church.
The king’s cramp-rings on Good Friday No longer kept EnglandOn Good Friday the English king crept along a carpet to a crucifix laid on a cushion in his chapel and there blessed rings in a silver basin, which were given out as sure cures for cramp.
The cross on the ass’s back Lore and belief West CountryIn the west of England it was believed that the dark cross on a donkey's shoulders was a mark of honour given by Christ, and that before he rode an ass no donkey carried it.
Changing the baby’s cap on Good Friday Lore and beliefGood Friday and Easter Sunday were both held to be lucky days for changing a young child's cap.
Bees moved only on Good Friday No longer kept DevonIn Devon bees were never moved from one place to another except on Good Friday.

Fri 26 Mar 09:00 16:00
Custom

Conwy Seed Fair

Sets off from Lancaster Square, Conwy, Conwy
- Fair or wakes
Fri 26 Mar 11:15 16:30
Custom

Heptonstall Pace Egg Play

Sets off from Weavers Square, Heptonstall, West Yorkshire
- Mumming play
- Easter

Saturday 27 March

Folklore from the old calendars

Watching the Easter sepulchre No longer kept EnglandBefore the Reformation churches set up Easter sepulchres showing the burial of Christ, and crowds came to see them.
An Easter egg, good dame No longer kept Cheshire, Cumberland, WestmorlandIn Cheshire children went round the village begging eggs for their Easter dinner, singing a short song to the farmer's wife that asked for an egg, bacon, cheese, an apple or anything that would make them merry.
We fasted in the light No longer kept DorsetIn Dorset during the eighteenth century boys went in procession on Easter Eve carrying rough torches and a small black flag.
Yew for the house on Easter Eve No longer kept EnglandOn Easter Eve the box that had decked the house since Candlemas was taken down and yew put up in its place.
Out with the Lent at midnight No longer kept IrelandOn the night of Holy Saturday, cottagers in the middle districts of Ireland put a fat hen and a piece of bacon in the pot, but no one dared taste it before the cock crew.
The Paschal taper at Reading and Westminster No longer kept Berkshire, LondonOn Easter Eve the medieval church lit a huge Paschal taper, and a font taper beside it.
Fives and stool-ball from Easter Eve No longer kept WalesWelsh holiday ball games began on Easter Eve and started again once Easter Day was over.

Sat 27 Mar 09:00 19:00
Custom

Britannia Coconut Dancers

Old Travellers Rest, Bacup, Lancashire

Sunday 21 March

Monday 22 March🌕 Worm Moon

Thursday 25 March

Friday 26 March

Conwy Seed Fair

Heptonstall Pace Egg Play

Saturday 27 March

Britannia Coconut Dancers

Image credits

Monday 22 March Worm Moon