Customs

Sunday 28 March

Easter

Monday 29 March

Folklore from the old calendars

The Borrowed Days Lore and belief ScotlandThe last three days of March were called the Borrowed Days and were expected to be stormy.
Lifting at Easter No longer kept Cheshire, Lancashire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, WarwickshireIn Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Shropshire, men lifted the women on Easter Monday and the women lifted the men on Easter Tuesday.
Taking the shoes at Durham No longer kept County DurhamIn Durham on Easter Monday the men claimed the right to take off the women's shoes, and on Easter Tuesday the women did the same to the men.
Clipping the churches No longer kept WarwickshireA Warwickshire correspondent remembered being taken as a child every Easter Monday to watch the charity-school children clip the churches of Birmingham.
The Biddenden Maids Still kept KentTwenty acres at Biddenden, called the Bread and Cheese Lands, paid for a dole at Easter; Hasted in 1790 counted six hundred cakes given to churchgoers and loaves and cheese to parishioners.
The Coleshill hare No longer kept WarwickshireBy an old custom at Coleshill, if the young men of the town caught a hare and brought it to the parson before ten o'clock on Easter Monday, he had to give them a calf's head, a hundred eggs and a groat for their breakfast.
Riding the Black Lad No longer kept LancashireEvery Easter Monday a stuffed figure of a man was carried on horseback round the streets of Ashton-under-Lyne, while its followers begged drink at every public house and fired at it.
The Epping Hunt No longer kept EssexHenry III confirmed to the citizens of London the right to hunt around their city, and the Lord Mayor and aldermen once rode out to hunt in state.
The Spital Sermon Still kept LondonOn Easter Monday and Tuesday the boys of Christ's Hospital walked in procession to the Mansion House and went with the Lord Mayor, aldermen and their ladies to Christ Church, where a bishop preached the Spital Sermon and the children sang an anthem.
Going a-pudding-pieing No longer kept KentAt Easter young people in Kent went holiday-making to public houses to eat pudding-pies, which they called going a-pudding-pieing.
Easter football on the Roodee No longer kept CheshireAt Easter the mayor and corporation of Chester and the city's twenty guilds went in procession to the Roodee to play football.
The sheriffs’ breakfast at Chester No longer kept CheshireEvery man married in Chester who had not finished his first year of marriage had to give the drapers' guild a silver arrow as a prize for archery.
Cock eggs on the Solway Still kept CumberlandA Maryport man told Hone that Cumberland families sent each other's children presents of eggs at Easter, and the price of eggs rose for weeks before Good Friday.
The old women’s trap-ball at Bury No longer kept SuffolkA correspondent told Hone of a ball custom still kept every year at Bury St Edmunds.
The corporation at ball on the Forth No longer kept NorthumberlandCorporations once went out in state to play at ball at Easter.
Greenwich Fair at Easter No longer kept KentEaster Monday and Tuesday were holidays in most London trades, and on the Monday Greenwich Fair began.
Old Vinegar and the Moorfields cudgel players No longer kept LondonIn the old days the cudgel players' sports in Moorfields began on Easter Monday.
Kissing at the Walter No longer kept UlsterOn Easter Monday several hundred young people from Portaferry and the country round went in their best clothes to a pleasant spot near the town called the Walter.
Easter Monday on the Cave Hill No longer kept UlsterOn Easter Monday several thousand working people of Belfast and the country round went out to the Cave Hill, about three miles from the town.
Tilting on the Thames at Easter No longer kept LondonFitzStephen, writing in the twelfth century and quoted by Stow, describes a water game played by the young men of London in the Easter holidays.
The Nottingham corporation at St Anne’s Well No longer kept NottinghamshireDeering's History of Nottingham records that by a custom beyond memory the mayor and aldermen of Nottingham and their wives walked out on Easter Monday, after morning prayers, to St Anne's Well outside the town.
The inspector heaved at Warrington No longer kept LancashireIn Lancashire the lasses heaved the lads on Easter Monday, lifting them off the ground, and the lads heaved the lasses on the Tuesday.
Trundling eggs at Holywood No longer kept UlsterAt Holywood, Easter eggs were boiled hard, dyed and rolled along the ground, especially down a slope, and the broken pieces were eaten.
The hare-pie scramble at Hallaton Still kept LeicestershireOn Easter Monday the rector of Hallaton provided pies, ale and penny loaves to be scrambled for, under a bequest of land once called Hare-crop Leys.
Hand-ball for a tansy cake No longer kept EnglandIn the Easter holidays work stopped and servants were given their liberty, and the favourite pastime was playing at hand-ball for a tansy cake.
Dick and Doll’s Easter Monday walk to Islington No longer kept LondonOn Easter Monday afternoon servants who had been kept at home all week walked out to Islington to court.
The bridegrooms’ silver arrow at Chester No longer kept CheshireEvery man married in Chester who had not yet completed his first year of marriage had to hand the drapers' guild, before the mayor, a silver arrow as the prize for the Easter archery on the Roodee.
When the daughter is stolen, shut the Pepper-gate Lore and belief CheshireChester's proverb for locking up too late came from an Easter football game.
Easter Monday football at White Conduit Fields No longer kept LondonOn Easter Monday the London roughs gathered in great numbers in the fields round White Conduit House, near Islington, to play football.
The clerk’s ale at Easter No longer kept EnglandIn the Easter holidays the parish clerk held his own church-ale, brewing for his private profit and for the pleasure of the neighbourhood.
The Sheffield climbing boys’ Easter Monday dinner No longer kept YorkshireEvery Easter Monday the poet James Montgomery and a few friends gave a dinner to the climbing boys employed by the Sheffield chimney sweeps.
Lifting in a chair in North Wales No longer kept North WalesOn Easter Monday in North Wales troops of men seized women, sat them in a chair and lifted them three times with cheering, and on Easter Tuesday the women did the same to the men.
Knappan at Pont Gynon No longer kept PembrokeshireOn Easter Monday the parishes of Meline and Eglwyswrw met at Pont Gynon in Pembrokeshire for a yearly game of knappan.
The last-married man and the Easter stocks No longer kept Caernarfonshire, GlamorganIn Glamorgan the man most recently married before Easter led a crowd, each carrying a branch of gorse, up the highest hill after morning service on Easter Day, and there ordered every young man to be up at dawn on Easter Monday.
Flowers at the spring on Easter Monday No longer kept Carmarthenshire, GlamorganOn Easter Monday young men and women walked to the nearest important spring, drew water into jugs and threw flowers on the grass, stones and bushes around it.

Mon 29 Mar 11:00 16:00
Custom

Preston Egg Rolling

Sets off from Avenham Park, Preston, Lancashire
Mon 29 Mar from 13:45
Custom

Hallaton Hare Pie Scramble and Bottle Kicking

St Michael and All Angels Church, Hallaton, Leicestershire

Tuesday 30 March

Thursday 1 April

Folklore from the old calendars

Hunting the gowk Still kept ScotlandIn Scotland April fooling went further than in England.
Washing the lions No longer kept LondonIn March 1860 a great many people received through the post an official-looking card inviting them to the Tower of London to see the annual washing of the white lions on Sunday 1 April.
Sleeveless errands on All Fools’ Day Still kept EnglandChambers found the first of April given over to harmless tricks on unsuspecting neighbours, mostly by the young.
Ah, you April fool! Still kept EnglandHone traced how the April fool's street trick changed with fashion.
A cold April the barn will fill Lore and belief EnglandOpening his April, Chambers observed that proverbial wisdom took a kindly view of the month.
April fools and the Sabine virgins Lore and belief EnglandOne explanation of April fooling traced it to a trick played by the Romans on the Sabines.
Oil of hazel on All Fools’ Day No longer kept County DurhamAs a boy in Durham, Henderson was sent on 1 April to the chemist for a pennyworth of oil of hazel, and got it from the hazel stick kept behind the counter.

Friday 2 April

Saturday 3 April

Sunday 4 April

Monday 5 April

Tuesday 6 April New moon

Folklore from the old calendars

Hock Tuesday at Coventry No longer kept WarwickshireOn Hock Monday and Tuesday, a fortnight after Easter, the men and then the women went out with ropes and tied up anyone of the other sex they met until they paid a small sum, which went to the church.
Hock money at Reading No longer kept BerkshireThe churchwardens' accounts of Reading show hocking there for generations: in 1499 the women of St Laurence's gathered twenty shillings and the men only four.
Men on Monday, women on Tuesday in Hampshire No longer kept HampshireIn several Hampshire manors the men hocked the women on Hock Monday, and on the Tuesday the women took their turn with the men.
Lambeth wives out-gather the men at Hock-tide No longer kept LondonThe churchwardens' accounts of Lambeth for 1515 and 1516 recorded hock money gathered by both the men and the women for the church.
Hocktide for the church repairs at St Peter in the East No longer kept OxfordshireIn seventeenth-century Oxford a parish that needed money for church repairs would keep a Hocktide, and the takings could be large.

Tue 6 Apr from 08:00
Custom

Hungerford Hocktide Tutti Day

Hungerford Town Hall, Hungerford, Berkshire
- Procession
- Easter

Monday 12 April

Tuesday 13 April

Wednesday 14 April

Thursday 15 April

Tuesday 20 April Pink Moon

Wednesday 21 April

Friday 23 April

St George's Day

Saturday 24 April

Folklore from the old calendars

The church-porch watchers of Burton Lore and belief LincolnshireIn 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.
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.

Sat 24 Apr from 12:00
Custom

Barley Saturday, Cardigan

Cardigan Guildhall, Cardigan, Ceredigion

Customs

Sunday 28 March

Monday 29 March

Preston Egg Rolling

Hallaton Hare Pie Scramble and Bottle Kicking

Tuesday 30 March

Thursday 1 April

Friday 2 April

Saturday 3 April

Sunday 4 April

Monday 5 April

Tuesday 6 April New moon

Hungerford Hocktide Tutti Day

Monday 12 April

Tuesday 13 April

Wednesday 14 April

Thursday 15 April

Tuesday 20 April Pink Moon

Wednesday 21 April

Friday 23 April

Saturday 24 April

Barley Saturday, Cardigan

Sunday 25 April

Monday 26 April

Image credits

Sunday 28 March

Monday 29 March

Preston Egg Rolling

Hallaton Hare Pie Scramble and Bottle Kicking

Tuesday 30 March

Thursday 1 April

Friday 2 April

Saturday 3 April

Sunday 4 April

Monday 5 April

Tuesday 6 April🌑 New moon

Hungerford Hocktide Tutti Day

Monday 12 April

Tuesday 13 April

Wednesday 14 April

Thursday 15 April

Tuesday 20 April🌕 Pink Moon

Wednesday 21 April

Friday 23 April

Saturday 24 April

Barley Saturday, Cardigan

Sunday 25 April

Monday 26 April

Image credits

Tuesday 6 April New moon

Tuesday 20 April Pink Moon