Customs

Friday 30 April

Folklore from the old calendars

The Swinton May-singers No longer kept LancashireIn 1861 a man at Swinton, near Eccles, was surprised one April evening by a party of singers on his lawn with a flute and a clarinet.
The storm cock Lore and belief EnglandBefore a storm the mistle thrush was said to sing especially loud and to keep on singing until the rain began, and for this it was called the storm cock in some places.
Dun-pickles on the downs Lore and belief WiltshireIt was said in Wiltshire that the dun-pickles, or moor buzzards, came down in great numbers on the downs before rain.
Fetching the elm on May Eve in Cornwall No longer kept CornwallBorlase wrote that the Cornish people of the towns went out into the country on May Eve and cut down a tall elm, which they brought back with rejoicing.
The May bush in Westmeath No longer kept LeinsterSir Henry Piers wrote in 1682 that on May Eve every family in Westmeath set up a green bush before its door, strewn over with the yellow flowers that the meadows yielded in plenty.
Hawthorns from Woodstock Park No longer kept OxfordshireEvery May Eve the people of Woodstock went into the park and carried off a number of hawthorn trees to set before their doors.
Cattle in the neighbour’s corn on May Eve Lore and belief IrelandA sixteenth-century manuscript says the Irish drove their cattle into a neighbour's corn on May Eve, most often an English settler's.
Gadding to the woods against May No longer kept EnglandOn the night before May Day young men and maids, and old men and wives with them, went out to the woods, groves, hills and mountains and stayed there all night.
Nettles on May Eve in the south of Ireland No longer kept MunsterOn May Eve schoolboys in the south of Ireland thought themselves free to run wild with bunches of nettles, stinging the faces and hands of their companions and anyone else they dared.
Evil spirits revelling in the churches Lore and belief WalesWithin living memory it was believed in Wales that evil spirits were let loose on May Day Eve, St John's Eve and All Hallows' Eve and held high revelry inside the churches.

Fri 30 Apr from 19:30
Custom

Beltane Fire Festival

Sets off from Calton Hill, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh

Saturday 1 May

May Day

Sat 1 May from 06:00
Custom

Oxford May Morning

Sets off from High Street by Magdalen Tower, Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Dance
- May Day
Sat 1 May from 10:00
Custom

Padstow May Day

Golden Lion Hotel, Padstow, Cornwall
Sat 1 May 13:30 16:00
Custom

Knutsford Royal May Day

Sets off from Knutsford Heath, Cheshire

Sunday 2 May

Folklore from the old calendars

Heavy cake Sunday at Penzance No longer kept CornwallOn the first Sunday after May Day families from Penzance went out together to Rose Hill, Poltair and other villages near by.
All friends round the Wrekin No longer kept ShropshirePeople from round Wellington in Shropshire used to climb the Wrekin on the Sunday after May Day, and on the three Sundays following, to drink a health to all friends round the Wrekin.
Ringing the old bailiff out at Buckingham No longer kept BuckinghamshireA visitor to Buckingham on the first Sunday after May Day found the main street lined with townspeople and villagers crying that they were ringing the old bailiff out.
Rowan gathered on the second of May Lore and belief Northern EnglandA twig of rowan gathered on the second of May and wound with many yards of red thread was set in the window to keep witches away.
Rowan crosses on Roodmas Eve Lore and belief AberdeenshireOn 2 May, the eve of the Invention of the Holy Cross, people in Aberdeenshire made crosses of rowan twigs and set them over their doors and windows.
Rowan and honeysuckle in the byres on 2 May No longer kept BanffshireThe farmers of Fordyce guarded their cattle against witchcraft by putting boughs of rowan and honeysuckle in their cow houses on 2 May.

Monday 3 May

Folklore from the old calendars

Reading the gospel at the springs No longer kept Berkshire, CheshireIn the parish processions a gospel was read at the springs to bless them, a custom kept at Sunningwell in Berkshire until 1688.
The crowfoot on Holy Cross Day Lore and belief EnglandThe feast of the Finding of the Cross on 3 May belonged to the crowfoot, or buttercup, which by then turned the grass gold.
Gang Week in the North No longer kept Northern EnglandOn one of the three days before Holy Thursday the minister, churchwardens and parishioners walked the bounds of the parish, praying for the fruits of the earth and guarding the parish's rights.
The bull kept from the cows till Crouchmas No longer kept EnglandThe bull was kept from the cows until Crouchmas, the feast of the Finding of the Cross on 3 May, and from the heifers until Lammas.
The Bezant at Shaftesbury No longer kept DorsetOn Rogation Monday the mayor and aldermen of Shaftesbury went down the hill in procession to Enmore Green to pay for the town's water with a calf's head, a gallon of ale, two penny loaves, gold-laced gloves and the Bezant.
Gang Monday Land at Edgcott No longer kept BuckinghamshireAt Edgcott in Buckinghamshire about an acre of land, called Gang Monday Land, was let for three pounds a year to pay for cakes and beer for those who walked the parish bounds in Rogation week.
Loaf, cheese and ale for the bounds at Clifton Reynes No longer kept BuckinghamshireEveryone living in Clifton Reynes who walked the parish boundaries in Rogation week was given ale from a bequest of land, married people a small loaf, a piece of cheese and a pint, single people half a pint.
The boy in the boundary oven No longer kept BuckinghamshireWhere a Buckinghamshire house had been built with its oven jutting over the parish boundary, a boy was put into the oven during the Rogation perambulation to keep the line unbroken.
Possessioning in Derbyshire No longer kept DerbyshireIn a small Derbyshire village in 1818 the Rogation perambulation had become possessioning, a march of the constable, labourers and boys with an axe, a mattock and an iron crow.
The noble in a bowl at Swinford Ferry No longer kept BerkshireWhen the Cumnor parishioners beat their bounds in Rogation week, they crossed at Swinford Ferry and took hold of the twigs on the far bank to claim the whole breadth of the Thames for the parish.
The seven-yearly bounds money at Husborne Crawley No longer kept BedfordshireOnce every seven years an estate at Husborne Crawley in Bedfordshire had to pay four pounds on Rogation Day towards walking the parish bounds.
The dismal day of 3 May Lore and belief Highlands, PerthshireA Highlander would begin nothing of consequence on the day of the week on which 3 May fell, a day he called the dismal day.
Processioning with flower poles at Wolverhampton No longer kept StaffordshireOn the Monday and Tuesday of Rogation Week the clergy and choir of Wolverhampton walked the town behind charity children carrying long poles dressed with every flower in season, chanting the Benedicite.
The Gospel in the Chequer Inn cellar at Standlake No longer kept OxfordshireAt Standlake the minister's Rogation Week procession stopped in the cellar of the Chequer Inn, where he read the Gospel at the head of a barrel.
Youling the orchards at Keston and Wickham No longer kept KentIn Rogation Week the young men about Keston and Wickham in Kent ran shouting into the orchards, circled each tree and chanted a rhyme for a good crop.
Llantwit’s Anwyl Day and the pirate O’Neil No longer kept GlamorganOn 3 May Llantwit Major kept Llantwit's Anwyl, its darling or pet day, in memory of the capture of an Irish pirate named O'Neil.

Mon 3 May 10:00 16:00
Custom

Holywood May Day

Sets off from The Maypole, Holywood, County Down
Mon 3 May 12:00 15:00
Custom

Laa Boaldyn at Cregneash

Cregneash Folk Village, Cregneash, Isle of Man
Mon 3 May from 13:30
Custom

Ickwell May Day

Sets off from Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire

Wednesday 5 May

Thursday 6 May New moon

Folklore from the old calendars

Well-dressing at Tissington Still kept DerbyshireOn Ascension Day the five wells of Tissington were dressed with boards spread with wet plaster and set with flowers into pictures, texts and patterns.
Beating the bounds Still kept EnglandOn Holy Thursday, or in Rogation week before it, the minister, parish officers and schoolboys walked the parish boundary, the boys striking the marks with peeled willow wands.
The Ince oatmeal dole No longer kept LancashireEdward Richardson, who owned an estate in the township of Ince, directed in 1784 that for fifty years after his death oatmeal should be given out to the poor of the neighbourhood on Ascension Day.
The Old Brine at Nantwich No longer kept CheshirePennant was told that the old people of Nantwich sang a hymn of thanksgiving on Ascension Day for the blessing of the brine that made the town's salt.
Hailing the Lamb on Ascension morning Lore and belief DevonIn many villages round Exeter people went out on Ascension morning to hail the Lamb.
The Tyne barges on Ascension Day No longer kept NorthumberlandOn Ascension Day the magistrates, the River Jury and other officers of Newcastle kept an old custom of going the bounds of the town's jurisdiction on the river in their barges, to guard against encroachments.
Baked peas at Evesham on Holy Thursday No longer kept WorcestershireBrand's servant Betty Jelkes, who had lived for some years at Evesham, told him of an old custom of the town's market gardens.
The smock race at Newburn No longer kept Leinster, NorthumberlandBrockett's glossary of north-country words mentions the smock race on Ascension Day, run by young countrywomen for a fine holland smock trimmed with ribbons.
New College at the Bartlemas well No longer kept OxfordshireAubrey wrote about 1690 that the fellows of New College had gone every Holy Thursday, time out of mind, between eight and nine in the morning, to the hospital of St Bartholomew near Oxford.
Holy Thursday wells at Brewood and Bilbrook No longer kept StaffordshirePlot saw the wells at Brewood and Bilbrook in Staffordshire adorned with boughs and flowers on Holy Thursday, a custom he said was kept at all the gospel places, wells, trees or hills, where the gospel was read on the bounds.
Hunting the ram at Eton No longer kept BuckinghamshireAbout Whitsuntide, on Holy Thursday as Aubrey thought, the Eton schoolboys hunted a ram until they killed it and then made a venison feast of it.
Seggs on the doorstep for Ascension No longer kept YorkshireNear York children used to lay rushes, called seggs, on their doorsteps to mark Ascension Day.
No work in the Penrhyn quarries on Ascension Day Lore and belief CaernarfonshireThe slate quarrymen at Lord Penrhyn's quarries near Bangor would not work on Ascension Day, believing an accident was certain if they did.
Damming the gutters at Exeter No longer kept DevonWhen the parishes of Exeter went their bounds the boys dammed up the water channels in the streets and splashed passers-by.
Points for the boys that were whipped at Chelsea No longer kept London, MiddlesexWhen Chelsea parish walked its bounds in 1679 the churchwardens paid for a dinner, for points for the boys, and four shillings to the boys that were whipped at the boundary marks so they would remember them.
St Margaret’s Westminster walks to Kensington No longer kept LondonThe parish of St Margaret, Westminster, fed its bounds walkers at Kensington every Rogation tide, with bread, ale, fish, cream and cheese.
Kemes against Emlyn at St Meugan’s No longer kept Cardiganshire, PembrokeshireOn Ascension Day the men of Kemes played knappan at St Meugan's against the men of Emlyn, who were joined by the men of Cardiganshire.

Thu 6 May from 11:00
Custom, day 1 of 7

Tissington Well Dressing

St Mary’s Church, Tissington, Derbyshire

Friday 30 April

Saturday 1 May

Sunday 2 May

Monday 3 May

Wednesday 5 May

Thursday 6 May🌑 New moon

Image credits

Thursday 6 May New moon