Customs

Thursday 27 May

Folklore from the old calendars

The Coventry pageants No longer kept WarwickshireBefore the Reformation Coventry was famous for the pageants played on Corpus Christi day, which drew crowds from far and near.
The York Corpus Christi play Still kept YorkshireThe Guild of Corpus Christi at York was bound to put on a Corpus Christi play every year, and it was acted in the city until 1584.
Fern and flowers at the door for Corpus Christi No longer kept FlintshirePennant's manuscript notes that in Wales, on the eve of the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, the feast of Corpus Christi, the people of Caerwys strewed before their doors a kind of fern they called Red yn Mair.
The Skinners’ procession on Corpus Christi Day No longer kept LondonOn Corpus Christi Day the members of the Skinners' Company of London walked in procession from their hall on Dowgate Hill to the church of St Antholin in Watling Street to hear a service.
The Dean’s gloves on Corpus Christi No longer kept County DurhamThe Durham trades companies' Corpus Christi procession to the cathedral outlived the Reformation and lasted until about eighty years before Henderson wrote.
Holm Cultram fairs at Maundy Thursday and Corpus Christi No longer kept CumberlandThe lordship of Holm Cultram held two fairs a year, one on Maundy Thursday and one on Corpus Christi day.
Torches about the parish on Corpus Christi No longer kept LondonOn Corpus Christi Day the London parish of St Mary-at-Hill hired men to carry torches round the parish, with flags and garlands for the procession.
Corpus Christi knappan at St Meugan’s No longer kept Cardiganshire, PembrokeshireOn Corpus Christi Day the men of Kemes met the men of Emlyn and Cardiganshire at St Meugan's for the second of the two great knappan games held there.

Saturday 29 May

Oak Apple Day

Sat 29 May from 18:30
Custom

Castleton Garland Day

Sets off from Market Place, Castleton, Derbyshire

Sunday 30 May

Monday 31 May

Tuesday 1 June

Friday 4 June New moon

Saturday 5 June

Wednesday 9 June

Thursday 10 June

Thu 10 Jun from 10:00
Custom

Lanark Lanimer Day

Sets off from Lanark Cross, South Lanarkshire
- Procession

Friday 11 June

Folklore from the old calendars

The Glastonbury walnut tree No longer kept SomersetBesides the Holy Thorn, the abbey churchyard at Glastonbury had a miraculous walnut tree on the north side of St Joseph's chapel.
Barnaby Bright Lore and belief EnglandBefore the calendar change of 1752, St Barnabas's Day on 11 June fell close to the summer solstice, and country people still called it the longest day.
Rose and woodruff garlands No longer kept LondonOn St Barnabas's Day the priests and clerks of English churches used to wear garlands of roses and woodruff.
The Englewood forest court at Hesket No longer kept CumberlandEvery year on St Barnabas's Day the court for the whole Forest of Englewood was held at Hesket in Cumberland, by the side of the highway under a thorn tree.
Barnaby yea, Barnaby nay Lore and belief County DurhamA farmer who led his hay on St Barnabas's Day was said to have been swallowed up with his carts and horses in the Hell Kettles near Darlington.
Ragged Robin at Barnaby Bright Lore and belief EnglandSt Barnabas's Day, Barnaby Bright of the longest day, was the day of ragged robin, which bloomed then in the hayfields.
The hay rake on the clog for St Barnabas No longer kept StaffordshireOn the old wooden clog almanacs, the notch for St Barnabas's Day was cut with the figure of a rake, because the day marked the start of hay harvest.

Saturday 12 June

Monday 14 June

Tuesday 15 June

Saturday 19 June Strawberry Moon

Monday 21 June

Tuesday 22 June

Wednesday 23 June

Folklore from the old calendars

The Ripon welcome table No longer kept YorkshireAt Ripon on Midsummer Eve, every householder who had moved into a new neighbourhood during the year set a table in the street before his door with bread, cheese and ale for anyone who cared to come.
St John’s Eve fires in Ireland Still kept IrelandDonald McQueen of Skye told of seeing the Irish St John's Eve fires in 1782.
The soul’s ramble on St John’s Eve Lore and belief IrelandChambers records the Irish belief that on St John's Eve every person's soul leaves the body and travels to the place where it will finally part from it in death.
Watching in the church porch Lore and belief EnglandIn England it was believed that anyone who sat up fasting all night in the church porch on St John's Eve would see the spirits of those who were to die in the parish in the coming year.
Midsummer men Lore and belief EnglandOn Midsummer Eve girls set sprigs of orpine in clay on a slate or potsherd and called them Midsummer men.
Catching fern seed Lore and belief EnglandBecause the seed of the fern is too small to see, people reasoned that whoever held it would become invisible.
Struell Wells on Midsummer Eve No longer kept UlsterAt Stoole, as Hone calls Struell, near Downpatrick, crowds gathered from midnight on Midsummer Eve at a mount sacred to St Patrick with three holy wells.
The Midsummer watch at Nottingham No longer kept NottinghamshireUntil the reign of Charles I every householder of means in Nottingham sent a man, armed with pike, musket or halberd, to keep a general watch on Midsummer Eve.
The Marching Watch No longer kept LondonIn medieval London a watch of at least two thousand men paraded the city on Midsummer Eve and again on the eves of St Peter and St Paul.
The Chester Midsummer show Still kept CheshireChester set its watch on St John's Eve with a great pageant.
Midsummer torches in Cornwall No longer kept CornwallBorlase, quoted by Hone, wrote that on Midsummer Eve the Cornish people lit bonfires and walked round them with torches tarred and pitched at the end.
The black dog at Whiteborough No longer kept CornwallBrand recorded that a Midsummer bonfire was once made on Whiteborough, a burial mound on St Stephen's Down near Launceston.
The Midsummer rose Lore and belief EnglandAmong the Midsummer Eve charms that a girl in the Connoisseur owned to trying was the rose.
Shoes in the form of a T Lore and belief DorsetA Dorset man writing for the Year Book said Midsummer Eve was the great night for girls to find out whom they would marry.
Farthing Loaf Day No longer kept WorcestershireBy an old bequest of a local spinster, a farthing loaf was given on Midsummer Eve to everyone born in Church Street, Kidderminster, rich or poor, who cared to claim it, and the day was known as Farthing Loaf Day.
The masons at Melrose No longer kept RoxburghshireSt John's Eve was a great day for the masonic lodges of Scotland, and Chambers took Melrose as the example, quoting a local history of 1861.
Bonfires of amity in London No longer kept LondonStow, quoted by Hone, described how in June and July, on the eves of feast days, bonfires were made in the London streets with every man giving wood or labour.
St John’s wort over the Welsh door No longer kept WalesPennant's manuscript notes that in Wales people had the custom of sticking St John's wort over their doors on the eve of St John the Baptist.
Green birch on the sign-posts at Little Brickhill No longer kept Buckinghamshire, LondonThe herbalist William Coles remembered riding through Little Brickhill, a town on the London road between Dunstable and Stony Stratford, and finding nearly every sign-post decked with green birch.
The Cooks’ bonfires on the Sandhill No longer kept NorthumberlandThe ordinary of the Company of Cooks at Newcastle, drawn up in 1575, bound the fellowship to keep up at its own cost the town's two bonfires on the Sandhill, as the ancient custom was.
The Cumwhitton wake on St John’s Eve No longer kept CumberlandHutchinson's History of Cumberland says that the parish of Cumwhitton held its wake on the eve of St John, with the lighting of fires and dancing.
The Burford dragon and giant No longer kept OxfordshirePlot's History of Oxfordshire records that the people of Burford, within living memory in 1677, made a dragon every year and carried it up and down the town with great jollity on Midsummer Eve, adding a giant as well for no reason anyone knew.
Snake stones at Midsummer Lore and belief Cornwall, Scotland, WalesBorlase found it a common belief in most of Wales, throughout Scotland and in Cornwall that about Midsummer Eve snakes met together in companies.
Three nails for the falling sickness Lore and belief EnglandLupton's Book of Notable Things gives a cure for epilepsy tied to Midsummer Eve.
Bede’s Well on Midsummer Eve No longer kept County DurhamAbout a mile west of Jarrow stood Bede's Well, where until about 1740 sick children were brought to be dipped; a crooked pin was dropped in and the well was laved dry between each dipping.
Fires to bless the apples No longer kept Herefordshire, SomersetOn Midsummer Eve people in Herefordshire and Somerset lit fires in the fields and along the lanes to bless the apples.
Hen’s eggs on the witches’ night Lore and belief EnglandMidsummer Eve was counted or called the witches' night, and on it hen's eggs were broken so that people might see what their fortune would be.
Birch trees at the Chester doors No longer kept CheshireOn St John the Baptist's Eve the people of Chester brought in a multitude of young birch trees and planted them before their doors to wither.
Broughton on Midsummer Eve No longer kept NorthumberlandNorthumbrian households sat down on Midsummer Eve to broughton, two cakes baked with thin slices of cheese between them.
The Bredogue No longer kept IrelandOn St John's Eve, and on some other feasts, people in the south of Ireland dressed a broomstick as a figure called a Bredogue.
Grass rent to Mannan on Barrule No longer kept Isle of ManOn Midsummer Eve the Manx carried green meadow grass to the top of Barrule as rent to Mannan-beg-mac-y-heir.
The culm fire at Port Eynon No longer kept GlamorganAt Port Eynon in Gower the villagers gathered culm, the small coal of the district, and kept it hidden for a fire on 23 June, Midsummer Eve.
A cheese through the Midsummer fire at Newton No longer kept GlamorganOld people at Newton in Glamorgan remembered meeting at a small stone enclosure near the village well on Midsummer Eve and throwing a small cheese across through the flames of the fire.
The phantom army on Souter Fell Lore and belief CumberlandOn Midsummer Eve 1735 a farm servant at Wilton Hill saw a regular army marching for over an hour along the east side of Souter Fell.
A Midsummer fire in the open street No longer kept EnglandOn Midsummer Eve, in most country places and here and there in towns, old and young gathered round a large fire made in the open street.
Children at the well on St John’s Eve at Barnwell No longer kept CambridgeshireBarnwell, then a village just outside Cambridge, was said to take its name from the children who played about a well there on St John the Baptist's Eve.
A Midsummer Eve supper for the man she would marry Lore and belief EnglandAn unmarried woman who fasted on Midsummer Eve could lay a clean cloth at midnight with bread, cheese and ale, sit down as if to eat and leave the street door open.
Burnt names and a looking-glass on Midsummer Eve Lore and belief EnglandOn Midsummer Eve lovers wrote their names on a paper at twelve o'clock, burned it, and carefully gathered up the ashes.
Burning bones to drive off the dragons Lore and belief EnglandSome medieval writers said the St John's Eve fires were made to drive away the dragons and evil spirits in the air.
Letters in a basin on Midsummer Eve Lore and belief DorsetA Dorset girl who wanted her husband's initial wrote the alphabet on scraps of paper at bedtime and floated them face down in a basin of water.
St Margaret’s dragon lent to St Sepulchre’s No longer kept LondonThe parish of St Margaret, Westminster, kept a dragon for the Midsummer Eve processions and was paid when a City parish borrowed it.
The burning wheel in the Vale of Glamorgan No longer kept GlamorganAt Midsummer people in the Vale of Glamorgan wrapped a cart-wheel thickly in straw, pushed a pole through its centre and, at a signal, set it alight and sent it rolling down the hill.
The voice in St David’s Well at Henfynyw Lore and belief CardiganshireA story of St David's Well at Henfynyw in Cardiganshire told how an old man who went there alone on Midsummer Eve heard a voice from the water crying for help.
Changelings taken on St John’s Eve Lore and belief North WalesIn North Wales the fairies were thought to be busiest at stealing babies and leaving their own in the cradle on Nos Wyl Ifan, St John's Eve.
The snail under the basin on St John’s Eve Lore and belief WalesA Welsh girl who put a snail under a basin on St John's Eve expected to find her future husband's name, or at least his initials, traced by its trail in the morning.

Wed 23 Jun All day
Custom, day 1 of 5

Cambridge Midsummer Fair

Sets off from Midsummer Common, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

Thursday 24 June

Midsummer

Thu 24 Jun Cambridge Midsummer Fair day 2 of 5 · All day

Friday 25 June

Fri 25 Jun Cambridge Midsummer Fair day 3 of 5 · All day

Saturday 26 June

Sat 26 Jun Cambridge Midsummer Fair day 4 of 5 · All day

Thursday 27 May

Saturday 29 May

Castleton Garland Day

Sunday 30 May

Monday 31 May

Tuesday 1 June

Friday 4 June🌑 New moon

Saturday 5 June

Wednesday 9 June

Thursday 10 June

Lanark Lanimer Day

Friday 11 June

Saturday 12 June

Monday 14 June

Tuesday 15 June

Saturday 19 June🌕 Strawberry Moon

Monday 21 June

Tuesday 22 June

Wednesday 23 June

Cambridge Midsummer Fair

Thursday 24 June

Friday 25 June

Saturday 26 June

Image credits

Friday 4 June New moon

Saturday 19 June Strawberry Moon