Customs

Tuesday 29 June

Folklore from the old calendars

Beltan fires on St Peter’s Day at Loudoun No longer kept AyrshireThe minister of Loudoun in Ayrshire told the Statistical Account of Scotland in 1792 that the herds and young people still kindled fires on the high ground in honour of Beltan.
Carrying off the flower of the wake No longer kept NorthumberlandBrand was told that about fifty years before he wrote, the people of Northumberland villages carried firebrands of some kind about their fields on the night of St Peter.
The fishermen’s St Peter’s Day at Gisborough No longer kept YorkshireAn old account of the lordship of Gisborough in Cleveland and the neighbouring coast describes the feast the fishermen kept on St Peter's Day, the day of the fishermen's saint.
St Peter’s Day at Sandwick No longer kept OrkneyThe minister of Sandwick in Orkney reported in the 1790s that his parish church had been dedicated to St Peter, and that the people still marked the saint's day, 29 June.
St Peter’s Day fair at Thurso No longer kept CaithnessOf the four yearly fairs granted to Thurso by its charter, only the one on St Peter's Day, 29 June, was still kept at the end of the eighteenth century.
Keys on the wrists on St Peter’s Night Lore and belief WalesOn St Peter's Night unmarried Welsh women tied a small key to each wrist, folded their hands in prayer in bed and repeated two verses from the first chapter of Ruth nine times.

Folklore from the old calendars

St Martin of Bullion’s Day Lore and belief Scotland4 July keeps the moving of St Martin's remains to the cathedral of Tours, and in Scotland it was called St Martin of Bullion's Day.
The Fairlop Oak Fair No longer kept EssexOn the first Friday in July a fair grew up round the Fairlop Oak in Hainault Forest, a tree said to measure thirty-six feet round.
Reed Day at Farnborough No longer kept KentOn the Sunday after St Peter's Day the porch of Farnborough church was strewn with reeds, and a sermon was preached under the will of George Dalton, dated 1556.
Whalton’s bonfire on Old Midsummer Eve Still kept NorthumberlandWhalton in Northumberland lit its Midsummer fire on 4 July, Midsummer Eve in the Old Style.
The Weston Favell wake No longer kept NorthamptonshireThe wake of Weston Favell, near Northampton, began on the Sunday after St Peter's Day with a special sermon and psalms that drew crowds from the neighbouring villages.
Claybrooke wake after St Peter’s Day No longer kept LeicestershireClaybrooke in Leicestershire kept its wake on the Sunday after St Peter's Day, St Peter being the patron of the church.