Children's Customs

Customs kept by or for children: begging rhymes, souling, egg rolling, barring out the schoolmaster.

The year ahead

Thursday 29 October

Thu 29 Oct from 18:00
Custom

Punkie Night

St George’s Hall, Hinton St George, Somerset

Wednesday 13 January

Wed 13 Jan All day
Custom

Hen Galan in Cwm Gwaun

Dyffryn Arms, Pontfaen, Pembrokeshire

Monday 1 March

Mon 1 Mar from 18:00
Custom

Lanark Whuppity Scoorie

St Nicholas Parish Church, Lanark, South Lanarkshire
- Custom game
- Children's Customs

Monday 29 March

Mon 29 Mar 11:00 16:00
Custom

Preston Egg Rolling

Sets off from Avenham Park, Preston, Lancashire

Saturday 1 May

Sat 1 May 13:30 16:00
Custom

Knutsford Royal May Day

Sets off from Knutsford Heath, Cheshire

Monday 3 May

Mon 3 May 10:00 16:00
Custom

Holywood May Day

Sets off from The Maypole, Holywood, County Down

Saturday 10 July

Sat 10 Jul from 15:00
Custom

Grasmere Rushbearing

St Oswald’s Church, Grasmere, Cumbria

Folklore from the old calendars

Monday 28 September 2026

Saturday 10 October 2026

Sunday 18 October 2026

Wednesday 28 October 2026

Sunday 1 November 2026

Monday 2 November 2026

Thursday 5 November 2026

Tuesday 17 November 2026

Monday 23 November 2026

Saturday 5 December 2026

Sunday 6 December 2026

Monday 21 December 2026

Thursday 24 December 2026

Friday 25 December 2026

Thursday 31 December 2026

Friday 1 January 2027

Monday 4 January 2027

Tuesday 2 February 2027

Tuesday 9 February 2027

Folklore from the old calendars

Flowers, flowers, high-do No longer kept EnglandEllis noted that in some places at Shrovetide, if flowers could be found so early in the year, the younger children carried a small garland about to collect a few pence.
Great A, little A, this is pancake day No longer kept Northern EnglandIn parts of the north of England girls spent some of Shrove Tuesday playing battledore and shuttlecock, singing a rhyme as they played.
The pan’s hot No longer kept OxfordshireIn Oxfordshire the children went from door to door on Shrove Tuesday singing a shroving rhyme and begging for halfpence.
Dough-nut Day at Baldock No longer kept HertfordshireAt Baldock in Hertfordshire the children looked forward to Shrove Tuesday long beforehand and called it Dough-nut Day.
Stoning the doors in Scilly No longer kept Isles of ScillyHeath's account of the Isles of Scilly says that every Shrove Tuesday, once the throwing at cocks was over, the island boys spent the evening throwing stones at the doors of the houses.
Fitz-Stephen’s Shrovetide No longer kept LondonThe earliest account of Shrovetide sport in England comes from William Fitz-Stephen, who died in 1191.
The Cock-penny No longer kept Ross and Cromarty, ScotlandCock-fighting was a regular Shrovetide sport, and in many schools it was sanctioned by the master, who took a small fee from each boy called the cock-penny.
Lent Crocking No longer kept Dorset, WiltshireIn Dorset and Wiltshire boys went shroving in small bands, armed with the year's broken crockery.
Barring Out the Master No longer kept CumberlandAt Fasten's Even the scholars of the free school at Bromfield claimed an old right to shut their master out for three days.
The Pancake Greaze Still kept LondonAt eleven on Shrove Tuesday a verger of Westminster Abbey with a silver baton led the school cook, in white apron, jacket and cap, into the schoolroom carrying a pancake.

Sunday 14 February 2027

Saturday 27 March 2027

Sunday 28 March 2027

Monday 29 March 2027

Saturday 1 May 2027

Folklore from the old calendars

The battle on Rochester bridge No longer kept KentIreland's Views of the Medway tells of a yearly May Day fight on Rochester bridge between the boys of Frindsbury and the boys of the neighbouring town of Strood.
May gads on Maypole Hill at Horncastle No longer kept LincolnshireStukeley recorded in 1724 that there was a Maypole Hill near Horncastle in Lincolnshire.
The Headington garlands No longer kept OxfordshireL.
The poor May Lady at Cambridge No longer kept CambridgeshireAt Cambridge on May Day children dressed up a doll in a grotesque fashion and called it the May Lady.
May branches at Eton No longer kept BuckinghamshireA manuscript account of Eton School in 1560 says that on the day of St Philip and St James, 1 May, the boys who wished might rise at four o'clock, if the weather was fair and the master allowed it, to gather May branches, provided they could do it without wetting their feet.
May goslings at Skipton No longer kept YorkshireAt Skipton in Craven the children kept May Day as a second April Fools' Day, making their companions May goslings, or geese.
May Day at Lynn No longer kept NorfolkA correspondent told Hone that at Lynn the children raced to be first up on May morning, and those out early sometimes nailed up the doors of sleepy friends through the latch.
The Debden May garland No longer kept EssexOn May morning little girls in the parish of Debden went from house to house with garlands of different sizes, the large ones with a doll dressed in white in the middle, singing a carol that began with rambling all the night.

Thursday 29 October

Punkie Night

Wednesday 13 January

Hen Galan in Cwm Gwaun

Monday 1 March

Lanark Whuppity Scoorie

Monday 29 March

Preston Egg Rolling

Saturday 1 May

Knutsford Royal May Day

Monday 3 May

Holywood May Day

Saturday 10 July

Grasmere Rushbearing

Folklore from the old calendars

Monday 28 September 2026

Saturday 10 October 2026

Sunday 18 October 2026

Wednesday 28 October 2026

Sunday 1 November 2026

Monday 2 November 2026

Thursday 5 November 2026

Tuesday 17 November 2026

Monday 23 November 2026

Saturday 5 December 2026

Sunday 6 December 2026

Monday 21 December 2026

Thursday 24 December 2026

Friday 25 December 2026

Thursday 31 December 2026

Friday 1 January 2027

Monday 4 January 2027

Tuesday 2 February 2027

Tuesday 9 February 2027

Sunday 14 February 2027

Saturday 27 March 2027

Sunday 28 March 2027

Monday 29 March 2027

Saturday 1 May 2027

Thursday 6 May 2027

Saturday 29 May 2027

Friday 4 June 2027

Wednesday 9 June 2027

Thursday 24 June 2027

Wednesday 7 July 2027

Wednesday 4 August 2027

Thursday 5 August 2027

Tuesday 24 August 2027

Tuesday 14 September 2027

Tuesday 21 September 2027

Not tied to a day

Image credits