Folklore of England

1 January

Folklore from the old calendars

The Fair First-foot at Preston Lore and belief LancashireA gentleman of Preston told Notes and Queries that for many years he had called on an elderly lady early on New Year's Day at her own request, because he was fair-complexioned and so thought to bring good luck for the year.
The globe of thorns and Old Cider No longer kept HerefordshireVery early on New Year's Day, Herefordshire farm boys wove blackthorn branches into a globe and singed it over a straw fire while the household stood round shouting "Old Cider".
The hired Lucky-bird No longer kept County Durham, YorkshireIn the west of County Durham a man might be engaged in advance to be a household's first-foot, or Lucky-bird as Yorkshire called him, and was paid with a glass of spirits.
The Hutton Conyers Pie Court No longer kept YorkshireThe lord of the manor of Hutton Conyers held his court on the first day of the year, when the shepherds of six townships around the moor came to keep their right of sheep-walk.
The monkish verses of unlucky days Lore and belief EnglandAn old monkish calendar gave the unlucky days of every month in a Latin verse, and for January it named the first and the seventh, days that cut like a sword.
The New Year Wassail Bowl Still kept Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, WarwickshireAt the New Year the head of an English household gathered his family round a bowl of spiced ale called lamb's wool and drank their health with the old greeting wass hael, and the bowl went round.
The shoe left with the ale-wife No longer kept WestmorlandOn New Year's Day in Westmorland towns and villages the men lifted the women onto a ladder, pole or chair and carried them off to the nearest public house.
The wassailers’ blessing and the dry house No longer kept EnglandWassailers at the gate sang blessings on the household for the twelve months ahead, but a house that gave them no ale or beer was left with a parting reproach.
The Workington women’s club dinner on New Year’s Day No longer kept CumberlandWorkington had a friendly society of more than two hundred women, and every New Year's Day its members sat down to an annual dinner.
Verses for luck at Eton No longer kept BuckinghamshireA manuscript account of Eton College written in 1560 records that on the feast of the Circumcision, New Year's Day, the boys played for small New Year's gifts before and after supper.
Vervain from the grove of Strenia Lore and belief EnglandNew Year's gifts were said to go back to a bunch of vervain given to a Sabine king on the first day of the year.
Wishes through the keyhole in Cleveland No longer kept Northumberland, YorkshireEarly on New Year's morning the lads of Cleveland called a greeting through their neighbours' keyholes, wishing them a pantry full of roast beef and a barrel full of beer.

2 January, not tied to the day

4 January, not tied to the day

5 January

Folklore from the old calendars

A bean for the king, a pea for the queen No longer kept EnglandOn Twelfth Night a bean and a pea were baked into the cake.
Drinking to the ox with the crumpled horn No longer kept SomersetOn Twelfth Eve the Somerset ploughmen carried the wassail bowl into the ox-house and drank to the ox with the crumpled horn.
Hey, for our town green No longer kept EnglandWhen the king and queen of Twelfth Night had been chosen by the pea and bean in the cake, the company cried out Hey, for our town green.
Holly Night at Brough No longer kept WestmorlandOn Twelfth Night the people of Brough in Westmorland carried the holly tree, though by 1827 an ash was used, since ash was plentiful there.
Joy-sops and a health drunk to the bottom No longer kept EnglandOnce the Twelfth Night king and queen had been found by the bean and the pea in the plum cake, the company made joy-sops with the cake, and every man had to drain a health to the pair from brim to bottom.
Lamb’s-wool for the Twelfth Night king and queen No longer kept EnglandOn Twelfth Night the wassail bowl was crowned with lamb's-wool, ale spiced with sugar, nutmeg and ginger, and passed to the new-chosen king and queen.
Rosemary blossoms at midnight in the Forest of Dean Lore and belief GloucestershireThe foresters of Dean held that Old Christmas, not the new, was the true Christmas, and that exactly at midnight that night the rosemary blossomed and the oxen knelt.
The fire for the Magi’s star No longer kept StaffordshireBlount recorded that the people of Staffordshire made a fire on the eve of Twelfth Day in memory of the blazing star that led the three Magi to the manger at Bethlehem.
The Walsall Penny Dole No longer kept StaffordshireThomas Moseley gave lands in Warwickshire in trust for the town of Walsall in 1453, and on Twelfth Night eve, the anniversary for his soul and his wife Margaret's, the bellman went about calling on everyone to kneel and pray for them.

1 January

2 January, not tied to the day

4 January, not tied to the day

5 January

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