Folklore of England

Ash Wednesday

Folklore from the old calendars

Rods for Lent at St Mary-at-Hill No longer kept LondonBefore the Reformation the London parish of St Mary-at-Hill bought rods for the penitential discipline of Lent.
Staying Away from the Commination Lore and belief EnglandOn Ash Wednesday the Church of England reads the Commination, the curses against impenitent sinners, with the people answering Amen to each.
The King’s Cock Crower No longer kept LondonThrough Lent an officer of the royal household called the King's Cock Crower used to crow the hours each night within the palace instead of calling them like a watchman, in memory of the cock that called St Peter to repentance.
Wind on Ash Wednesday Lore and belief NorfolkIt was a proverb in Norfolk that wherever the wind lay on Ash Wednesday, there it would stay for the whole of Lent.

21 February

21 February, not tied to the day

22 February

42 days before Easter, not tied to the day

23 February, not tied to the day

25 February

26 February, not tied to the day

27 February

28 February, not tied to the day

1 March

Folklore from the old calendars

A peck of March dust Lore and belief EnglandMarch was expected to be a dry, blustery month, and its dust was welcomed because dry weather was wanted for sowing and planting.
Blind Days in Devon Lore and belief DevonOld farmers in one Devon parish called the first three days of March the Blind Days, and no farmer would sow any seed on them.
Gingerbread taffies on a goat No longer kept LondonOn St David's Day the gingerbread bakers and pastry-cooks of London set out taffies, little white figures of a Welshman riding on a goat, stuck on wooden skewers for children to buy.
Hanging Taffy No longer kept LondonOn St David's Day the English used to mock the Welsh by making a stuffed figure of a Welshman, with hay-filled breeches and coat, a hat, shoes and a wooden sword, and hanging it from a public tree.
Leeks in Lide Lore and belief West CountryIn the West Country March was called Lide, and eating leeks that month was thought to keep the doctor away all year.
Oats and barley in the clay Lore and belief EnglandRay's collection of English proverbs gives a farming rule for St David's Day: it was the time to put oats and barley into the ground.
Swig Day at Jesus College No longer kept OxfordshireOn St David's Day Jesus College, Oxford, the college of the Welsh, filled a great silver-gilt bowl holding ten gallons with swig and passed it round the guests at its table.
The Ancient Britons’ procession No longer kept LondonSt David's Day in London was the anniversary of the Honourable and Loyal Society of Ancient Britons, founded in 1714, which kept it in aid of the Welsh charity school in Gray's Inn Road.
The crows begin to search Lore and belief Northern EnglandAmong the proverbial sayings for St David's Day that Ellis found still current in the north of England was a short rhyme about the crows.

Folklore of England

Ash Wednesday

21 February

21 February, not tied to the day

22 February

42 days before Easter, not tied to the day

23 February, not tied to the day

25 February

26 February, not tied to the day

27 February

28 February, not tied to the day

1 March

1 March, not tied to the day

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