Folklore of England

Good Friday

Folklore from the old calendars

No washing at Offenham on Good Friday Lore and belief WorcestershireThe poorer people of Offenham would not allow any washing to be about on Good Friday, for fear of much ill luck.
No washing on Good Friday Lore and belief YorkshireIn Cleveland it was said that clothes washed and hung out to dry on Good Friday would come in spotted with blood.
Paste egging at West Derby No longer kept LancashireA Liverpool correspondent wrote to Hone on Good Friday 1826 about paste egging around West Derby, kept up by the young country people.
The Bowaldeth Good Friday dole No longer kept CumberlandEvery Good Friday the interest on forty pounds was given to the poor of Bowaldeth, a quarter of Torpenhow parish.
The clerk’s Good Friday cakes No longer kept Devon, DorsetIn some parishes of Dorset and Devon the parish clerk carried a few white cakes round to every house as an Easter offering.
The cross on the ass’s back Lore and belief West CountryIn the west of England it was believed that the dark cross on a donkey's shoulders was a mark of honour given by Christ, and that before he rode an ass no donkey carried it.
The Fishlake bell tolled for Good Friday No longer kept YorkshireAt Fishlake, at eight on Good Friday morning, the great church bell was tolled slowly as for a death or funeral, instead of being rung for service as on other holy days.
The Good Friday sermon at Paul’s Cross No longer kept LondonFor a long time a learned man chosen by the bishop preached every Good Friday afternoon at Paul's Cross, the timber pulpit on stone steps in St Paul's churchyard, on the Passion.
The king’s cramp-rings on Good Friday No longer kept EnglandOn Good Friday the English king crept along a carpet to a crucifix laid on a cushion in his chapel and there blessed rings in a silver basin, which were given out as sure cures for cramp.
The passion-dock pudding No longer kept Northern EnglandIn the north of England a herb pudding was a dish nobody went without on Good Friday, and its chief ingredient was the leaves of the passion-dock.
The Suffolk Good Friday loaf Lore and belief SuffolkA small loaf baked on Good Friday was hung in a corner of a Suffolk cottage, where it was believed never to go mouldy and to cure diseases such as the bloody flux.
The witches’ Good Friday meeting Lore and belief LancashireGood Friday was believed in Lancashire to be the witches' great day of gathering.
Washing Molly Grime No longer kept LincolnshireIn Glentham church a tomb carries a carved figure the people called Molly Grime.

Easter Saturday

Folklore from the old calendars

An Easter egg, good dame No longer kept Cheshire, Cumberland, WestmorlandIn Cheshire children went round the village begging eggs for their Easter dinner, singing a short song to the farmer's wife that asked for an egg, bacon, cheese, an apple or anything that would make them merry.
The Paschal taper at Reading and Westminster No longer kept Berkshire, LondonOn Easter Eve the medieval church lit a huge Paschal taper, and a font taper beside it.
Watching the Easter sepulchre No longer kept EnglandBefore the Reformation churches set up Easter sepulchres showing the burial of Christ, and crowds came to see them.
We fasted in the light No longer kept DorsetIn Dorset during the eighteenth century boys went in procession on Easter Eve carrying rough torches and a small black flag.
Yew for the house on Easter Eve No longer kept EnglandOn Easter Eve the box that had decked the house since Candlemas was taken down and yew put up in its place.

4 April, not tied to the day

Easter Saturday, not tied to the day

Easter Sunday

Folklore from the old calendars

A pennyworth of eggs at Easter in Sebergham No longer kept CumberlandAt Easter every tenant in Sebergham owed the parson a penny, or a pennyworth of eggs, instead of a tithe hen.
Buckles and spurs at Ripon No longer kept YorkshireA Yorkshire clergyman told Brand that on Easter Sunday the young men of the villages took the girls' shoe buckles, and on Easter Monday the young women took the men's shoes and buckles in return.
Chopping at the tree at University College No longer kept OxfordshireOn Easter Day a mock tree dressed with evergreens and flowers was set up on a turf by the buttery at University College, Oxford.
Clearing the winter hearth on God’s Sunday No longer kept EnglandMedieval sermon books say Easter Day was called in some places God's Sunday, and describe a household custom that went with it.

Good Friday

Easter Saturday

4 April, not tied to the day

Easter Saturday, not tied to the day

Easter Sunday

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