Folklore of England

20 April

20 April, not tied to the day

Folklore from the old calendars

Money in your pocket for the cuckoo Lore and belief EnglandAmong country people in some parts of the kingdom it was thought very unlucky to have no money in your pocket when you heard the cuckoo for the first time in the season.
The cuckoo ale No longer kept ShropshireIn Shropshire, until shortly before Chambers wrote, labourers who heard the first cuckoo of the year left their work, made holiday of the rest of the day and drank what they called the cuckoo ale.
The first cuckoo Lore and belief NorfolkIn Norfolk it was believed that whatever you were doing when you first heard the cuckoo in spring, you would be doing most often for the rest of the year.
The hair in the left shoe Lore and belief EnglandIt was a common belief that a girl who ran into the fields early in the morning to hear the first cuckoo, and took off her left shoe when she heard it, would find inside a man's hair.

15 days after Easter

21 April

21 April, not tied to the day

22 April, not tied to the day

23 April

Folklore from the old calendars

Blue coats for St George No longer kept EnglandHone recorded that until the beginning of the nineteenth century people of fashion wore coats of blue cloth on St George's Day.
Harebells for St George Lore and belief EnglandThe wild bluebell covered the fields about St George's Day, and was held a fitting emblem of England's patron saint, since blue was worn on his feast.
Horse-skins for St George at Reading No longer kept BerkshireIn 1536 the churchwardens of Reading paid for a St George and his horse to be made up in the church, with a loft for the saint to stand on.
Riding the George at Leicester No longer kept LeicestershireAt Leicester the riding of the George was one of the chief ceremonies of the town year.
St George cries go, St Mark cries ho Lore and belief WiltshireAubrey noted a Wiltshire proverb pairing two April saints' days two days apart, St George's on the 23rd and St Mark's on the 25th.
The mail-coach procession No longer kept LondonKing George IV, born on 12 August, moved the keeping of his birthday to St George's Day, and on the king's birthday the London mail coaches went in yearly procession.
The St George’s Day bells at Chester No longer kept CheshireIn 1609 or 1610 the sheriff of Chester, Robert Amory, had three silver bells made to be run for by horses on the Roodee every St George's Day, the winner keeping the best bell for a year.
The swan against the wind Lore and belief SurreyA man living on the Thames at Kingston told Hone that when a swan flew any distance against the wind, however fine the weather looked, a wind of almost hurricane strength was certain within twenty-four hours, and usually within twelve.
When the bull leads the herd Lore and belief EnglandHone quotes an old book on husbandry for signs of rain in cattle.

Folklore of England

20 April

20 April, not tied to the day

15 days after Easter

21 April

21 April, not tied to the day

22 April, not tied to the day

23 April

23 April, not tied to the day

24 April

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