Folklore of England

Whit Monday

Folklore from the old calendars

The Eynsham timber No longer kept OxfordshireAt Eynsham the townspeople might cut down on Whit Monday as much timber as they could haul by hand into the abbey yard, the churchwardens first marking the trees.
The Greenhill Bower Still kept StaffordshireLichfield's show fair was held on Whit Monday, when members of the corporation and the town's best tradesmen walked in procession from the guildhall to Greenhill.
The millers’ riding at Hinckley No longer kept LeicestershireAt Hinckley's Whit Monday fair the millers of the nearby villages used to ride in a decorated cavalcade, a show that had fallen out of favour until it was revived with new characters in 1786.
The stick blow at the Lancashire Whitsun fair No longer kept LancashireAt Whitsuntide fairs in parts of Lancashire a trick was played in which one person held a stick over another's head and a third, unseen, struck the stick so that it came down smartly on the victim.
The Whitsuntide hirings in Cumberland No longer kept CumberlandFarm servants in Cumberland were hired by the half year at Whitsuntide and Martinmas.
Whitsun jaunts to Islington and Newington No longer kept LondonOver the Whitsun holidays Londoners poured out to Islington, Newington and the villages nearby to eat and drink.
Whitsun rides in Moorfields No longer kept LondonAt Whitsuntide children paid for rides at the fairground in Moorfields, going up and down on the swings.

25 May, not tied to the day

Whit Monday, not tied to the day

51 days after Easter

26 May, not tied to the day

52 days after Easter

28 May, not tied to the day

29 May

Folklore from the old calendars

Birds’ eggs in the Oak Apple garlands No longer kept EnglandFor the 29th of May boys robbed hundreds of nests and strung the eggs like pearls through the garlands hung across the village streets, the big eggs of hawks, crows and magpies in the middle and the tiny wrens' eggs at the ends.
Blooding the hounds on Cranborne Chase No longer kept Dorset, WiltshireEvery 29th of May the buck-hunters of Cranborne Chase met with oak boughs in their hats to show their loyalty and hunted young male deer to enter the young hounds.
Go to bed at noon Lore and belief EnglandGoatsbeard was known in the country as Go to Bed at Noon, because its flowers opened with the morning sun and shut regularly about midday, whatever the weather.
Lawless Day at Exeter No longer kept DevonMany people in Exeter believed that on 29 May the law took no notice of any breach of the peace short of downright riot, so the day was called Lawless Day.
May babies at Starcross No longer kept DevonAround Starcross the children marked Oak Apple Day by carrying May babies, small dolls neatly dressed and decked with flowers.
Nettles for the disloyal in Nottinghamshire No longer kept NottinghamshireOn Oak Apple Day Nottinghamshire children carried nettles as well as oak twigs, and stung anyone not wearing royal oak.
Oak Apple Day Still kept EnglandThe anniversary of Charles II's return in 1660 was kept by wearing oak leaves in the hat and on horses' heads, for the oak at Boscobel that hid him after Worcester.
Oak boughs for Penderell and King Charles No longer kept LondonRichard Penderell, one of the brothers who hid Charles II after the battle of Worcester, was buried in the churchyard of St Giles in the Fields, and it was once the custom to dress his monument with oak branches every 29 May.
Oliver at Tiverton No longer kept DevonA correspondent told Hone that at Tiverton on 29 May young men dressed in the style of the seventeenth century and armed with swords paraded the streets collecting money.

Whit Monday

25 May, not tied to the day

Whit Monday, not tied to the day

51 days after Easter

26 May, not tied to the day

52 days after Easter

28 May, not tied to the day

29 May

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