Folklore of England

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23 June

Folklore from the old calendars

The Cooks’ bonfires on the Sandhill No longer kept NorthumberlandThe ordinary of the Company of Cooks at Newcastle, drawn up in 1575, bound the fellowship to keep up at its own cost the town's two bonfires on the Sandhill, as the ancient custom was.
The Cumwhitton wake on St John’s Eve No longer kept CumberlandHutchinson's History of Cumberland says that the parish of Cumwhitton held its wake on the eve of St John, with the lighting of fires and dancing.
The Marching Watch No longer kept LondonIn medieval London a watch of at least two thousand men paraded the city on Midsummer Eve and again on the eves of St Peter and St Paul.
The Midsummer rose Lore and belief EnglandAmong the Midsummer Eve charms that a girl in the Connoisseur owned to trying was the rose.
The Midsummer watch at Nottingham No longer kept NottinghamshireUntil the reign of Charles I every householder of means in Nottingham sent a man, armed with pike, musket or halberd, to keep a general watch on Midsummer Eve.
The phantom army on Souter Fell Lore and belief CumberlandOn Midsummer Eve 1735 a farm servant at Wilton Hill saw a regular army marching for over an hour along the east side of Souter Fell.
The Ripon welcome table No longer kept YorkshireAt Ripon on Midsummer Eve, every householder who had moved into a new neighbourhood during the year set a table in the street before his door with bread, cheese and ale for anyone who cared to come.
Three nails for the falling sickness Lore and belief EnglandLupton's Book of Notable Things gives a cure for epilepsy tied to Midsummer Eve.
Watching in the church porch Lore and belief EnglandIn England it was believed that anyone who sat up fasting all night in the church porch on St John's Eve would see the spirits of those who were to die in the parish in the coming year.

23 June, not tied to the day

24 June

Folklore from the old calendars

A chaplet of roses at Tong No longer kept ShropshireEvery year a garland of flowers was placed on the effigy of a Vernon in Tong church.
A coal under the plantain root Lore and belief LondonAt noon on Midsummer Day 1694 Aubrey came upon twenty-two or twenty-three young women, most of them well dressed, on their knees in the pasture behind Montague House as if they were weeding.
A red rose for Highhead at Midsummer No longer kept CumberlandIn the reign of Edward III Highhead Castle, near Dalston, was held by the service of bringing a red rose to the king's exchequer in Carlisle every year on the feast of St John the Baptist.
Crowning the tin-mine poles No longer kept CornwallIn Cornwall the boundary of each tin mine was marked by a long pole with a bush at the top.
Elder flowers from Midsummer Day Lore and belief EnglandElder flowers gathered on Midsummer Day, dried and powdered, were a receipt for keeping young.
John Baptist brings grass beef and peas No longer kept EnglandMidsummer, the feast of St John the Baptist, brought the first grass-fed beef and green peas to the farmer's table.
Midsummer boughs at the stall door Lore and belief EnglandReginald Scot, listing the charms people used against witches, wrote that they hung boughs hallowed on Midsummer Day at the door of the stall where the cattle stood.
Midsummer cushions No longer kept NorthumberlandIn Northumberland on Midsummer Day stools were dressed with a cushion of flowers.
Pouring lead for a husband’s trade Lore and belief EnglandA chapbook owned by Brand's editor gave a way for a girl to learn what trade her future husband would follow.
Sir Thomas Parkyns’s wrestling No longer kept NottinghamshireSir Thomas Parkyns, a Nottinghamshire squire, was a keen wrestler who trained his servants and neighbours, showed them off in public and wrote a book called The Cornish Hug Wrestler.
St John’s great candlestick Lore and belief EnglandThe scarlet lychnis, which flowered about 24 June, was the flower of St John the Baptist's feast.
St John’s verses and bonfire at Eton No longer kept BuckinghamshireThe account of Eton School written in 1560 describes how, for as long as the custom lasted, the boys on St John the Baptist's Eve decorated their beds with pictures and wrote verses on the life and deeds of the saint, fair copies of which were pinned to the bed-posts for the learned to read.
The Dutton minstrels’ court at Chester Midsummer Fair No longer kept CheshireEvery Midsummer all the minstrels and musicians of Cheshire had to attend their lord at Chester, play before him in procession to St John's church, and then answer at his court for their lives and conduct.
The Melmerby dedication feast No longer kept CumberlandMelmerby, under Cross Fell, kept a dedication feast on St John's day, the saint to whom its church is dedicated.
The sermon in green boughs Still kept OxfordshireOn St John the Baptist's Day a sermon was preached at Magdalen College from a stone pulpit in the corner of the first court, and the court was hung with green boughs so that the preaching would look like the Baptist's in the wilderness.

23 June

23 June, not tied to the day

24 June

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