Folklore of England

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126 to 150 of 200 entries in December

25 December

Folklore from the old calendars

Plough and harrow hung up for the twelve days No longer kept EnglandOver Christmas the farm labourers hung up the plough and harrow and did no field work until the twelve holidays were over, spending the time in piping and merriment.
Post and pair at Christmas No longer kept EnglandChristmas was the season for card games played for money, such as post and pair and slam, and a man with empty pockets had to sit them out.
Private heralds crying Largesse at Christmas No longer kept EnglandIn the old great households a nobleman or gentleman of fair estate kept his own herald, who wore his master's coat of arms at Christmas and other solemn times and cried Largesse three times.
Red apples at Ripon No longer kept YorkshireAt Ripon on Christmas Day the singing boys came into the church with large baskets of red apples, each with a sprig of rosemary stuck in it, and gave them to the whole congregation.
Shoeing the mare at Christmas No longer kept EnglandAmong the Christmas sports of the young men was shoeing the mare, a game of the twelve holidays kept alongside blind-man's-buff and the wassail bowl.
St George and General Wolfe in West Cornwall No longer kept CornwallAt Christmas young people in the west of Cornwall went round the towns, inns and gentlemen's houses acting the doggerel play of St George for money.
Stanging the scholars at Cambridge No longer kept CambridgeshireAt Christmas-time in some Cambridge colleges a scholar who missed chapel was made to ride a colt-staff or pole as his punishment, which was called stanging.
The apple Florentine No longer kept BedfordshireAt Potton in Bedfordshire and the places round about, some sixty years before Hone's Year Book, every Christmas entertainment had an apple Florentine on the table, of which all the guests ate.
The Ashton faggot at Lydeard No longer kept SomersetAt Christmas, Lydeard St Lawrence in Somerset burned a hooped bundle of sticks called the Ashton faggot, and a quart of cider went to those who watched.
The bells under the valley Lore and belief NottinghamshireNear Raleigh in Nottinghamshire, a Hone correspondent wrote, there was a valley said to have been made by an earthquake centuries before, which swallowed a whole village and its church.
The boar’s head at Queen’s College Still kept OxfordshireThe boar's head was once the first dish of every great Christmas dinner, carried in with minstrelsy and a carol, and Aubrey said that before the civil wars it came to the table in gentlemen's houses with a lemon in its mouth.
The boar’s head at St John’s, Oxford No longer kept OxfordshireWhen St John's College, Oxford, kept its celebrated Christmas Prince in 1607, the boar's head was carried into hall by the tallest and lustiest of the prince's guard.
The boy bishop tickled to death No longer kept WiltshireThe choristers of Salisbury Cathedral told of a boy bishop who fell melancholy in his term of office, so the other choirboys tickled him to make him merry and tickled him to death.
The Bungay watchmen’s Christmas verses No longer kept SuffolkAt Christmas the night watchmen of Bungay printed a copy of verses for the townspeople in the hope of a Christmas gift.
The Christmas loving cup in Cumberland No longer kept Cumberland, WestmorlandAt Christmas parties in Cumberland and Westmorland a bowl of hot rum punch went round as the wassail or loving cup before the guests left.
The church of boughs Lore and belief EnglandChristmas greenery was said to recall the first Christian church in Britain, built of boughs.
The Culfer bells of Christmas No longer kept YorkshireIn Josiah Beckwith's parish near Leeds two church bells were rung alternately at seven every morning and evening through the twelve days of Christmas, and at no other time of year.
The Cumnor Christmas feast No longer kept BerkshireAfter evening service on Christmas Day the tithe-paying parishioners of Cumnor went to the vicarage to be given bread, cheese and ale.
The Earl’s bearward at Christmas No longer kept EnglandThe fifth Earl of Northumberland kept a bearward, paid twenty shillings a year when he came to the Earl at Christmas with his beasts to make sport through the twelve days.
The ferryman’s dog at North Clifton No longer kept NottinghamshireBecause the people of North Clifton crossed the Trent free of charge, the ferryman and his dog each got a Christmas dinner at the vicarage.
The Glastonbury Thorn Still kept SomersetGlastonbury tradition said Joseph of Arimathea stuck his hawthorn staff into Wearyall Hill, where it grew and blossomed every Christmas Day.
The hackin No longer kept EnglandAn old tract called Round about our Coal Fire described how an English gentleman had all his tenants and neighbours into his hall at daybreak on Christmas morning.
The heathen English New Year on 25 December Lore and belief EnglandThe heathen English began their year on 25 December, the day on which Christians keep the birth of Christ.
The holly and ivy carol before the King at Whitehall No longer kept LondonAt the court of Charles I a Christmas carol was sung before the King in the Presence Chamber at Whitehall, opening with a flourish of music before the song.
The Houghton pitmen’s sword dance No longer kept County DurhamAt Christmas a team of nine pitmen from Houghton Colliery went round as sword dancers: five dancers, a clothes-carrier, two clowns and a fiddler.

25 December

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