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151 to 160 of 160 entries

Every new moon

Folklore from the old calendars

Greeting the New Moon Lore and belief HerefordshireIn notes made about 1678 and printed by Chambers, John Aubrey recorded that Highland women curtsied to the new moon.

29 October

Folklore from the old calendars

The Runaway Mop No longer kept WarwickshireA few Warwickshire hiring fairs were held after Old Michaelmas Day and were known as runaway mops.

31 October

Folklore from the old calendars

Iolo ap Hugh’s fiddle on Hallowe’en Lore and belief Denbighshire, ShropshireA cave said to run from Morda to Chirk Castle drew in anyone who went near it, and on Hallowe'en the wandering fiddler Iolo ap Hugh went in with bread, cheese, candles and his fiddle and was never seen again.

1 November

Folklore from the old calendars

Seed cake at Allhallows No longer kept WarwickshireBrand's servant, a Warwickshire man, told him that in that county a seed cake was had at Allhallows, marking the end of wheat sowing.
Souling in Staffordshire No longer kept StaffordshireTollett noted that on All Saints' Day the poor of Staffordshire went from parish to parish souling, begging and singing for soul cakes or anything else to make them merry.

2 November

Folklore from the old calendars

Soul-mass cakes No longer kept Herefordshire, LancashireOn All Souls' Day in Lancashire and Herefordshire the well-off used to hand out oaten cakes, called soul-mass cakes, to the poor.
The Shropshire soul-cake heap No longer kept ShropshireAubrey wrote that in his time, in Shropshire and elsewhere, a high heap of soul cakes was set on the board on All Souls' Day, lying one upon another like the shewbread in the pictures of old Bibles.
Tindles at Findern No longer kept DerbyshireAt Findern in Derbyshire the boys and girls went every year on the evening of All Souls' Day to the common and lit a number of small fires among the furze, which they called Tindles.

3 November, not tied to the day

Folklore from the old calendars

Spur money No longer kept Herefordshire, London, NorthamptonshireAnyone who walked into a cathedral choir wearing spurs could be made to pay a small fine, called spur money, to the choristers.

6 November

Folklore from the old calendars

St Leonard’s half-holiday No longer kept WorcestershireSt Leonard, a Frankish hermit, was especially invoked for prisoners and was the patron of many large English churches.

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From the shop: Folklore

The Lore of ScotlandJennifer Westwood, Sophia Kingshill
Little Book of FolkloreKitty Greenbrown
A Treasury of British FolkloreDee Dee Chainey

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