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Folklore
England
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Nottinghamshire

Folklore of Nottinghamshire

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1 to 13 of 13 entries

23 December, not tied to the day

Folklore from the old calendars

The Clifton sturgeon and the Wardour owls Lore and belief Nottinghamshire, Wiltshire, YorkshireChambers listed several omens of death attached to old families.

25 December

Folklore from the old calendars

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 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.

30 January

Folklore from the old calendars

Raffling for Oranges at Newark No longer kept NottinghamshireA Newark correspondent wrote to Hone in 1825 of a custom he had never heard of elsewhere.

11 March

Folklore from the old calendars

Penny Loaf Day Still kept NottinghamshireDuring the siege of Newark, on the night of 11 March 1643, the alderman Hercules Clay dreamed three times that his house was on fire and got his family out.

1 April, not tied to the day

Folklore from the old calendars

The wise fools of Gotham Lore and belief NottinghamshireOn a rise a mile south of Gotham stood the Cuckoo Bush, replanted on the site of the first.

Easter Monday

Folklore from the old calendars

The Nottingham corporation at St Anne’s Well No longer kept NottinghamshireDeering's History of Nottingham records that by a custom beyond memory the mayor and aldermen of Nottingham and their wives walked out on Easter Monday, after morning prayers, to St Anne's Well outside the town.

29 May

Folklore from the old calendars

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.

23 June

Folklore from the old calendars

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.

24 June

Folklore from the old calendars

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.

29 September

Folklore from the old calendars

Burying the Mace at Nottingham No longer kept NottinghamshireOn Michaelmas Day, when Nottingham's new mayor took office, the corporation went in procession to St Mary's Church.
The Old Mayor’s Geese at Nottingham No longer kept NottinghamshireNottingham chose its mayor on Michaelmas Day, and Deering's History of Nottingham records that the outgoing mayor used to give hot roast geese at his house that morning, before the election of his successor.

2 October

Folklore from the old calendars

Nottingham Goose Fair Still kept NottinghamshireNottingham's great holiday fair was held on 2, 3 and 4 October, straight after Michaelmas.

From the shop: Folklore

The Lore of ScotlandJennifer Westwood, Sophia Kingshill
The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery RhymesIona Opie, Peter Opie
A Dictionary of English FolkloreJacqueline Simpson, Steve Roud

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