Folklore of Scotland

1 February

Folklore from the old calendars

Briid’s Bed No longer kept Outer HebridesMartin, in his Description of the Western Islands, recorded that at Candlemas the mistress and servants of each house dressed a sheaf of oats in women's clothes, laid it in a large basket with a wooden club beside it, and called it Briid's Bed, after St Bride.
If Candlemas Day Be Dry and Fair Lore and belief England, ScotlandChambers found a belief all over Christendom that fine weather at Candlemas meant a long winter and a poor harvest, while a wet and stormy Candlemas was a good omen.
The Candlemas Ba’ Still kept RoxburghshireAnother Scottish Candlemas custom was a football match between the east and west ends of a town, the married men and the bachelors, or one parish and another, which brought the whole community out in high excitement.
The Candlemas crown at St Andrews grammar school No longer kept FifeAt the grammar school of St Andrews the boys gave the master a Candlemas gift according to their rank and means, from five shillings up to five guineas, and competed keenly for the Candlemas crown.
The Candlemas King No longer kept ScotlandIn Scottish schools the children made their master a present of money on Candlemas Day, going up one by one to lay it on his desk.

Folklore from the old calendars

Fugies and cock-fight dues at Applecross No longer kept Ross and CromartyOn Fastern's E'en, until the middle of the eighteenth century, cock-fights were held in many Scottish schools with the master presiding and keeping every runaway cock, called a fugie, as his perquisite.
Sauty Bannocks and Dreaming Bannocks No longer kept HighlandsIn the Highlands the Fastern's E'en supper ended with sauty bannocks, made of eggs and meal with plenty of salt and toasted on the gridiron.
The Ba’ of Scone No longer kept PerthshireChambers knew of no place where Shrovetide football was played with more energy than Scone, near Perth.
The Cock-penny No longer kept Ross and Cromarty, ScotlandCock-fighting was a regular Shrovetide sport, and in many schools it was sanctioned by the master, who took a small fee from each boy called the cock-penny.
The Ring in the Crowdie No longer kept ScotlandEden wrote that crowdie was the never-failing dinner of all ranks in Scotland on Shrove Tuesday, as pancakes were in England.
The Wives’ Football at Inveresk No longer kept MidlothianSir Frederick Eden, drawing on the Statistical Account of Scotland, recorded a standing Shrove Tuesday football match in a Midlothian parish between the married and the unmarried women.