Folklore of South East

1 April

3 days before Easter

Good Friday

Easter Saturday

Easter Sunday

Folklore from the old calendars

Chopping at the tree at University College No longer kept OxfordshireOn Easter Day a mock tree dressed with evergreens and flowers was set up on a turf by the buttery at University College, Oxford.
Eggs and green sauce at Gray’s Inn No longer kept LondonDugdale records that the gentlemen of Gray's Inn who came to breakfast on Easter Day, after the service and communion, were given eggs and green sauce.
The Easter sacrament ring Lore and belief BerkshireIn Berkshire it was a popular belief that a ring made from a silver coin given at the communion would cure convulsions and fits of every kind.
The red herring on horseback No longer kept OxfordshireIt was said that at Queen's College, Oxford, the first dish brought to table on Easter Day was a red herring riding away on horseback.
The Twickenham Easter cakes No longer kept MiddlesexTwickenham once divided two great cakes among its young people in church on Easter Day.

Easter Monday

Folklore from the old calendars

Dick and Doll’s Easter Monday walk to Islington No longer kept LondonOn Easter Monday afternoon servants who had been kept at home all week walked out to Islington to court.
Easter Monday football at White Conduit Fields No longer kept LondonOn Easter Monday the London roughs gathered in great numbers in the fields round White Conduit House, near Islington, to play football.
Going a-pudding-pieing No longer kept KentAt Easter young people in Kent went holiday-making to public houses to eat pudding-pies, which they called going a-pudding-pieing.
Greenwich Fair at Easter No longer kept KentEaster Monday and Tuesday were holidays in most London trades, and on the Monday Greenwich Fair began.
Old Vinegar and the Moorfields cudgel players No longer kept LondonIn the old days the cudgel players' sports in Moorfields began on Easter Monday.
The Biddenden Maids Still kept KentTwenty acres at Biddenden, called the Bread and Cheese Lands, paid for a dole at Easter; Hasted in 1790 counted six hundred cakes given to churchgoers and loaves and cheese to parishioners.
The Spital Sermon Still kept LondonOn Easter Monday and Tuesday the boys of Christ's Hospital walked in procession to the Mansion House and went with the Lord Mayor, aldermen and their ladies to Christ Church, where a bishop preached the Spital Sermon and the children sang an anthem.
Tilting on the Thames at Easter No longer kept LondonFitzStephen, writing in the twelfth century and quoted by Stow, describes a water game played by the young men of London in the Easter holidays.

Folklore of the South East

1 April

3 days before Easter

Good Friday

Easter Saturday

Easter Sunday

Easter Monday

9 April, not tied to the day

10 April, not tied to the day

14 April

Hock Tuesday (second Tuesday after Easter)

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