Folklore of South East

1 May

the first Sunday on or after 2 May

8 May, not tied to the day

36 days after Easter

Folklore from the old calendars

Gang Monday Land at Edgcott No longer kept BuckinghamshireAt Edgcott in Buckinghamshire about an acre of land, called Gang Monday Land, was let for three pounds a year to pay for cakes and beer for those who walked the parish bounds in Rogation week.
Loaf, cheese and ale for the bounds at Clifton Reynes No longer kept BuckinghamshireEveryone living in Clifton Reynes who walked the parish boundaries in Rogation week was given ale from a bequest of land, married people a small loaf, a piece of cheese and a pint, single people half a pint.
Reading the gospel at the springs No longer kept Berkshire, CheshireIn the parish processions a gospel was read at the springs to bless them, a custom kept at Sunningwell in Berkshire until 1688.
The boy in the boundary oven No longer kept BuckinghamshireWhere a Buckinghamshire house had been built with its oven jutting over the parish boundary, a boy was put into the oven during the Rogation perambulation to keep the line unbroken.
The Gospel in the Chequer Inn cellar at Standlake No longer kept OxfordshireAt Standlake the minister's Rogation Week procession stopped in the cellar of the Chequer Inn, where he read the Gospel at the head of a barrel.
The noble in a bowl at Swinford Ferry No longer kept BerkshireWhen the Cumnor parishioners beat their bounds in Rogation week, they crossed at Swinford Ferry and took hold of the twigs on the far bank to claim the whole breadth of the Thames for the parish.
The seven-yearly bounds money at Husborne Crawley No longer kept BedfordshireOnce every seven years an estate at Husborne Crawley in Bedfordshire had to pay four pounds on Rogation Day towards walking the parish bounds.
Youling the orchards at Keston and Wickham No longer kept KentIn Rogation Week the young men about Keston and Wickham in Kent ran shouting into the orchards, circled each tree and chanted a rhyme for a good crop.

Ascension Day

Folklore from the old calendars

Hunting the ram at Eton No longer kept BuckinghamshireAbout Whitsuntide, on Holy Thursday as Aubrey thought, the Eton schoolboys hunted a ram until they killed it and then made a venison feast of it.
New College at the Bartlemas well No longer kept OxfordshireAubrey wrote about 1690 that the fellows of New College had gone every Holy Thursday, time out of mind, between eight and nine in the morning, to the hospital of St Bartholomew near Oxford.
Points for the boys that were whipped at Chelsea No longer kept London, MiddlesexWhen Chelsea parish walked its bounds in 1679 the churchwardens paid for a dinner, for points for the boys, and four shillings to the boys that were whipped at the boundary marks so they would remember them.
St Margaret’s Westminster walks to Kensington No longer kept LondonThe parish of St Margaret, Westminster, fed its bounds walkers at Kensington every Rogation tide, with bread, ale, fish, cream and cheese.

Folklore of the South East

1 May

the first Sunday on or after 2 May

8 May, not tied to the day

36 days after Easter

Ascension Day

14 May

15 May

18 May, not tied to the day

19 May

20 May, not tied to the day

22 May, not tied to the day

Whit Sunday

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