Folklore of South East

7 March

Folklore from the old calendars

Ale for the Passion singers at Reading No longer kept BerkshireAt St Laurence's church in Reading the singers of the Passion on Palm Sunday were rewarded with ale and wine.
Bringing in the with before Easter No longer kept LondonIn the week before Easter great shows were made in London by carrying a twisted tree, called a with, into the king's palace and the houses of the nobility and gentry.
Fig Sunday at Kimpton No longer kept HertfordshireAt Kempton in Hertfordshire, as the book spells Kimpton, it had long been the custom for the villagers to eat figs on Palm Sunday, which they called Fig Sunday.
Going a-palming No longer kept LondonEarly on Palm Sunday men and boys went out from London to gather willow or sallow branches with their grey, velvety buds, which stood in for palms.
Hail be thou our King No longer kept SurreyDives and Pauper, printed in 1496, describes the priest in the Palm Sunday procession drawing up the veil before the rood and falling to the ground with all the people, saying three times Ave Rex Noster, hail be thou our King.
Hiring an angel for Palm Sunday No longer kept LondonLondon churchwardens' accounts show parishes paying players for the Palm Sunday procession.
Palm flowers, cakes and juniper in the City churches No longer kept LondonBefore the Reformation London parishes bought palm, box, flowers and cakes for Palm Sunday, and sometimes juniper to sweeten the church.

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.