Chambers's Book of Days

Robert Chambers, The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar (2 vols, 1862-1864).

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Two volumes, 1862 to 1864. Facsimile reprints are easy to find, and original sets turn up second-hand.

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Monday 1 February

Tuesday 2 February

Folklore from the old calendars

God Send Us the Light of Heaven No longer kept EnglandCandlemas takes its name from the blessing of candles by the clergy and their carrying in procession on the feast of the Purification.
Fair Maid of February Lore and belief EnglandCountry people tied certain flowers to the saints whose days fell when they came into bloom.
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 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.

Wednesday 3 February

Tuesday 9 February

Folklore from the old calendars

Throwing at Cocks No longer kept England, NorfolkThrowing sticks at a tethered cock was an old and cruel Shrove Tuesday sport, which Hone was glad to see dying out among decent people.
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.
Football Day at Kingston No longer kept Middlesex, SurreyA Quaker travelling to Kingston upon Thames on Shrove Tuesday 1815 was told by the coachman that it was Football Day.
The First Pancake No longer kept EnglandBy custom the first pancake off the pan was given to the laziest member of the household or the last one out of bed, though since nobody would own to it, it usually went to the dog.
The Pancake Bell Still kept EnglandOn Shrove Tuesday the church bells were set ringing in the morning, and one bell in particular, the Pancake Bell, told every household that it was time to start frying.
Lent Crocking No longer kept Dorset, WiltshireIn Dorset and Wiltshire boys went shroving in small bands, armed with the year's broken crockery.
Holly Boy and Ivy Girl No longer kept KentLate in the eighteenth century a Kentish village kept a Shrovetide custom in two halves.
Threshing the Hen No longer kept Cornwall, WalesA hen that had not laid before Shrove Tuesday was counted useless.
Barring Out the Master No longer kept CumberlandAt Fasten's Even the scholars of the free school at Bromfield claimed an old right to shut their master out for three days.
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 Pancake Greaze Still kept LondonAt eleven on Shrove Tuesday a verger of Westminster Abbey with a silver baton led the school cook, in white apron, jacket and cap, into the schoolroom carrying a pancake.

Wednesday 10 February

Saturday 13 February

Sunday 14 February

Friday 26 February

Not tied to a day

Printed under this month, but not tied to a day: anecdotes, charms and beliefs the books set down here.

Folklore from the old calendars

Bells Against Storms and Spirits Lore and belief EnglandChurch bells were blessed and dedicated to a saint before they were hung, and their ringing was believed to scatter storms and drive away evil spirits, which could not bear the sound.
Card-cutting Lore and belief EnglandChambers printed what his contributor believed was the first account in English of the popular art of telling fortunes with ordinary playing cards.
Maiden’s Garlands Still kept Derbyshire, HampshireWhen a young unmarried woman died, a garland was carried before her coffin to the grave and then hung up in the church in her memory.
Marrying in a Smock Lore and belief Cumberland, EnglandIt was once a common belief that a man who married a woman wearing nothing but her shift would not be answerable for any debts she brought with her.
Merlin’s Prophecy at Fishguard Lore and belief PembrokeshireWhen a French force landed at Pencaer near Fishguard on 22 February 1797, many wonderful stories grew up about it, and Chambers quotes some from the Tales and Traditions of Tenby.
Mr Fox Still kept EnglandHalliwell believed Benedick's line in Much Ado about Nothing, it is not so, nor 'twas not so, but indeed God forbid it should be so, came from a nursery story Shakespeare had heard as a child, and Chambers retells it.
Sworn on the Horns at the Great Bed of Ware No longer kept HertfordshireThe Great Bed of Ware, which Sir Toby Belch mentions in Twelfth Night, is a carved bed nearly eleven feet square that was for ages the wonder of an inn at Ware.
The Claddagh Ring Still kept ConnachtRings with two clasped hands were a common old wedding design, and Chambers found the fashion still in daily use among the fishing families of the Claddagh at Galway, a close community of five or six thousand who seldom married outside their own people.
The Clerk of Bow Bell Still kept LondonA cockney is said to be anyone born within the sound of Bow bells, though Chambers notes that Stow never mentions the saying.
The Healing Ring Finger Lore and belief England, Ireland, SomersetThe wedding ring is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand from an old belief that a nerve ran from it straight to the heart.
The Silent Tower of Bottreaux Lore and belief CornwallBoscastle church had no bells, while the tower at Tintagel nearby had a fine peal of six.
The Soul That Leaves the Sleeper Lore and belief Highlands, Ross and CromartyHugh Miller heard a Highland tale of two young men resting by a ruin on a hot day.
Willie Wastle in His Castle No longer kept Berwickshire, ScotlandWhen Cromwell's Colonel Fenwick summoned Hume Castle to surrender in February 1651, the governor is said to have answered him with a scrap of rhyme about William of the Wastle in his castle whom all the dogs in the town could not bring down.

Monday 1 February

Tuesday 2 February

Wednesday 3 February

Tuesday 9 February

Wednesday 10 February

Saturday 13 February

Sunday 14 February

Friday 26 February

Not tied to a day

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