Hone's Every-Day Book

William Hone, The Every-Day Book, or Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements (2 vols, 1825-1827).

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Two volumes, 1825 to 1827. Later editions bind it with the Table Book, and old sets turn up second-hand.

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Thursday 3 September

Folklore from the old calendars

Chopping Sticks and Counting Hobnails Still kept London, ShropshireAt Michaelmas the new sheriffs of London went by barge to Westminster to be sworn in at the Court of Exchequer, where the City also paid two ancient quit rents.
The Lawless Hour at Kidderminster No longer kept WorcestershireWhen Kidderminster chose its bailiff at Michaelmas, the town-house bell gave the signal for an hour in which the townspeople pelted each other with cabbage stalks in the main streets.
The Moon and the Michaelmas Floods Lore and belief EnglandAn old weather saying held that you could count the floods of the coming season from the moon on Michaelmas Day.
St Michael’s Sheep in Ireland No longer kept IrelandMacaulay, quoted by Hone, says that in Ireland every family that could afford it killed a sheep on Michaelmas Day, and part of it had by law to go to the poor.
St Michael’s Bannock No longer kept Inner Hebrides, Outer HebridesMartin's account of the Western Isles, quoted by Hone, says the islanders kept St Michael's Day with a cavalcade in each parish, and at Kilbar with a turn round the church.
Goose on Michaelmas Day Lore and belief EnglandRoast goose was the Michaelmas dinner, when stubble geese were at their best, and it was said that whoever ate goose that day would never want money all year.