Strutt's Sports and Pastimes

Joseph Strutt, Glig-Gamena Angel-Deod, or The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England (1801).

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First published in 1801, and re-edited by William Hone in 1830; old copies and facsimile reprints are easy to find.

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1 to 25 of 25 entries

6 January

Folklore from the old calendars

Leaden cocks at Shrovetide No longer kept EnglandWhen throwing at live cocks was stopped, toy cocks on heavy lead stands were put up for the boys at Shrovetide wakes and fairs, and whoever knocked one over kept it.
Six silver glaives for the Chester runners No longer kept CheshireEvery Shrove Tuesday the shoemakers of Chester gave the drapers a leather football before the mayor at the cross on the Roodee, and the game was played from there to the Common Hall.
The King of Christmas at Norwich No longer kept NorfolkOn a Shrove Tuesday at Norwich a rider crowned as King of Christmas went through the streets on a horse trapped in tin foil, with the twelve months of the year going before him in disguise.
The owl in the Shrovetide pot at North Walsham No longer kept NorfolkAt North Walsham, about forty years before Strutt wrote, some jokers put an owl into the earthen pot used for Shrove Tuesday cock-throwing, and fixed the head and tail of a dead cock so they showed as a live bird's would.