A turf for Fingan’s Eve

21 December · Isle of Man

No longer kept

Manx people once went into the mountains before Christmas to catch deer and sheep, and in the evening lit a large fire on top of every cliff. So each household set aside one big peat at peat-cutting time for Fingan’s Eve. Dyer, who puts this under St Thomas’s Day, took it from Train’s History of the Isle of Man and Cregeen’s Manx Dictionary.

Hence, at the time of casting peats, every one laid aside a large one, saying : "Faaid mooar moayney son oie'l fingan," that is, "A large turf for Fingan's Eve."

From Dyer's British Popular Customs, p. 442. Read the original

Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks

We may earn a small commission if you buy through these links.

Also on this day

Folklore from the old calendars

Doleing Day in Staffordshire No longer kept StaffordshireOn St Thomas's Day in a Staffordshire parish, old women, widows and someone from every poorer family went round asking for alms, and the clergyman gave each a shilling.
Five shillings in the Thornton tombstone No longer kept DorsetBefore noon on St Thomas's Day the tenants of the manor of Thornton put five shillings into a hole in a certain tombstone in the churchyard.
Going a-Thomasing for wheat No longer kept YorkshireOn St Thomas's Day poor widows in the West Riding went round the farms asking for Christmas gifts, and were usually given a small measure of wheat.
St Thomas’s Day for killing fat swine Lore and belief Northern EnglandSt Thomas's Day, 21 December, was held to be a good day for brewing, baking and killing fat pigs.
Broughton for St Thomas’s night No longer kept NorthumberlandOn St Thomas's night the old Northumbrian dish of broughton came out again, as it did on Midsummer Eve.
Blowing the Yule-Girth at York No longer kept YorkshireAn old custom book of the city of York, printed by Leland, set down that on St Thomas's Day before Yule the sheriffs heard a mass of St Thomas at All Hallows on the Pavement.
St Thomas’s onion Lore and belief EnglandMother Bunch's Closet Newly Broke Open, printed under St Thomas's Day, told a girl that this was the best time of year to learn who her husband would be.
Apple wassailing on St Thomas’s Day No longer kept Staffordshire, WorcestershireSt Thomas's Day falls on the shortest day, as the couplet has it, St Thomas gray, St Thomas gray, the longest night and the shortest day.
Going a-gooding No longer kept Kent, Staffordshire, WarwickshireOn St Thomas's Day, the shortest day, poor women went round the parish begging money or food for Christmas, and gave sprigs of holly, mistletoe, palm or primroses in return.

A turf for Fingan’s Eve

Also on this day

Questions and comments

Image credits