St John’s verses and bonfire at Eton

24 June · Eton College, Buckinghamshire

No longer kept

The account of Eton School written in 1560 describes how, for as long as the custom lasted, the boys on St John the Baptist’s Eve decorated their beds with pictures and wrote verses on the life and deeds of the saint, fair copies of which were pinned to the bed-posts for the learned to read. On the feast day itself, after morning prayers, the whole school went to a bonfire built on the east side of the chapel, where the choir sang three antiphons before the boys, standing in order, went in to their meal. Brand’s editor adds that the Eton boys had anciently kept their bonfires on St John’s Day.

The boys of Eton School had anciently their bonfires at Midsummer, on St. John's Day.

From Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. 1, pp. 317, 335. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

The sermon in green boughs Still kept OxfordshireOn St John the Baptist's Day a sermon was preached at Magdalen College from a stone pulpit in the corner of the first court, and the court was hung with green boughs so that the preaching would look like the Baptist's in the wilderness.
Thomas Oken’s bonfires No longer kept WarwickshireThomas Oken of Warwick, in a deed of 1571, charged his feoffees to pay a few shillings every year to the neighbours of his bonfire and of three other bonfires in the High Pavement ward.
Sir Thomas Parkyns’s wrestling No longer kept NottinghamshireSir Thomas Parkyns, a Nottinghamshire squire, was a keen wrestler who trained his servants and neighbours, showed them off in public and wrote a book called The Cornish Hug Wrestler.
Well-flowering at Buxton Still kept DerbyshireFollowing Tissington's example, several Derbyshire towns took up dressing their wells.
Midsummer cushions No longer kept NorthumberlandIn Northumberland on Midsummer Day stools were dressed with a cushion of flowers.
Crowning the tin-mine poles No longer kept CornwallIn Cornwall the boundary of each tin mine was marked by a long pole with a bush at the top.
Midsummer boughs at the stall door Lore and belief EnglandReginald Scot, listing the charms people used against witches, wrote that they hung boughs hallowed on Midsummer Day at the door of the stall where the cattle stood.
Pouring lead for a husband’s trade Lore and belief EnglandA chapbook owned by Brand's editor gave a way for a girl to learn what trade her future husband would follow.
White cake and kidgelled cream at Whitby No longer kept YorkshireAt Whitby people ate white cake and "kidgelled" cream on Midsummer Day, and the milkmen sent their customers presents of cream for the feast.
St John’s great candlestick Lore and belief EnglandThe scarlet lychnis, which flowered about 24 June, was the flower of St John the Baptist's feast.
A chaplet of roses at Tong No longer kept ShropshireEvery year a garland of flowers was placed on the effigy of a Vernon in Tong church.
The Melmerby dedication feast No longer kept CumberlandMelmerby, under Cross Fell, kept a dedication feast on St John's day, the saint to whom its church is dedicated.
A red rose for Highhead at Midsummer No longer kept CumberlandIn the reign of Edward III Highhead Castle, near Dalston, was held by the service of bringing a red rose to the king's exchequer in Carlisle every year on the feast of St John the Baptist.
A coal under the plantain root Lore and belief LondonAt noon on Midsummer Day 1694 Aubrey came upon twenty-two or twenty-three young women, most of them well dressed, on their knees in the pasture behind Montague House as if they were weeding.
John Baptist brings grass beef and peas No longer kept EnglandMidsummer, the feast of St John the Baptist, brought the first grass-fed beef and green peas to the farmer's table.
The Dutton minstrels’ court at Chester Midsummer Fair No longer kept CheshireEvery Midsummer all the minstrels and musicians of Cheshire had to attend their lord at Chester, play before him in procession to St John's church, and then answer at his court for their lives and conduct.
Colm’s Day fair at Largs No longer kept AyrshireEvery Midsummer Largs held a fair called St Colm's Day, where Highlanders and Lowlanders met to trade for the whole year.
A quarter-pound of pepper for Waterton Farm No longer kept GlamorganWaterton Farm near Coity, Bridgend, was held by an odd tenure: suit of court and a quarter of a pound of pepper paid to the lord of the manor.
St John’s worts on the rafters Lore and belief WalesAs late as the middle of the nineteenth century Welsh households foretold who would die first by hanging St John's worts from the rafters, one named for each person in the house.
The cuckoo silent after Midsummer Day Lore and belief Flintshire, MontgomeryshireIn Montgomeryshire, on the Shropshire border, it was held that the cuckoo never sang after Midsummer Day, and a rhyme said she sang in April, May and Midsummer, but never on that day.
Elder flowers from Midsummer Day Lore and belief EnglandElder flowers gathered on Midsummer Day, dried and powdered, were a receipt for keeping young.

St John’s verses and bonfire at Eton

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