The Caistor gad-whip

Palm Sunday · Caistor, Lincolnshire

No longer kept

Every Palm Sunday a man from Broughton came to the north porch of Caistor church during the first lesson and cracked a great ox-whip, the gad-whip, three times. He wrapped the thong round the stock with rods of mountain ash, tied a purse of money to the top, and during the second lesson knelt before the reading desk holding the purse over the minister’s head. The whip was then taken to the manor house at Hundon, and certain lands in Broughton were held on condition of the service. It has long since lapsed.

three times cracks a gad-whip, which he then folds neatly up

From Hone's Every-Day Book, vol. 2, cols. 393-395; Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 1, pp. 397-398. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

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The Caistor gad-whip

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