The wooden ass in the Palm Sunday procession

Palm Sunday · England

No longer kept

In some English parishes before the Reformation, a wooden ass on wheels carrying a wooden figure of Christ was drawn in the Palm Sunday procession while the crowd threw willow branches in its path. Once it had passed, people scrambled to gather the trodden twigs again, because they were thought a sure guard against storms and lightning for the coming year. Chambers describes the procession as part of the elaborate Palm Sunday rites of the old religion.

Not less eager were the strewers of the willow branches to gather them up again after the ass had passed over them, for these twigs were deemed an infallible protection against storms and lightning during the ensuing year.

From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 1, p. 396. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

Going a-palming No longer kept LondonEarly on Palm Sunday men and boys went out from London to gather willow or sallow branches with their grey, velvety buds, which stood in for palms.
The Caistor gad-whip No longer kept LincolnshireEvery 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.
The Borrowed Days Lore and belief ScotlandThe last three days of March were called the Borrowed Days and were expected to be stormy.
The palm cross in Nantswell No longer kept CornwallBefore the Reformation people went on Palm Sunday to the well of Our Lady of Nantswell at Little Conan in Cornwall, carrying a cross made of palm.
Cakes from the steeple No longer kept EnglandA Protestant dialogue of 1554, quoted by Brand and Hone, mocked the old Palm Sunday processions, saying hardly one in ten thousand knew what they meant.
Hiring an angel for Palm Sunday No longer kept LondonLondon churchwardens' accounts show parishes paying players for the Palm Sunday procession.
No palm, no hand Lore and belief EnglandAn old saying held that whoever did not have a palm in his hand on Palm Sunday would have his hand cut off.
Hail be thou our King No longer kept SurreyDives and Pauper, printed in 1496, describes the priest in the Palm Sunday procession drawing up the veil before the rood and falling to the ground with all the people, saying three times Ave Rex Noster, hail be thou our King.
Fig Sunday at Kimpton No longer kept HertfordshireAt Kempton in Hertfordshire, as the book spells Kimpton, it had long been the custom for the villagers to eat figs on Palm Sunday, which they called Fig Sunday.
A bundle of box for Palm Sunday No longer kept ShropshireDomesday Book records under Shropshire a tenant who paid for half a carucate of land with a bundle of box twigs on Palm Sunday.
Double flowers from Palm Sunday sowing Lore and belief GloucestershireMr R.
Walking the corn on Palm Sunday No longer kept EnglandAfter taking the sacrament on Palm Sunday, young men and maids went out after dinner and walked about the cornfields to bless the corn.
Saugh palms on Palm Sunday No longer kept Northern EnglandMany country people in the North believed the saugh, or sallow willow, was the true palm strewn before Christ in Jerusalem.
Palm crosses on the cottage wall No longer kept Northern EnglandChildren in the North of England carried bright palm crosses on Palm Sunday, made of coloured materials arranged in one, two or even three crosses.
Willow palms from Kepier No longer kept County DurhamAs a boy in Durham, Henderson walked with his friends to the riverbank near Kepier Hospital to gather willow catkins for Palm Sunday.
Pawne bottles at the wells No longer kept YorkshireYorkshire children kept Palm Sunday with "pawne bottles", bottles holding a little sugar.
The Hentland Palm Sunday bun No longer kept HerefordshireOn Palm Sunday the churchwardens at Hentland gave the minister and congregation a cake or bun, and in earlier days a cup of beer as well, which was eaten in church.
Flowering Sunday in South Wales Still kept South WalesIn South Wales Palm Sunday was called Flowering Sunday, when people gathered in the churchyards and laid fresh flowers on the graves of their friends and family.
Bringing in the with before Easter No longer kept LondonIn the week before Easter great shows were made in London by carrying a twisted tree, called a with, into the king's palace and the houses of the nobility and gentry.
The Mallwyd yew for Palm Sunday No longer kept MerionethshireChurchyard yews once stood in for palms on Palm Sunday: their boughs were blessed that day and some were burnt to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday.
Palm flowers, cakes and juniper in the City churches No longer kept LondonBefore the Reformation London parishes bought palm, box, flowers and cakes for Palm Sunday, and sometimes juniper to sweeten the church.
Ale for the Passion singers at Reading No longer kept BerkshireAt St Laurence's church in Reading the singers of the Passion on Palm Sunday were rewarded with ale and wine.

The wooden ass in the Palm Sunday procession

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