Whitsun

Next: Sunday 16 May 2027

Whit Sunday, seven weeks after Easter; the week that follows brings Whit walks, club days and morris ales.

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The year from Thursday 19 November

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Folklore from the old calendars

Birch and flowers to honour Whitsuntide No longer kept EnglandAt Whitsun the yew was cleared out of the house and birch boughs and fresh flowers brought in to dress it.
Bread and cheese thrown in St Briavels church Still kept GloucestershireOn Whit Sunday baskets of bread and cheese cut into inch squares were carried into the gallery of St Briavels church after service and thrown down to the congregation, who scrambled for them.
Dancing for the cake in Westmeath No longer kept LeinsterSir Henry Piers wrote in 1682 that in most parishes of Westmeath, on the patron day and at Easter and Whitsuntide, the country people met in the afternoon on a convenient spot near the alehouse to dance for the cake, with a piper always in attendance.
Dressing the graves at Whitsun in Glamorgan No longer kept GlamorganIn Glamorgan it was an old and general practice to plant the graves with flowers, so that many churchyards looked like rich gardens, and only sweet-scented plants were allowed: pinks, polyanthus, sweet williams, gillyflowers, carnations, mignonette, thyme, hyssop, camomile and rosemary.
Drop handkerchief at the Devon revels No longer kept DevonA correspondent remembered from his boyhood in Devon that at the fairs and revels of Easter and Whitsuntide young men and women formed a ring to play drop handkerchief.
Dulce Domum round the Winchester pillar No longer kept HampshireEvery year on the evening before the Whitsun holidays the master, scholars and choristers of Winchester College walked in procession with a band round the college court and a pillar, chanting the Latin song Dulce Domum.
Eton Montem and the salt-bearers No longer kept BuckinghamshireAt the Eton Montem the scholars marched in military dress to Salt Hill, while salt-bearers in fancy costume stopped travellers on the roads and gave a pinch of salt to everyone who paid toward the captain's purse, which could reach a thousand pounds.
Fetching in the Fly at Oxford No longer kept OxfordshireOn a day in the Whitsun holidays the master cook of Oxford for that year rode out on horseback with his brother cooks, all in silk doublets, to Bartholomew's or Bullingdon Green to fetch in the Fly.
Green-Goose Fair and the Whitsun walks No longer kept LondonAt Whitsun young men and maids went out of London to take the air at Stepney or at Green-Goose Fair.
Greenwich Fair No longer kept KentFor Londoners Whit Monday meant Greenwich Fair, and from early morning crowds poured along the Kent Road and down the river to it.
Guessing the man in green at Whitsuntide No longer kept WalesAt Whitsuntide the Welsh morris dancers were sometimes joined by a man dressed in green and entirely covered with ivy, leaves and flowers.
Hocking and pigeon-holes at the Brentford Whitsun ale No longer kept MiddlesexA Brentford vestry of 1621 recorded that the townspeople had long met at Whitsuntide in their church house to eat and drink together, keeping up neighbourly feeling and raising a common stock for the church, the orphans and the poor.
Huf-cap sold in the church No longer kept EnglandAgainst Christmas, Easter or Whitsunday the churchwardens provided ten or twenty quarters of malt, partly bought from the church stock and partly given by the parishioners, and had it brewed into very strong ale.
My Lord of Misrule’s badges No longer kept EnglandThe Lord of Misrule's company sold painted paper badges, called my Lord of Misrule's badges, to anyone who would pay to keep up their revels, and some people wore them openly in their hats and caps.
Necton guild No longer kept NorfolkIn 1817 Major, later Colonel, Mason of Necton Hall set up a guild of rural sports on the afternoons of Whit Monday and Whit Tuesday, to gather the Whitsun holidays of the Norfolk villages at Necton.
Nettles on the sluggard’s latch on Whit Monday No longer kept WalesEarly on Whit Monday farm boys and others went round the village with noise and song to wake the lazy, leaving a bunch of nettles tied to the latch of every sluggard's door.
No poor rate but the church-ale at Kington St Michael No longer kept WiltshireIn the days of John Aubrey's grandfather the Whitsuntide church-ale paid for the poor of Kington St Michael, a large Wiltshire parish, and no poor rate was needed.
Peppard Revel No longer kept OxfordshireThe Reading Mercury of 24 May 1819 advertised Peppard Revel for Whit Monday.
Rosley Fair from Whit Monday No longer kept CumberlandRosley Fair on its open hill opened on Whit Monday.
Smoke farthings No longer kept EnglandIn Whitsun week, every householder in England with a chimney once paid a small sum to the cathedral of his diocese.
Strewing Yatton church with grass No longer kept SomersetHone quoted Collinson's History of Somerset that John Lane, a gentleman of Yatton, left half an acre of ground called the Groves to the poor for ever.
Sunshine at Easter and Whitsun Lore and belief EnglandAn old country saying held that the weather of Easter Day foretold that of Whit Sunday seven weeks later, so that if the sun shone at Easter it would shine at Whitsun too.
Sweethearts paired for the Whit Monday dance No longer kept WalesIn the late eighteenth century, about a fortnight before Whitsun, Welsh farm boys went to a secluded spot in the woods and told each other their sweethearts' names, and the girls did the same.
The angel and the dragon at St Patrick’s, Dublin No longer kept LeinsterAt Whitsun in 1509 St Patrick's in Dublin paid players to work a great angel, a little angel and a dragon, with cords to let down the Holy Ghost.
The Boy’s Bailiff at Wenlock No longer kept ShropshireIn Whitsun week Much Wenlock kept a custom called the Boy's Bailiff.
The Burford Whitsun deer hunt No longer kept OxfordshireThe people of Burford once claimed the right to hunt deer in Wychwood Forest on Whit Sunday.
The Chester Whitsun plays Still kept CheshireChester's mystery plays were said to have been written by Randall Higgenett, a monk of Chester Abbey, and played on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Whitsun week.
The Corby toll Still kept NorthamptonshireEvery twentieth year on Whit Monday the people of Corby blocked every road into the parish and demanded a toll from all who passed.
The corporation at ball on the Forth No longer kept NorthumberlandCorporations once went out in state to play at ball at Easter.
The Droitwich spring that ran dry No longer kept WorcestershireDroitwich kept holiday each year and dressed its salt well with green boughs and flowers, on the ninth day after Whit Sunday according to Aubrey's informant.
The Eynsham timber No longer kept OxfordshireAt Eynsham the townspeople might cut down on Whit Monday as much timber as they could haul by hand into the abbey yard, the churchwardens first marking the trees.
The Fool and the Megen No longer kept WalesAt Whitsuntide Welsh morris dancers, nine men with ribbons on their clothes and bells at their knees, danced to the tune of Country Bumpkin.
The Greenhill Bower Still kept StaffordshireLichfield's show fair was held on Whit Monday, when members of the corporation and the town's best tradesmen walked in procession from the guildhall to Greenhill.
The Lady of the Lamb at Kidlington No longer kept OxfordshireOn the Monday after Whitsun week the maidens of Kidlington, their thumbs tied behind them, chased a fat lamb, and the girl who caught it with her mouth became Lady of the Lamb.
The Lord of Misrule’s company in church No longer kept EnglandThe wild heads of the parish chose a Lord of Misrule for the summer games, and his twenty to a hundred men, dressed in green or yellow liveries with scarves, ribbons and twenty or forty bells on each leg, marched with hobby horses, dragons, pipers and drummers into the church itself, even while the minister was praying or preaching.
The maidens’ gathering by the tree at the church door No longer kept BerkshireAt Whitsuntide the maidens of St Laurence's parish in Reading gathered money for the church beside a tree set up at the church door.
The millers’ riding at Hinckley No longer kept LeicestershireAt Hinckley's Whit Monday fair the millers of the nearby villages used to ride in a decorated cavalcade, a show that had fallen out of favour until it was revived with new characters in 1786.
The mock mayor of Costessy No longer kept NorfolkOn Whit Tuesday the poor of Costessy, near Norwich, elected a mock mayor in imitation of the Norwich city guild.
The old women’s trap-ball at Bury No longer kept SuffolkA correspondent told Hone of a ball custom still kept every year at Bury St Edmunds.
The stick blow at the Lancashire Whitsun fair No longer kept LancashireAt Whitsuntide fairs in parts of Lancashire a trick was played in which one person held a stick over another's head and a third, unseen, struck the stick so that it came down smartly on the victim.
The Whitsun ale No longer kept EnglandEvery Whitsuntide the churchwardens held a parish feast, usually in a barn near the church, where all agreed to be friends for once in the year.
The Whitsun king in oak leaves No longer kept EnglandAt Whitsun, each village once chose a lord or king at the maypole, and he picked a queen to rule over the games with him.
The Whitsun morris Still kept EnglandWhitsuntide was the great season for morris dancers.
The Whitsuntide hirings in Cumberland No longer kept CumberlandFarm servants in Cumberland were hired by the half year at Whitsuntide and Martinmas.
Whit Wednesday on Capel Tump No longer kept HerefordshireOn the Wednesday of Whitsun week the people of the Ross district held a large merry-making on top of a great barrow called Capel Tump.
Whitened gravestones at Neath No longer kept GlamorganIn Neath churchyard two stones marked the head and foot of each grave, and they were whitened with lime every Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide.
Whitsun jaunts to Islington and Newington No longer kept LondonOver the Whitsun holidays Londoners poured out to Islington, Newington and the villages nearby to eat and drink.
Whitsun rides in Moorfields No longer kept LondonAt Whitsuntide children paid for rides at the fairground in Moorfields, going up and down on the swings.
Whitsun weddings at May Fair Chapel No longer kept LondonBefore the Marriage Act, Whitsuntide was one of the favourite seasons for marrying.
Wishing at sunrise on Whit Sunday Lore and belief EnglandAn old belief held that whatever a person asked of God on Whit Sunday morning, at the moment the sun rose and played, would be granted.

Folklore from the old calendars

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