July 25.] ST. JAMES’S DAY.
July 25.]
ST. JAMES’S DAY.
It is customary in London to begin eating oysters on St. James’s Day, and in the course of the few days following upon their introduction, the children of the humbler class employ themselves diligently in collecting the shells which have been cast out from taverns and fish-shops, and of these they make piles in various rude forms. By the time that old St. James’s Day (August 5th) has come about, they have these little fabrics in nice order, with a candle stuck in the top, to be lighted at night. As the stranger occasionally comes in contact with these structures, he is suddenly surrounded by a group of boys, exclaiming, “Pray, remember the grotto!” by which is meant a demand for a penny wherewith professedly to keep up the candle. Mr. Thoms considers that in the grotto thus made, we have a memorial of the world-renowned shrine of St. James at Compostella, which may have been formerly erected on the anniversary of St. James by poor persons, as an invitation to the pious, who could not visit Compostella to show their reverence to the saint by alms giving to their needy brethren.—Book of Days, vol. ii. p. 122; N. & Q. 1st S. vol. i. p. 6.