Near the beginning of May come the Rogation days, the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension-day, or Holy Thursday. These days are marked in the popular mind by the ancient and well-known custom of beating the parish bounds, whence arose the now obsolete name of Gang-days (n.Cy.), and the name Rammalation-day (Yks.), i.e. Perambulation-day, for Rogation Monday. The practice is also called Processioning (Midl. Som.), and Possessioning (Nhp.). Among dialect names for the milkwort are: Rogation Flower, Gang Flower, and Procession Flower, showing that it was formerly much used in making the garlands carried on these occasions. The reason why this perambulation of the parish boundaries takes place at Rogationtide seems to be that originally it was purely a religious observance, a procession of priest and people through the fields to pray for a fruitful spring-time and harvest. In course of time the secular object of familiarizing the growing generation with their parish landmarks gained the upper hand, but the date remained as testimony to the primary devotional character of the custom. Another remnant of the religious side may be traced in the term Gospel Tree, applied to some tree where the Gospel was read aloud by the clergy on the occasion of these parochial perambulations.
It would seem, however, that recently some of the High Church clergy have begun to revive in some form the old ceremonial processions. The following paragraph appeared in the Church Times of May 2, 1918, under the heading Sheffield: ‘The Rogation procession, revived last year at St. Matthew’s, again took place this year; a perambulation of the parish was made, incense, lights, and the beautiful silver crucifix were used, and the vicar in cope intoned the Litany. The choir and a good number of communicants of both sexes took part, and the Rogation Mass was afterwards sung in church. Another procession, with hymns and short addresses at various stations, was announced for Tuesday evening.’ Similar processions were also made here in Oxford at the same date.
Whitsuntide Feasts
In former times, the season of Whitsuntide brought round another parochial custom, namely, the holding of the Whitsun-ale (Lin. Nhp. Oxf. Hmp.). This was a village feast which, while it provided amusement for the parishioners in the shape of sports and dancing, was also at the same time made by the churchwardens a means of bringing in money to the parish coffers for the maintenance of the church. In Oxfordshire a similar festivity was known as a Lamb-ale, and with it was associated the following sport: a fat lamb was chased by girls with tied hands; she who caught the lamb with her teeth was styled Lady of the Lamb, and was conducted home with her prize in a triumphal procession. The next day the lamb was cooked and served up to the Lady and her companions.
Thirty years ago it was still customary in some west Midland districts to decorate village churches on Whit Sunday with sprigs of birch stuck in holes bored in the tops of the pews. I can remember this being done by an old parish clerk in Herefordshire, but when he was gathered to his fathers in the same profession, the custom died with him.
The north-country Rush-bearing is an annual ceremony which usually takes place concurrently with the village Wakes. It has come down from the days when the bare earthen floors of churches and chapels were strewn with rushes as their only covering. The parishioners assembled on some special day, and went out to collect the rushes, which were then piled on a gaily decorated cart, and brought back through the village to the accompaniment of music and dancing. The custom has in many places now fallen into disuse, but it is still kept up in Westmorland. Nowadays the procession is formed of children who carry garlands and emblems made of rushes and flowers, and entering the church they lay them along the aisles. The rush-bearing festival at Grasmere takes place on the Saturday next after St. Oswald’s Day, August 5, and the following Sunday and Monday. A very interesting account of it entitled ‘Rush-bearing at Grasmere’, appeared in The Outlook of August 13, 1910. No doubt it is the connexion with Wordsworth which has prolonged the life of this particular custom, and spread its fame far beyond the country of its birth. It is not given to all our ancient rural festivals to receive a ‘tributary lay’ from an immortal poet.
Michaelmas and Halloween
Passing through the village of Cuddesdon on October 11, 1912, I met two or three big farm wagons going to the hamlet of Denton, loaded with what was evidently a farm-labourer’s household stuff. On the top of the last wagon, wedged in securely amongst bedding and chairs, were four or five children, merry little people, obviously enjoying the ride through country lanes on a warm, sunny afternoon. My companion who lived in the village remarked to me, ‘You see how Michaelmas Day is kept here according to the Old Style. They always make their Michaelmas moves to-day.’
October 31 is Halloween (Sc. n.Cy.), the Eve of All Saints’ Day, a night specially devoted to love-divination ceremonies, and other superstitious customs such as we have noticed in a previous chapter. The game of hanch-apple (Cum. Lan.) is a favourite Halloween pastime, so much so that in some districts Hanchin’-neet is another name for Halloween. The game consists in biting at an apple floating in water, or suspended by a cord.
In parts of Ireland a dish called colcannon, made of potatoes and cabbage mashed together with butter, used to form part of the Halloween dinner. In it was concealed a ring, the finder whereof would be the first of the company to be married. In St. John’s, Newfoundland, the popular name for Halloween is Colcannon-night, so named because colcannon is generally eaten then.