EASTER SPORTS AT THE MANCHESTER FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
A gentleman, using the initials G. H. F., some years ago communicated to a local paper the following facts relative to the sports of the scholars at Easter in the early part of the nineteenth century:—"On Easter Monday the senior scholars had a treat and various festivities. On the morning of that day, masters and scholars assembled in the school-room, with a band of music, banners, &c. One essential thing was a target, in a square frame, to which were suspended one or more pairs of silver buckles, constituting the chief archery prize, the second being a good dunghill-cock. These were the only prizes, and they were duly contended for by the scholars, the whole being probably devised in the old times, with a view to keep the youth of Manchester in the practice of the old English archery, which on the invention of gunpowder and fire-arms fell rapidly into desuetude. The gay procession thus provided, the scholars, bearing their bows and arrows, set out from the Grammar School, headed by some reverend gentleman of the Collegiate church, by the masters of the school, the churchwardens, &c.—the band playing some popular airs of the day—and took its route by Long Millgate, to Hunt's Bank, and along the Walkers' [i.e., fullers'] Croft, to some gardens, where it was then the custom for artizans on Sunday mornings to buy 'a penny posy.' Here the targets were set up, and the 'artillery practice,' as it was the fashion to call archery, commenced. At its close the prizes were awarded, and the procession returned in the same order, along Hunt's Bank, the Apple Market, Fennel Street, Hanging Ditch, and Old Millgate, to the Bull's Head, in the Market Place,—in those days a very celebrated house, where the junior boys were treated with frumenty—wheat stewed, and then boiled in milk with raisins, currants, and spices, till it forms a thick, porridge-like mess, exceedingly palatable to young folk. The masters and assistants, and the senior scholars, partook of roast beef, plum pudding, &c. The abolition of this Easter Monday custom, said to have been by Dr. Smith, was by no means relished by the Grammar School boys."
"LIFTING" OR "HEAVING" AT EASTER.
This singular custom formerly prevailed in Manchester, and it is now common in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, in the parish of Whalley, at Warrington, Bolton, and in some other parts of Lancashire, especially in rural districts, though it is by no means general, and in some places is quite unknown. A Manchester man, in 1784, thus describes it:—"Lifting was originally designed to represent our Saviour's resurrection. The men lift the women on Easter Monday, and the women the men on Tuesday. One or more take hold of each leg, and one or more of each arm, near the body, and lift the person up, in a horizontal position, three times. It is a rude, indecent, and dangerous diversion, practised chiefly by the lower class of people. Our magistrates constantly prohibit it by the bellman, but it subsists at the end of the town; and the women have of late years converted it into a money job. I believe it is chiefly confined to these northern counties."
The following [translated] extract from a document entitled Liber Contrarotulatoris Hospicii, 13 Edward I. [1225], shows the antiquity of the custom:—"To the Ladies of the Queen's Chamber, 15th of May; seven ladies and damsels of the queen, because they took [or lifted] the king in his bed, on the morrow of Easter, and made him pay fine for the peace of the king, which he made of his gift by the hand of Hugh de Cerr [or Kerr], Esq., to the lady of Weston, £14."[162]
On Easter Monday, between Radcliffe and Bolton, we saw a number of females surround a male, whom they mastered, and fairly lifted aloft in the air. It was a merry scene. What humour in the faces of these Lancashire witches! What a hearty laugh! What gratification in their eyes! The next day would bring reprisals: the girls would then be the party to be subjected to this rude treatment.[163]
EASTER GAME OF THE RING.
In his History of Lancashire, Mr. Baines states that the Easter Game of the Ring, little known in other parts of Lancashire, prevails at Padiham, in the parish of Whalley, on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in Easter week; when young people, having formed themselves into a ring, tap each other repeatedly with a stick, after the manner of the holiday folks at Greenwich. The stick may be a slight difference; but the game of Easter ring, with taps of the hand, or the dropping of a handkerchief at the foot, the writer has seen played at Easter and at Whitsuntide in many villages and hamlets round Manchester.