"Fil oven ful of flawnes, Ginnie passe not for sleepe,
to morrow thy father his wake-daie wil keepe:
Then every wanton may danse at hir wil,
both Tomkin and Tomlin, and Jankin with Gil."[210:A]
Mr. Hilman, in his edition of Tusser, has made the following observations on this passage.—"Waking in the church," says he, "was left off because of some abuses, and we see here it was converted to wakeing at the oven. The other continued down to our author's days, and in a great many places continues still to be observed with all sorts of rural merriments; such as dancing, wrestling, cudgel-playing, &c." Bourne observes, that the feasting and sporting, on this occasion, usually lasted for two or three days[211:A]; and Bishop Hall gives an impressive idea of the revelry and glee which distinguished these rural assemblages, when he exclaims, "What should I speak of our merry Wakes, and May games—in all which put together, you may well say, no Greek can be merrier than they."[211:B] Indeed from one end of the kingdom to the other, from north to south, it would appear, that, among the country-villages, during the reigns of Elizabeth and her two immediate successors, Wakes formed one of the principal amusements of the peasantry, and were anticipated with much eagerness and expectation. In confirmation of this we need only remark that Drayton, speaking of Lancashire, declares, that
—— "every village smokes at wakes with lusty cheer;"[211:C]
and that Herrick, in Devonshire, has written a very curious little poem, entitled The Wake, which, as strikingly descriptive of the various business of this festivity, claims here an introduction:—
"Come Anthea, let us two
Go to feast, as others do.
Tarts and custards, creams and cakes,