Derby having for many centuries been celebrated for its ale, which Camden says was made here in such perfection, that wine must be very good to deserve a preference, and Fuller remarks, “Never was the wine of Falernum better known to the Romans than the canary of Derby is to the English,” it is not a matter of surprise to find some remnants of the Whitsun-ales in the neighbourhood. In a manuscript in the Bodleian Library is a record of the Whitsun-ales at Elvaston and Ockbrook, from which it appears that they were formerly required to brew four ales of a quarter of malt each. Every inhabitant of Ockbrook was obliged to be present at each ale; every husband and his wife to pay twopence, and every cottager one penny; the inhabitants of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston to receive all the profits and advantages arising from the ales to the use and behalf of the church at Elvaston. The inhabitants of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston to brew eight ales, each inhabitant to be present as before, or to send their money.—Jour. of the Arch. Assoc. 1852, vol. vii. p. 206.
Hampshire.
At St. Mary’s College, Winchester, the Dulce Domum is sung on the evening preceding the Whitsun holidays; the masters, scholars, and choristers, attended by a band of music, walk in procession round the courts of the College, singing it.—Brand, Pop. Antiq., 1849, vol. i. p. 452. See Gent. Mag., 1811, vol. lxxxi. p. 503.
Lancashire.
A correspondent of the Gent. Mag. (1783, vol. liii. p. 578) says there seems to be a trace of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the heads of the Apostles in what passes at Whitsuntide Fair, in some parts of Lancashire, where one person holds a stick over the head of another, whilst a third, unperceived, strikes the stick, and thus gives a smart blow to the first.
Leicestershire.
A fair used to be held on Whitsun Monday at Hinckley, when the millers from various parts of the country walked in procession dressed in ribbons, with what they called the King of the Millers at their head.
A writer (in 1787) describing one of these fairs says: To the old ceremony of riding millers, many improvements were made upon a more extensive and significant plan: several personages introduced that bore allusions to the manufacture, and were connected with the place. Old Hugo Baron de Grentemaisnel, who made his first appearance in 1786, armed in light and easy pasteboard armour, was this second time armed cap-a-pie in heavy sinker plate, with pike and shield, on the latter the arms of the town. The representative baron of Hinckley had the satisfaction of being accompanied by his lady, the Baroness Adeliza, habited in the true antique style, with steeple hat, ruff-points, mantle, &c., all in suitable colours; each riding on nimble white steeds properly caparisoned; they were preceded by the town banner, and two red streamers embroidered with their respective names. Several bands of music gave cheerful spirit to the pageant, but more particularly the militia band from Leicester. The frame-work knitters, wool-combers, butchers, carpenters, &c., had each their plays, and rode in companies bearing devices or allusions to their different trades. Two characters, well supported, were Bishop Blaise and his chaplain, who figured at the head of the wool-combers. In their train, appeared a pretty innocent young pair, a gentle shepherd and shepherdess: the latter carrying a lamb, the emblem of her little self more than of the trade. Some other little folks, well dressed, were mounted on ponies, holding instruments, the marks of their fathers’ businesses, and ornamented with ribbons of all colours waving in the air.—See Nichols, History of Hinckley, 1813, p. 678.
Throsby, in his History of Leicester (1791, vol. iii. p. 85), gives the following account of a custom observed in his time at Ratby. He says:—There shall be two persons chosen annually, by a majority, to be called caterers, which shall on every Whit Monday go to Leicester, to what inn they shall think proper, where a calf’s head shall be provided for their breakfast; and when the bones are picked clean, they are to be put into a dish and served up with the dinner. Likewise, the innkeeper is to provide two large rich pies, for the caterers to take home, that their families may partake of some of their festivity. Likewise, there shall be provided for every person a short silk lace, tagged at both ends with silver, which, when so equipped, they shall all proceed to Enderby, and sell the grass of the Wether (a meadow so called) to the best bidder; from thence they shall go to the meadow, and all dismount, and each person shall take a small piece of grass from the before-mentioned Wether, and tie it round with their tagged lace, and wear it in their hats, and ride in procession to the High Cross in Leicester, and there throw them among the populace; from thence proceed to their inn, and go in procession to St. Mary’s Church, where a sermon shall be preached for the benefit of the hospital founded by Henry, Earl of Leicester. When service is over, a deed shall be read over by the clergyman, concerning the gift of the above Wether, and the church shall be stuck with flowers. When the ceremony is over, they are to return to their inn to dinner, and close the day with mirth and festivity.