ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY.
This was formerly a great festival; and it was customary to implore blessings upon herbs, plants, roots, and fruits, bundles of which were taken to the church and consecrated against hurtful things.—Timbs’ Something for Everybody, 1861, p. 98.
Staffordshire.
The following abridged account of the Minstrels’ Festival at Tutbury, celebrated at this season, is taken from The Book of Days, vol. i. p. 224:—
During the time of the Dukes of Lancaster the little town of Tutbury was so enlivened by the noble hospitality they kept up, and the great concourse of people who gathered there, that some regulations became necessary for keeping them in order; more especially those disorderly favourites of both the high and low, the wandering jugglers or minstrels, who displayed their talents at all festive boards, weddings, and tournaments. A court was, therefore, appointed by John of Gaunt, to be held every year on the day after the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin, to elect a king of the minstrels, try those who had been guilty of misdemeanours during the year, and grant licences for the future year, all which were accompanied by many curious observances.
The wood-master and ranger of Needwood Forest began the festivities by meeting at Berkley Lodge, in the forest, to arrange for the dinner which was given them at this time at Tutbury Castle, and where the buck they were allowed for it should be killed, as also another, which was their yearly present to the prior of Tutbury for his dinner. These animals having received their death blow, the master, keepers, and deputies met on the Day of Assumption, and rode in gay procession two and two, into the town to the High Cross, each carrying a green bough in his hand, and one bearing the buck’s head, cut off behind the ears, garnished with a rye of pease and a piece of fat fastened to each of the antlers. The minstrels went on foot, two and two, before them, and when they reached the cross, the keeper blew on his horn the various hunting signals, which were answered by the others; all passed on to the churchyard, where, alighting from their horses, they went into the church, the minstrels playing on their instruments during the time of the offering of the buck’s head, and whilst each keeper paid one penny as an offering to the church. Mass was then celebrated, and all adjourned to the good dinner which was prepared for them in the castle, towards the expenses of which the prior gave them thirty shillings.
On the following day the minstrels met at the bailiff’s house in Tutbury, where the steward of the court, and the bailiff of the manor, with the wood-master, met them. A procession was formed to go to church, the trumpeters walking first, and then the musicians on stringed instruments all playing; their king, whose office ended on that day, had the privilege of walking between the steward and bailiff; after them came the four stewards of music, each carrying a white wand, followed by the rest of the company. The psalms and lessons were chosen in accordance with the occasion, and each minstrel paid a penny as a due to the vicar of Tutbury.
On their return to the castle-hall one of the minstrels cried out, “Oyez, oyez, oyez! all minstrels within this honour, residing in the counties of Stafford, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, and Warwick, come in and do your suit and service or you will be amerced.” All were then sworn to keep the king of music’s counsel, their fellows’, and their own; and a lengthy charge from the steward followed, in which he expatiated on the antiquity and excellence of their noble science. After this the jurors proceeded to choose a new king, who was taken alternately from the minstrels of Staffordshire and Derbyshire, as well as four stewards, and retired to consider the offences which were alleged against any minstrel, and fine him if necessary. In the meantime the old stewards brought into the court a treat of wine, ale, and cakes, and the minstrels diverted themselves and the company by playing their merriest airs. The new king entered, and was presented by the jurors, the old one rising from his place, and giving the white wand to his successor, pledging him in a cup of wine; the old stewards followed his example, and at noon all partook of a dinner prepared for them by the old king.
In the afternoon they all met at the abbey gate, where a bull was given by the prior. The poor beast, after having had the tips of his horns sawed off, his ears and tail cut off, his body smeared with soap, and his nose filled with pepper, was let loose, and if the surrounding minstrels could succeed in cutting off a piece of his skin before he crossed the river Dove into Derbyshire, he became the property of the king of music, but if not he was returned to the prior again. After becoming the king’s own, he was brought to the High Street, and there baited with dogs three times. It has been supposed that John of Gaunt, who assumed the title of King of Castile and Leon, introduced this sport in imitation of the Spanish bull-fights. In course of time, however, the pursuit of the bull, which had been confined to the minstrels, became general, and the multitude promiscuously joined in the barbarous sport, which sometimes terminated in broken heads. In 1778 the custom was abolished by the Duke of Devonshire, after lasting four hundred years.—See Pitt’s History of Staffordshire, 1817, p. 49; Archæologia, vol. ii. p. 86; Plot, Natural History of Staffordshire, 1686, p. 439; Shauff, History of Staffordshire, vol. i. p. 52.
