SCOTLAND.
At Sandwick, in the Orkneys, it is usual for every family to kill a sow, whence this day is called Sow Day. This custom probably has some reference to the heathen worship of the sun, to which, among the northern nations, the male of this animal was sacred.—Sinclair, Stat. Acc. of Scotland, 1793, vol. xvi. p. 460; Med. Ævi Kalend. vol. i. p. 82.
Dec. 21.] ST. THOMAS’ DAY.
Dec. 21.]
ST. THOMAS’ DAY.
In some parts of the country St. Thomas’ Day is observed by a custom called Going a Gooding.[87] The poor people go round the parish and call at the houses of the principal inhabitants, begging money or provisions wherewith to celebrate the approaching festivity of Christmas. In return for the alms bestowed during these “gooding” peregrinations, it was customary for the recipients, in former times, to present to their benefactors a sprig of holly or mistletoe.—Book of Days, vol. ii. p. 724; see Gent. Mag. 1794, vol. lxiv. p. 292.
[87] Northamptonshire, Kent, Sussex, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, etc.
Girls, says Halliwell, used to have a method of divination with a “St. Thomas’s Onion,” for the purpose of ascertaining their future partners. They peeled the onion, wrapped it up in a clean handkerchief, and then, placing it under their heads, said the following lines:
“Good St. Thomas, do me right,
And see my true love come to-night,
That I may see him in the face,
And him in my kind arms embrace.”