Custom on St. Thomas's Day (Dec. 21).—At Harvington, in Worcestershire, it is the custom on St. Thomas's Day for persons (chiefly children) to go round the village begging for apples, and singing the following rhymes:
"Wissal, wassail through the town,
If you've got any apples, throw them down.
Up with the stocking, and down with the shoe,
If you've got no apples, money will do.
The jug is white, and the ale is brown,
This is the best house in the town."
Cuthbert Bede, B.A.
Custom on Innocents' Day (Dec. 28).—At Norton (near Evesham) it is the custom on Dec. 28 to ring, first a muffled peal for the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and then an unmuffled peal of joy for the deliverance of the Infant Christ.
Cuthbert Bede, B.A.