[CHAPTER III]
THE CALENDAR OF THE YEAR
The influence of the Church on the daily life of London may be illustrated by a brief Calendar of the Ecclesiastical Year and of the observances of the people. It is needless to remind ourselves that these observances included an immense collection of old traditions, ancient pagan customs, and superstitions grafted on the association of these days with Church history and doctrine. (See Appendix VI.) The year began with the holy season of Advent, when the Wednesdays and Fridays were days of that complete Fasting which allowed of one meal only in the day, and that without meat. On Christmas Eve, and also on St. Agnes’ Eve, girls practised certain divinations to see what husbands they would get. Thus, they wrote the names of men on onions and laid them by the fire: the part to sprout or burst was that which contained the name of the coming lover; and since it was important to know what kind of husband he would be, the maiden went to the woodstack and pulled out a stick: if it were a straight and even stick, with no knots, he would be a kind and gentle husband; if it were crooked or knotty, resignation must be cultivated. At Christmas there were mummings and feasts and merrymakings; the rooms were decked with holly and all kinds of green branches; there were pageants, masques, and moralities. In the church was acted the Nativity, with the angels and the shepherds and the Child in the cradle; in some places children danced before the altar. On the day of St. Stephen horses were made to gallop about, and were bled to keep them well throughout the year. On the day of St. John the people bought of the priests manchets made with hallowed wine as a preventive against storms. At Childermasse—28th December,—Innocents’ Day, they whipped the children so that they might remember the slaughter of the Innocents. Then came the New Year:—
“Then giftes the husband gives his wife and father eke the child
And master on his men bestows the like with favor milde:
And good beginning of the year they wish and wish again,
According to the ancient guise of heathen people vaine:
Then eight days no man doth require his dettes of any man
Their tables do they furnish out with all the meat they can.”
The month of January was a time of great revelry, simply because the short day brought work to a close between four and five, and left a long evening.
“In January men do play