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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14315 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 14315-h.htm or 14315-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/1/14315/14315-h/14315-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/1/14315/14315-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+OLD ENGLISH SPORTS
+
+Pastimes and Customs
+
+by
+
+P. H. DITCHFIELD, M.A.
+
+Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; Rector of Barkham, Berks
+Hon. Sec. of Berks Archæological Society, etc.
+
+First published by Methuen & Co., 1891
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+LADY RUSSEL
+
+THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH THE AUTHOR'S
+KINDEST REGARDS.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Encouraged by the kind reception which his former book, _Our English
+Villages_, met with at the hands of both critics and the public, the
+author has ventured to reproduce in book-form another series of
+articles which have appeared during the past year in the pages of
+_The Parish Magazine_. He desires to express his thanks to Canon
+Erskine Clarke for kindly permitting him to reprint the articles,
+which have been expanded and in part rewritten. The Sports and
+Pastimes of England have had many chroniclers, both ancient and
+modern, amongst whom may be mentioned Strutt, Brand, Hone, Stow, and
+several others, to whose works the writer is indebted for much
+valuable information.
+
+The object of this book is to describe, in simple language, the
+holiday festivals as they occurred in each month of the year; and
+the sports, games, pastimes, and customs associated with these rural
+feasts. It is hoped that such a description may not be without
+interest to our English villagers, and perhaps to others who love
+the study of the past. Possibly it may help forward the revival of
+the best features of old village life, and the restoration of some
+of those pleasing customs which Time has deprived us of. The writer
+is much indebted to Mr. E.R.R. Bindon for his very careful revision
+of the proof-sheets.
+
+BARKHAM RECTORY,
+1891.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+JANUARY.
+
+Dedication Festivals--New Year's Day--"Wassail"--Twelfth
+Night--"King of the Bean"--St. Distaffs Day--Plough
+Monday--Winter Games--Skating--Sword-dancing
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+FEBRUARY.
+
+Hunting--Candlemas Day--St. Blaize's Day--Shrove-tide--
+Football--Battledore and Shuttlecock--Cock-throwing
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MARCH.
+
+Archery--Lent--"Mothering" Sunday--Palm Sunday--
+"Shere" Thursday--Watching the Sepulchre
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+APRIL.
+
+Easter Customs--Pace Eggs--Handball in Churches--Sports confined
+to special localities--Stoolball and Barley-brake--Water
+Tournament:--Quintain--Chester Sports--Hock-tide
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MAY.
+
+May-day Festivities--May-pole--Morris-dancers--The Book of
+Sports--Bowling--Beating the Bounds--George Herbert's description
+of a Country Parson
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JUNE.
+
+Whitsuntide Sports--Church-ales--Church-house--Quarter-staff--
+Whistling and Jingling Matches--St. John's Eve--Wrestling
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+JULY.
+
+Cricket--Club-ball--Trap-ball--Golf--Pall-mall--Tennis--Rush-bearing
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+AUGUST.
+
+Lammas Day--St. Roch's Day--Harvest Home--"Ten-pounding"
+--Sheep-shearing--"Wakes"--Fairs
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+SEPTEMBER.
+
+Hawking--Michaelmas--Bull and Bear-baiting
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+OCTOBER.
+
+Tournaments--"Mysteries"--"Moralities"--Pageants
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NOVEMBER.
+
+All-hallow Eve--"Soul Cakes"--Diving for Apples--The Fifth
+of November--Martinmas--"Demands Joyous "--Indoor Games
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DECEMBER.
+
+St. Nicholas' Day--The Boy Bishop--Christmas Eve--Christmas
+Customs--Mummers--"Lord of Misrule"--Conclusion
+
+INDEX
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+JANUARY.
+
+     "Come then, come then, and let us bring
+      Unto our pretty Twelfth-Tide King,
+      Each one his several offering."
+
+                                 HERRICK'S _Star Song_.
+
+Dedication Festivals--New Year's Day--"Wassail"--Twelfth
+  Night--"King of the Bean"--St. Distaff's Day--Plough
+  Monday--Winter Games--Skating--Sword-dancing.
+
+
+In the old life of rural England few things are more interesting
+than the ancient sports and pastimes, the strange superstitions, and
+curious customs which existed in the times of our forefathers. We
+remember that our land once rejoiced in the name of "Merry England,"
+and perhaps feel some regret that many of the outward signs of
+happiness have passed away from us, and that in striving to become a
+great and prosperous nation, we have ceased to be a genial,
+contented, and happy one. In these days new manners are ever pushing
+out the old. The restlessness of modern life has invaded the
+peaceful retirement of our villages, and railway trains and cheap
+excursions have killed the old games and simple amusements which
+delighted our ancestors in days of yore. The old traditions of the
+country-side are forgotten, and poor imitations of town manners have
+taken their place. Old social customs which added such diversity to
+the lives of the rustics two centuries ago have died out. Very few
+of the old village games and sports have survived. The village
+green, the source of so much innocent happiness, is no more; and
+with it has disappeared much of that innocent and light-hearted
+cheerfulness which brightened the hours of labour, and refreshed the
+spirit of the toiling rustic, when his daily task was done. Times
+have changed, and we have changed with them. We could not now revive
+many of the customs and diversions in which our fathers took
+delight. Serious and grave men no longer take pleasure in the
+playthings which pleased them when they were children; and our
+nation has become grave and serious, and likes not the simple joys
+which diversified the lives of our forefathers, and made England
+"merry."
+
+Is it possible that we cannot restore some of these time-honoured
+customs? The sun shines as brightly now as ever it did on a May-day
+festival; the Christmas fire glows as in olden days. Let us try to
+revive the spirit which animated their festivals. Let us endeavour
+to realize how our village forefathers used to enjoy themselves, how
+they used to spend their holidays, and to picture to ourselves the
+scenes of social intercourse which once took place in our own
+hamlets. Every season of the year had its holiday customs and quaint
+manner of observance, some of them confined to particular counties,
+but many of them universally observed.
+
+In the volume, recently published, which treated of the story and
+the antiquities of "Our English Villages," I pointed out that the
+Church was the centre of the life of the old village--not only of
+its religious life, but also of its secular every-day life. This is
+true also with regard to the amusements of the people. The festival
+of the saint, to whom the parish church was dedicated, was
+celebrated with much rejoicing. The annual fair was held on that
+day, when, after their business was ended, friends and neighbours
+met together and took part in some of the sports and pastimes which
+I shall try to describe. The other holidays of the year were
+generally regulated by the Church's calendar, the great
+festivals--Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday---being all
+duly observed. I propose to record in these pages the principal
+sports, pastimes, and customs which our forefathers delighted in
+during each month of the year, the accounts of which are not only
+amusing, but add to our historical knowledge, and help us to realize
+something of the old village life of rural England.
+
+We will begin with New Year's Day[1]. It was an ancient Saxon custom
+to begin the year by sending presents to each other. On New Year's
+Eve the wassail bowl of spiced ale was carried round from house to
+house by the village maidens, who sang songs and wished every one "A
+Happy New Year." "Wassail" is an old Saxon word, meaning "Be in
+health." Rowena, the daughter of the Saxon king Hengist, offered a
+flowing bowl to the British king Vortigern, welcoming him with the
+words, "Lloured King Wassheil." In Devonshire and Sussex it was the
+custom to wassail the orchards; a troop of boys visited the
+orchards, and, encircling the apple-trees, they sang the words--
+
+     "Stand fast, bear well top,
+      Pray God send us a howling crop;
+      Every twig, apples big;
+      Every bough, apples enow;
+      Hats full, caps full,
+      Full quarter-sacks full."
+
+Then the boys shouted in chorus, and rapped the trees with their
+sticks.
+
+The custom of giving presents on New Year's Day is as old as the
+time of the Romans, who attached superstitious importance to it, and
+thought the gifts brought them a lucky year. Our Christian
+forefathers retained the pleasant custom when its superstitious
+origin was long forgotten. Fathers and mothers used to delight each
+other and their little ones by their mutual gifts; the masters gave
+presents to their servants, and with "march-paynes, tarts, and
+custards great," they celebrated the advent of the new year. Oranges
+stuck with cloves, or a fat capon, were some of the usual forms of
+New Year's gifts.
+
+The "bringing-in" of the new year is a time-honoured custom; which
+duty is performed by the first person who enters the house after the
+old year has expired. In the North of England this important person
+must be a dark man, otherwise superstitious folk believe that
+ill-luck would befall the household. In other parts of England a
+light-complexioned man is considered a more favourable harbinger of
+good fortune.
+
+The Christmas holidays extended over twelve days, which bring us to
+January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. It is stated that "in the
+days of King Alfred a law was made with regard to holidays, by
+virtue of which the twelve days after the Nativity of our Saviour
+were made festivals." Twelfth Day Eve was a great occasion among the
+rustics of England, and many curious customs are connected with it.
+In Herefordshire the farmers and servants used to meet together in
+the evening and walk to a field of wheat. There they lighted twelve
+small fires and one large one[2], and forming a circle round the
+huge bonfire, they raised a shout, which was answered from all the
+neighbouring fields and villages. At home the busy housewife was
+preparing a hearty supper for the men. After supper they adjourned
+to the ox-stalls, and the master stood in front of the finest of the
+oxen and pledged him in a curious toast; the company followed his
+example with all the other oxen, and then they returned to the house
+and found all the doors locked, and admittance sternly refused until
+they had sung some joyous songs.
+
+In the south of Devonshire, on the eve of the Epiphany, the
+best-bearing trees in the orchard were encircled by the farmer and
+his labourers, who sang the following refrain--
+
+              "Here's to thee, old apple-tree,
+     Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blow,
+     And whence thou may'st bear apples enow!
+               Hats full! caps full!
+               Bushel-bushel-sacks full,
+               And my pockets full too! Huzza!"
+
+The returning company were not allowed to enter the house until some
+one guessed what was on the spit, which savoury tit-bit was awarded
+to the man who first named it.
+
+The youths of the village during the holidays had plenty of sport,
+outdoor and indoor, which kept out the cold by wholesome exercise
+and recreative games. Many a hard battle was fought with snowballs,
+or with bat-and-ball on the ice; the barns were the scenes of many a
+wrestling match or exciting game at skittles; and in the evenings
+they played such romping games as blind-man's-buff, hunt the
+slipper, and others of a similar character. While the company sat
+round the yule-log blazing on the hearth, eating mince-pies, or plum
+porridge, and quaffing a bowl of well-spiced elder wine, the mummers
+would enter, decked out in ribands and strange dresses, execute
+their strange antics, and perform their curious play. So the wintry
+days passed until Twelfth Night, with its pleasing associations and
+mirthful customs.
+
+Twelfth Night was a very popular festival, when honour was done to
+the memory of the Three Wise Men from the East, who were called the
+Three Kings. The election of kings and queens by beans was a very
+ancient custom. The farmer invited his friends and labourers to
+supper, and a huge plumcake was brought in, containing a bean and a
+pea. The man who received the piece of cake containing the bean was
+called the King of the Bean, and received the honour of the company;
+and the pea conferred a like privilege on the lady who drew the
+favoured lot. The rest of the visitors assumed the rank of ministers
+of state or maids of honour. The festival was generally held in a
+large barn decorated with evergreens, and a large bough of mistletoe
+was not forgotten, which was often the source of much merriment.
+When the ceremony began, some one repeated the lines--
+
+      "Now, now the mirth comes
+       With the cake full of plums,
+     When Bean is King of the Sport here.
+       Beside, you must know,
+       The Pea also
+     Must revel as Queen of the Court here."
+
+Then the cake was cut and distributed amid much laughter and merry
+shouts. The holders of the bean and pea were hailed as king and
+queen for the night, the band struck up some time-honoured melody,
+and a country dance followed which was ever carried on with much
+spirit. The king exercised his royal prerogative by choosing
+partners for the women, and the queen performed a like office for
+the men; and so they merrily played their parts till the hours grew
+late.
+
+But the holidays were nearly over, and the time for resuming work
+had arrived. However, neither the women nor the men seemed to be in
+any hurry to begin. The day after Twelfth Day was humorously called
+St. Distaft's[3] Day, which was devoted to "partly work and partly
+play." Herrick, the recorder of many social customs, tells us that
+the ploughmen used to set on fire the flax which the maids used for
+spinning, and received pails of water on their heads for their
+mischief. The following Monday was called Plough Monday, when the
+labourers used to draw a plough decked with ribbons round the
+parish, and receive presents of money, favouring the spectators with
+sword-dancing and mumming. The rude procession of men, clad in clean
+smock-frocks, headed by the renowned "Bessy," who sang and rattled
+the money-box, accompanied by a strangely-dressed character called
+the Fool, attired in skins of various animals and having a long
+tail, threw life into the dreary scenery of winter, as the
+gaily-decked plough was drawn along the quiet country lanes from one
+village to another. The origin of Plough Monday dates back to
+pre-Reformation times, when societies of ploughmen called guilds
+used to keep lights burning upon the shrine of some saint, to invoke
+a blessing on their labour. The Reformation put out the lights, but
+it could not extinguish the festival.
+
+In the long winter evenings the country folk amused themselves
+around their winter's fireside by telling old romantic stories of
+errant knights and fairies, goblins, witches, and the rest; or by
+reciting
+
+                      "Some merry fit
+      Of Mayde Marran, or els of Robin Hood."
+
+In the Tudor times there were plenty of winter games for those who
+could play them, amongst which we may mention chess, cards, dice,
+shovel-board, and many others.
+
+And when the ponds and rivers were frozen, as early as the twelfth
+century the merry skaters used to glide over the smooth ice. Their
+skates were of a very primitive construction, and consisted of the
+leg-bones of animals tied under their feet by means of thongs.
+Neither were the skaters quite equal to cutting "threes" and
+"eights" upon the ice; they could only push themselves along by
+means of a pole with an iron spike at the end. But they used to
+charge each other after the manner of knights in a tournament, and
+use their poles for spears. An old writer says that "they pushed
+themselves along with such speed that they seemed to fly like a bird
+in the air, or as darts shot out from the engines of war." Some of
+the less adventurous youths were content with sliding, or driving
+each other forward on great pieces of ice. "Dancing with swords" was
+a favourite form of amusement among the young men of Northern
+nations, and in those parts of England where the Norsemen and Danes
+settled, this graceful gymnastic custom long lingered.
+
+[Illustration: DANCING ON THE VILLAGE GREEN.]
+
+The old country dances which used to delight our fathers seem to be
+vanishing. I have not seen for many years the village rustics
+"crossing hands" and going "down the middle," and tripping merrily
+to the tune of a fiddle; but perhaps they do so still.
+
+In olden days the city maidens of London were often "dancing and
+tripping till moonlight" in the open air; and later on we read that
+on holidays, after evening prayer, while the youths exercised their
+wasters and bucklers, the maidens, "one of them playing on a
+timbrel, in sight of their masters and dames, used to dance for
+garlands hanged athwart the streets." Stow, the recorder of this
+custom, wisely adds, "which open pastimes in my youth, being now
+suppressed, worser practices within doors are to be feared." In some
+parts of England they still trip it gaily in the moonlight. A
+clergyman in Gloucestershire tried to establish a cricket club in
+his parish, but his efforts were all in vain; the young men
+preferred to dance together on the village green, and the more manly
+diversion had no charms for them. Dancing was never absent from our
+ancestors' festivities, and round the merry May-pole
+
+                    "Where the jocund swains
+     Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe strains;"
+
+or in the festal hall, adorned with evergreens and mistletoe, with
+tripping feet they passed the hours "till envious night commands
+them to be gone."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+FEBRUARY.
+
+     "Down with rosemary and bayes,
+        Down with the mistleto,
+      Instead of holly, now up-raise
+        The greener box, for show."
+
+     "The holly hitherto did sway;
+        Let box now domineere,
+      Untill the dancing Easter-day,
+        Or Easter's eve appeare."
+
+Hunting--Candlemas Day--St. Blaize's Day--Shrove-tide--
+  Football--Battledore and Shuttlecock--Cock-throwing.
+
+
+The fox-hounds often meet in our village during this cheerless
+month, and I am reminded by the red coats of the huntsmen, and by
+the sound of the cheerful horn, of the sportsmen of ancient days,
+who chased the wolf, hart, wild boar, and buck among these same
+woods and dales of England. All hearts love to hear the merry sound
+of the huntsman's horn, except perhaps that of the hunted fox or
+stag. The love of hunting seems ingrained in every Englishman, and
+whenever the horsemen appear in sight, or the "music" of the hounds
+is heard in the distance, the spade is laid aside, the ploughman
+leaves his team, the coachman his stables, the gardener his
+greenhouses, books are closed, and every one rushes away to see the
+sport. The squire, the farmers, and every one who by hook or by
+crook can procure a mount, join in the merry chase, for as an old
+poet sings--
+
+     "The hunt is up, the hunt is up,
+      Sing merrily we, the hunt is up;
+      The birds they sing,
+      The deer they fling:
+      Hey, nony, nony-no:
+      The hounds they cry,
+      The hunters they fly,
+      Hey trolilo, trolilo,
+      The hunt is up."
+
+We English folks come of a very sporting family. The ancient Britons
+were expert hunters, and lived chiefly on the prey which they
+killed. Our Saxon forefathers loved the chase, and in some very old
+Saxon pictures illustrating the occupations of each month we see the
+lord, attended by his huntsmen, chasing the wild boars in the woods
+and forests. The Saxon king, Edgar, imposed a tribute of wolves'
+heads, and Athelstan ordered the payment of fines in hawks and
+strong-scented dogs. Edward the Confessor, too, who scorned worldly
+amusements, used to take "delight in following a pack of swift dogs,
+and in cheering them with his voice." The illustration is taken from
+an old illumination which adorned an ancient MS., and represents
+some Saxons engaged in unearthing a fox.
+
+[Illustration: HUNTING IN SAXON TIMES (from an ancient MS.).]
+
+When the Normans came to England great changes were made, and
+hunting--the favourite sport of the Conqueror--was promoted with a
+total disregard of the welfare of the people. Whole villages and
+churches were pulled down in order to enlarge the royal forests, and
+any one who was rash enough to kill the king's deer would lose his
+life or his eyesight. It was not until the reign of Henry III. that
+this law was altered. William the Conqueror, who forbade the killing
+of deer and of boars, and who "loved the tall stags as though he
+were their father," greatly enlarged the New Forest, in Hampshire.
+Henry I. built a huge stone wall, seven miles in circumference,
+round his favourite park of Woodstock, near Oxford; and if any one
+wanted a favour from King John, a grant of privileges, or a new
+charter, he would have to pay for it in horses, hawks, or hounds.
+The Norman lords were as tyrannical in preserving their game as
+their king, and the people suffered greatly through the selfishness
+of their rulers. There is a curious MS. in the British Museum,
+called _The Craft of Hunting_, written by two followers of Edward
+II., which gives instructions with regard to the game to be hunted,
+the rules for blowing the horn, the dogs to be used in the chase,
+and so on. It is too long to quote, but I may mention that the
+animals to be hunted included the hare, hart, wolf, wild boar,
+buck, doe, fox ("which oft hath hard grace"), the martin-cat,
+roebuck, badger, polecat, and otter. Many of these animals have long
+since disappeared through the clearing of the old forests, or been
+exterminated on account of the mischief which they did. Our modern
+hunters do not enjoy quite such a variety of sport.
+
+Otter-hunting, now very rare, was once a favourite sport among
+villagers who dwelt near a river. Isaac Walton, in his book called
+_The Complete Angler_, thus describes the animated scene: "Look!
+down at the bottom of the hill there, in the meadow, checkered with
+water-lilies and lady-smocks; there you may see what work they make;
+look! look! you may see all busy--men and dogs--dogs and men--all
+busy." At last the otter is found. Then barked the dogs, and shouted
+the men! Boatmen pursue the poor animal in the water. Horsemen dash
+into the river. The otter dives, and strives to escape; but all in
+vain her efforts, and she perishes by the teeth of the dogs or the
+huntsmen's spears.
+
+Foreigners are always astonished at our love of sport and hunting,
+and our disregard of all danger in the pursuit of our favourite
+amusement, and one of our visitors tells the following story: "When
+the armies of Henry VIII. and Francis, King of France, were drawn up
+against each other, a fox got up, which was immediately pursued by
+the English. The 'varmint' ran straight for the French lines, but
+the Englishmen would not cease from the chase; the Frenchmen opposed
+them, and killed many of these adventurous gentlemen who for the
+moment forgot their warfare in the charms of the chase."
+
+But I must proceed to mention other February customs and sports.
+Great importance was attached to the Feast of the Purification,
+commonly called Candlemas Day (February 2nd), when consecrated
+candles were distributed and carried about in procession. At the
+Reformation this custom did not entirely disappear, for we find a
+proclamation of Henry VIII., in 1539 A.D., which orders that "on
+Candlemas Day it shall be declared that the bearing of candles is
+done in memory of Christ the spiritual light, whom Simeon did
+prophesy, as it is read in the Church on that day." Christmas
+decorations were removed from the houses; the holly, rosemary, bay,
+and mistletoe disappeared, to make room for sprigs of box, which
+remained until Easter brought in the yew. Our ancestors were very
+fond of bonfires, and on the 3rd of this month, St. Blaize's Day,[4]
+the red flames might be seen darting up from every hilltop. But why
+they should do this on that day is not evident, except that the good
+Bishop's name sounded something like _blaze_, and perhaps that was
+quite a sufficient reason! And why the day of St. Valentine should
+have been selected for the drawing lots for sweethearts, and for the
+sending affectionate greetings, is another mystery. St. Valentine
+was a priest and martyr in Italy in the third century, and had
+nothing to do with the popular commemoration of the day.
+
+Now we come to the diversions of Shrove-tide,[5] which immediately
+precedes the Lenten Fast. The Monday before Ash Wednesday was called
+Collop Monday in the north, because slices of bacon (or collops)
+were the recognized dish for dinner. But on Tuesday the chief
+amusements began; the bells were rung, pancakes tossed with great
+solemnity, and devoured with great satisfaction, as an old writer,
+who did not approve of so much feasting, tells us--
+
+    "In every house are shouts and cries, and mirth and revel rout,
+     And dainty tables spread, and all beset with guests about."
+
+He further describes this old English carnival, which must have
+rivalled any that we read of on the Continent--
+
+    "Some run about the streets attired like monks, and some like
+        kings,
+     Accompanied with pomp, and guard, and other stately things.
+     Some like wild beasts do run abroad in skins that divers be
+     Arrayed, and eke with loathsome shapes, that dreadful are to
+        see,
+     They counterfeit both bears and wolves, and lions fierce in
+        sight,
+     And raging bulls; some play the cranes, with wings and stilts
+        upright."
+
+But the great game for Shrove Tuesday was our time-honoured
+football, which has survived so many of the ancient pastimes of our
+land, and may be considered the oldest of all our English national
+sports. The play might not be quite so scientific as that played by
+our modern athletes, but, from the descriptions that have come down
+to us, it was no less vigorous. "After dinner" (says an old writer)
+"all the youths go into the fields to play at the ball. The ancient
+and worthy men of the city come forth on horseback to see the sport
+of the young men, and to take part of the pleasure in beholding
+their agility." There are some exciting descriptions of old football
+matches; and we read of some very fierce contests at Derby, which
+was renowned for the game. In the seventeenth century it was played
+in the streets of London, much to the annoyance of the inhabitants,
+who had to protect their windows with hurdles and bushes. At
+Bromfield, in Cumberland, the annual contest on Shrove Tuesday was
+keenly fought. Sides having been chosen, the football was thrown
+down in the churchyard, and the house of the captain of each side
+was the goal. Sometimes the distance was two or three miles, and
+each step was keenly disputed. He was a proud man at Bromfield who
+succeeded in reaching the goal with the ball, which he received as
+his guerdon. How the villagers used to talk over the exploits of the
+day, and recount their triumphs of former years with quite as much
+satisfaction as their ancestors enjoyed in relating their feats in
+the border wars!
+
+The Scots were famous formerly, as they now are, for prowess in the
+game, and the account of the Shrove Tuesday match between the
+married and single men at Scone, in Perthshire, reads very like a
+description of a modern Rugby contest. At Inverness the women also
+played, the married against the unmarried, when the former were
+always victorious. King James I., who was a great patron of sports,
+did not approve of his son Henry being a football player. He wrote
+that a young man ought to have a "moderate practice of running,
+leaping, wrestling, fencing, dancing, and playing at the caitch, or
+tennis, bowls, archery, pall-mall, and riding; and in foul or stormy
+weather, cards and backgammon, dice, chess, and billiards," but
+football was too rough a game for his Majesty, and "meeter for
+laming than making able." Stubbs also speaks of it as a "bloody and
+murthering practice, rather than a fellowly sport or pastime." From
+the descriptions of the old games, it seems to have been very
+painful work for the shins, and there were no rules to prevent
+hacking and tripping in those days.
+
+Football has never been the spoilt child of English pastimes, but
+has lived on in spite of royal proclamations and the protests of
+peace-loving citizens who objected to the noise, rough play, and
+other vagaries of the early votaries of the game. Edward II. and
+succeeding monarchs regarded it as a "useless and idle sport," which
+interfered with the practice of archery, and therefore ought to be
+shunned by all loyal subjects. The violence displayed at the matches
+is evident from the records which have come down to us, and from the
+opinions of several writers who condemn it severely. Free fights,
+broken limbs, and deaths often resulted from old football
+encounters; and when the games took place in the streets, lines of
+broken windows marked the progress of the players. "A bloody and
+murdering practice," "a devilish pastime," involving "beastly fury
+and extreme violence," the breaking of necks, arms, legs and
+backs--these were some of the descriptions of the football of olden
+times. The Puritans set their faces against it, and the sport
+languished for a long period as a general pastime. In some places it
+was still practised with unwonted vigour, but it was not until the
+second half of the present century that any revival took place. But
+football players have quickly made up for lost time; few villages do
+not possess their club, and our young men are ready to "Try it out
+at football by the shins," with quite as much readiness as the
+players in the good old days, although the play is generally less
+violent, and more scientific.
+
+Hurling, too, was a fast and furious game, very similar to our game
+of hockey, and played with sticks and a ball. Two neighbouring
+parishes used to compete, and the object was to drive the ball from
+some central spot to one, or other, village. The contest was keen
+and exciting; a ball was driven backwards and forwards, over hills,
+dales, hedges, and ditches, through bushes, briars, mires, plashes,
+and rivers, until at length the wished-for goal was gained.
+Battledore and shuttlecock were favourite games for the girls, which
+they played singing quaint rhymes--
+
+     "Great A, little A;
+      This is pancake day!"
+
+and the men also indulged in tip-cat, or billet.
+
+There is one other custom, of a most barbarous and cruel
+description, which was practised on Shrove Tuesday by our
+forefathers, and which happily has perished,[6] and that was
+throwing at cocks or hens with sticks. The poor bird was tied by the
+leg, and its tormentors stood twenty-two yards distant and had three
+throws each for twopence, winning the bird if they could knock it
+down. The cock was trained beforehand to avoid the sticks, so as to
+win more money for its brutal master. Well might a learned
+foreigner remark, "The English eat a certain cake on Shrove Tuesday,
+upon which they immediately run mad, and kill their poor cocks."
+Cock-fighting was a favourite amusement on Shrove Tuesday, as well
+as at other times. This shameful and barbarous practice was
+continued until the eighteenth century; some of our kings took
+delight in it, and in the old grammar schools in the North of
+England it was sanctioned by the masters, who received from their
+scholars a small tax called "cock-fight dues." Happily, with
+bull-baiting, bear-baiting, dog-fighting, and the like, this cruel
+and brutal pastime has ceased to exist. If we have lost some of the
+simple joys and cheerful light-heartedness of our forefathers, we
+have also happily lost some of their cruel disregard for the
+sufferings of animals, and abandoned such barbarous amusements as I
+have tried to describe. But the old sports of England were not all
+like these; the archery, running, leaping, wrestling, football, and
+other games in which our ancestors delighted, made the young men of
+England a manly and a sturdy race, and our nation mainly owes its
+greatness to the courage, manliness, and daring of her sons.
+
+But Ash Wednesday has dawned, and all is still in town and village.
+The Shrove-tide feast is ended, and the days of fasting and of
+prayer have hushed the sounds of merriment and song.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MARCH.
+
+    "And now a solemn fast we keep,
+     When earth wakes from her winter sleep."
+
+    "And he was clad in cote and hode of grene;
+     A shefe of pecocke arrowes bryght and shene
+     Under his belt he bare ful thriftely,
+     Well could he dresse his tackle yomanly;
+     His arrowes drouped not with fethers lowe,
+     And in hande he bare a myghty bowe."
+
+Archery--Lent--"Mothering" Sunday--Palm Sunday--
+    "Shere" Thursday--Watching the Sepulchre.
+
+
+Of all the sports and pastimes of old England, archery was the most
+renowned, and many a hard-fought victory has been gained through
+the skill which our English archers acquired in the use of their
+famous bows. "Alas, alas for Scotland when English arrows fly!" was
+the sad lament of many a Highland clan, and Frenchmen often learnt
+to their cost the force of our bowmen's arms. The accounts of the
+fights of Creçy and Poitiers tell of the prowess of our archers; and
+the skill which they acquired by practising at the butts at home has
+gained many a victory. Archery was so useful in war that several
+royal proclamations were issued to encourage the sport, and in many
+parishes there were fields set apart for the men to practise.
+Although the sport has died out as a popular pastime, the old name,
+the butts, remains in many a town and village, recording the spot
+where our forefathers acquired their famous skill. The name is still
+retained in the neighbouring town of Reading, and in some old
+records I find that in 1549 a certain "Will'm Watlynton received
+xxxvi_s_. for making of the butts;" and there are several items of
+charges in other years for repairing and renewing the same.
+
+[Illustration: TWO ARCHERS WEARING ARMOR.]
+
+Edward III. ordered "that every one strong in body, at leisure on
+holidays, should use in their recreation bows and arrows, and learn
+and exercise the art of shooting, forsaking such vain plays as
+throwing stones, handball, football, bandyball, or cock-fighting,
+which have no profit in them." Edward IV. ordered every Englishman,
+of whatever rank, to have a bow his own height always ready for use,
+and to instruct his children in the art. In every township the butts
+were ordered to be set up, and the people were required to shoot
+"up and down" every Sunday and feast-day, under penalty of one
+halfpenny.
+
+The sport began to decline in the sixteenth century, in spite of
+royal proclamations and occasional revivals. Henry VIII. forbade the
+use of the cross-bow, lest it should interfere with the practice of
+the more ancient weapon, and many old writers lament over the decay
+of this famous pastime of old England, which, as Bishop Latimer
+stated in one of his sermons, "is a goodly art, a wholesome kind of
+exercise, and much commended as physic."
+
+The Finsbury archers had, in 1594, no less than one hundred and
+sixty-four targets in Finsbury Fields, set up on pillars with
+curious devices over them; but four years later Stow laments that
+"by reason of closing in of common grounds, our archers, for want of
+room to shoot abroad, creep into ordinary dicing-houses and
+bowling-alleys near home."
+
+The famous Robin Hood, who lived in the reign of Richard I., was the
+king of archers. The exploits of this renowned outlaw and his merry
+men form the subject of many old ballads and romances, and the old
+oaks in Sherwood Forest could tell the tale of many an exciting
+chase after the king's deer, and of many a luckless traveller who
+had to pay dearly for the hospitality of Robin Hood and Little John.
+The ballads narrate that they could shoot an arrow a measured mile,
+but this is a flight of imagination which we can hardly follow!
+
+    "But he was an archer true and good,
+     And people called him Robin Hood;
+     Such archers as he and his men
+     Will England never see again."
+
+Another ballad relates the prowess of William of Cloudslee, who
+scorned to shoot at an ordinary target, and cutting a hazel rod
+from a tree, he shot at it from twenty score paces, cleaving the rod
+in two.
+
+[Illustration: CROSS-BOW SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS (from MS. dated 1496).]
+
+[Illustration: AN ARCHER.]
+
+Like William Tell of great renown, our English archer could split an
+apple placed on his son's head at the distance of six score paces.
+
+In time of war the archers were armed with a body-armour, the arms
+being left free. They had a long bow made of yew, a sheaf of arrows
+winged with gray goose-feathers, a sword, and small shield. Such was
+the appearance of the men who struck such terror among the knights
+and chivalry of France, and won many victories for England before
+the days of muskets and rifles.
+
+We are now in the season of Lent, and our towns and villages were
+very still and quiet during these weeks. But there was an old custom
+on Refreshment[7] or Mid-Lent Sunday for people to visit their
+mother-church and make offerings on the altar. Hence probably arose
+the practice of "mothering," or going to visit parents on that day,
+and taking presents to them. Herrick alludes to this pleasant custom
+in the following lines--
+
+    "I'll to thee a simnell bring,
+     'Gainst thou go'st a mothering;
+     So that when she blesseth thee,
+     Half that blessing thou'lt give me."
+
+Many a mother's heart would rejoice to welcome to the old village
+home once again some fond youth or maiden who had gone to seek their
+fortunes in the town, and many happy recollections would long linger
+of "Mothering" Sunday. The cakes alluded to in the above verse,
+which children presented to their parents on these occasions, were
+called Simnells. In some parts of England--in Lancashire,
+Shropshire, and Herefordshire--these cakes are still eaten on
+Mid-Lent Sunday. Possibly they had some religious signification, for
+the Saxons were in habit of eating consecrated cakes at their
+festivals. The name Simnell is derived from a Latin word signifying
+fine flour, and not from the mythical persons, Simon and Nell, who
+are popularly supposed to have invented the cake. Hot cross buns are
+a relic of an ancient rite of the Saxons, who ate cakes in honour of
+the goddess of spring, and the early Christian missionaries strove
+to banish the heathen ideas associated with the cakes (which latter
+the people would not abandon) by putting a cross upon them.
+
+In memory of our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the
+people took branches of palm-trees and scattered them in the way, on
+Palm Sunday our ancestors went in procession through the town or
+village, bearing branches of willow, yew, or box (as there were no
+palms growing in this country), which were subsequently carried to
+the church and offered at the altar. This custom lingered on after
+the Reformation, and until recent times the practice of going
+a-palming, or gathering branches of willow, on the Saturday before
+Palm Sunday, has continued. Sometimes in mediæval times a wooden
+figure representing our Saviour riding upon an ass was drawn along
+by the crowds in the procession, and the people scattered their
+willow branches before the figure as it passed.
+
+Thursday before Easter Day was called Shere, or Maundy, Thursday.
+The first name is derived from the ancient custom of _shering_ the
+head and clipping the beard on that day; and Maundy is a corruption
+of the Latin word _mandatum_, which means "a command," and refers to
+the command of our Lord to imitate His example in the humility which
+He showed in washing the feet of His disciples. In memory of His
+lowly act the kings and queens of England used to wash the feet of a
+large number of poor men and women, and bestowed upon them gifts and
+money. This practice was continued until the reign of James II., and
+in our own day the Queen presents to a certain number of poor people
+bags of silver pennies, called Maundy money, which is coined for
+that special purpose.
+
+Many of my readers are familiar with the rhyme concerning "Hot cross
+buns," but perhaps they are not acquainted with the superstition
+which our forefathers attached to them. A writer on Cornish customs
+says: "In some of our farmhouses the Good Friday cake may be seen
+hanging to the bacon-rack, slowly but surely diminishing, until the
+return of the season replaces it by a fresh one. It is of sovereign
+good in all manner of diseases that may afflict the family, or
+flocks and herds. I have seen a little of this cake grated into a
+warm mash for a sick cow." Hot cross buns were supposed to have
+great power in preserving friendship. If two friends broke a bun in
+half exactly at the cross, while standing within the church-doors on
+Good Friday morning before service, and saying the words--
+
+    "Half for you, and half for me,
+     Between us two good-will shall be. Amen,"
+
+then, so long as they kept their halves, no quarrel would arise
+between them. In the West of England it was considered very sinful
+to work on Good Friday, and woe betide the luckless housewife who
+did her washing on that day, for one of the family, it was believed,
+would surely die before the end of the year. There are many other
+superstitions attached to the day, such as the preserving of eggs
+laid on Good Friday, which were supposed to have power to extinguish
+fire; the making of cramp-rings out of the handles of coffins, which
+rings were blessed by the King of England as he crept on his knees
+to the cross, and were supposed to be preservatives against cramp.
+
+In old churchwardens' account-books we find such entries as the
+following--
+
+    "To the sextin for watching the sepulture two nyghts viii_d_."
+
+    "Paide to Roger Brock for watching of the sepulchre 8_d_."
+
+And as the nights were cold we find an additional item--
+
+    "Paid more to said Roger Brock for syses and colles, 3_d._"
+
+These entries allude to the ancient custom of erecting on Good
+Friday a small building to represent the Holy Sepulchre, and setting
+a person to watch for two nights in remembrance of the soldiers
+watching the grave in which our Lord's Body was laid. At the dawning
+of the Easter morn the bells rang joyously, and all was life and
+animation. The sun itself was popularly supposed to dance with joy
+on the Feast of the Resurrection. But the manners and customs,
+sports and pastimes, which were associated with Easter, I will
+reserve for my next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+APRIL.
+
+    "The spring clad all in gladness
+     Doth laugh at winter's sadness;
+     And to the bagpipe's sound
+     The nymphs tread out their ground.
+
+    "Fie then, why sit we musing,
+     Youth's sweet delight refusing;
+     Say dainty nymphs, and speak:
+     Shall we play barley-breake?"
+
+                        _Old Ballad_ (A.D. 1603).
+
+Easter Customs--Pace Eggs--Handball in Churches--Sports
+   confined to Special Localities--Stoolball and Barley-brake
+   --Water Tournament--Quintain--Chester Sports--Hock-tide.
+
+
+From the earliest days of Christianity Easter has always been
+celebrated with the greatest joy, and accounted the Queen of
+Festivals. Many curious customs are associated with this feast, some
+of which represented in a rude, primitive way the Resurrection of our
+Lord. There was an old Miracle Play which was performed at Easter;
+for we find in the churchwardens' books at Kingston-upon-Thames, in
+the reign of Henry VIII., certain expenses for "a skin of parchment
+and gunpowder for the play on Easter Day," for a player's coat,
+stage, and "other things belonging to the play."
+
+Then there was the custom in the North of England of "lifting" or
+"heaving," which was originally designed to represent our Saviour's
+Resurrection. On Easter Monday the men used to lift the women, whom
+they met, thrice above their heads into the air, and the women
+responded on Easter Tuesday, and lifted the men. This custom
+prevailed also in North Wales, Warwickshire, and Shropshire.
+
+The Pace Eggs, or _Pasche_, or _Paschal_ Eggs, were originally
+intended to show forth the same truth, as the egg retaining the
+elements of future life was used as an emblem of the Resurrection.
+These Pace eggs were dyed, decorated with pretty devices, and
+presented by friends to each other. In the North of England, the home
+of so many of our old customs, the practice of giving Pace eggs still
+lingers on; and we find amongst the household expenses of King Edward
+I. an item of "four hundred and a half of eggs--eighteenpence," which
+were purchased on Easter Day. The prices current in the thirteenth
+century for eggs would scarcely be deemed sufficient by our modern
+poultry-keepers!
+
+The decoration of churches and houses with flowers just risen from
+their winter sleep, the practice of always wearing some part of the
+dress new on Easter Day, all seem to have had their origin in the
+holy lessons which cluster round the festival of the resurrection.
+An old writer tells us that it was the custom in some churches for
+the clergy to play at handball at this season; even bishops and
+archbishops took part in the pastime; but why they should profane
+God's house in this way we are at a loss to discover. The reward of
+the victors was a tansy-cake, so called from the bitter herb tansy,
+which was supposed to be beneficial after eating so much fish during
+Lent. Of the various kinds of games with balls I propose to treat in
+another chapter.
+
+At Easter there were numerous sports in vogue in different parts of
+the country. In olden times almost every county had its peculiar
+sport, which was regarded as a monopoly of that district. People did
+not work so hard in those days, and seem to have had more time and
+energy for ancient pastimes. Many of these old games have entirely
+vanished; others have left their old neighbourhoods, and received a
+hearty welcome all over the country. Berkshire and Somersetshire
+were the ancestral homes of cudgel-play, quarter-staff, and
+single-stick. Skating and pole-leaping were the characteristic
+sports of the fen country. Kent and Sussex were famous for their
+cricket; the northern counties for their football. Scotland rejoiced
+in golf, curling, and tossing the caber; while Cumberland and
+Westmoreland, Cornwall and Devon, were noted for their vigorous and
+active wrestlers. Curling, tossing the caber[8], and wrestling have
+clung to their old homes; but the other sports have wandered far and
+wide, and are no longer confined to their native counties.
+
+At Easter the local favourite sport was renewed with zest and
+eagerness, and almost everywhere foot-races were run, the prize of
+the conqueror being a tansy-cake. Stoolball and barley-brake were
+also favourite games in this month, as Poor Robin says in his
+_Almanack_ for 1677. Barley-brake seems to have been a very merry
+game, in which the ladies took part, and of which we find some very
+bright descriptions in the writings of some old English poets. The
+only science of the pastime consisted in one couple trying with
+"waiting foot and watchful eye" to catch the others and bear them
+off as captives.
+
+An old writer thus describes a water tournament, which seems to have
+been a popular pastime among the youths of London at Easter--"They
+fight battels on the water. A shield is hanged upon a pole (this is
+a kind of quintain) fixed in the midst of the stream. A boat is
+prepared without oars, to be carried by the violence of the water,
+and in the fore-part thereof standeth a young man ready to give
+charge upon the shield with his lance. If so be he break his lance
+against the shield, and do not fall, he is thought to have performed
+a worthy deed. If so be that, without breaking his lance, he runneth
+strongly against the shield, down he falleth into the water, for the
+boat is violently tossed with the tide; but on each side of the
+shield ride two boats furnished with young men, which recover him
+that falleth as soon as they may. Upon the bridge, wharves, and
+houses by the river-side, stand great numbers to see and laugh
+thereat." Stow thus describes the water tournament--"I have seen
+also in the summer season, upon the river Thames, some rowed in
+wherries, with staves in their hands, flat at the fore-end, running
+one against the other; and for the most part, one or both of them
+were overthrown and well ducked." This sport on the water was a
+variety of the famous quintain, which was itself derived from the
+jousts or tournaments, only, instead of a human adversary, the
+knight or squire, riding on a horse, charged a shield or wooden
+figure attached to a piece of wood, which easily turned round upon
+the top of a post. At the other end of the wood was a heavy bag of
+sand, which, when the rider struck the shield with his lance, swung
+round and struck him with great force on the back if he did not ride
+fast and so escape his ponderous foe. There were other forms of this
+sport, which is so ancient that its origin has been lost in
+antiquity. Queen Elizabeth was very much amused at Kenilworth Castle
+by the hard knocks which the inexpert riders received from the
+rotating sand-bag when they charged "a comely quintane" in her royal
+presence in the year 1575.
+
+A handsome quintain still stands on Offham village green, in Kent,
+although it is no longer used for the skilful practice of former
+days. It is the custom to hoist married men, who are not blest with
+children, on the quintain, which is made to revolve rapidly.
+Sometimes discontented and disobedient wives share the same fate.
+
+Chester was famous for its Easter sports, when the mayor with his
+mace, the corporation with twenty guilds, marched to the Rood-eye,
+to play at football. But "inasmuch as great strife did arise among
+the young persons of the same city" on account of the game, a
+change was made in the reign of Henry VIII., and foot-races and
+horse-races were substituted for the time-honoured football, and an
+arrow of silver was given to the best archer.
+
+But Easter sports are almost finished: however, we have not long to
+wait for another popular anniversary; for the famous Hock-tide
+sports always took place a fortnight after Easter, and much
+amusement, and profit also, were derived from the quaint observances
+of Hock Monday and Tuesday. The meaning of the word and the origin
+of the custom have been the subjects of much conjecture; but the
+festival is supposed to be held in remembrance of the victory of our
+Saxon forefathers over the Danes in the time of Ethelred. The custom
+was that on Hock Monday the men should go out into the streets and
+roads with cords, and stop and bind all the women they met,
+releasing them on payment of a small ransom. On the following day
+the women bound the men, and the proceeds were devoted to charitable
+purposes. It is to be noted that the women always extracted the most
+money, and in the old churchwardens' accounts we find frequent
+records of this strange method of collecting subscriptions--_e.g._,
+St. Lawrence's, Reading, A.D. 1499:--"Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd" (gathered) "of women xx_s_. Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd of men iiij_s_." We also find that the women had a supper
+given to them as a reward for their exertions, for there is the
+"item for wives' supper at Hock-tide xxiij_d_."
+
+The observance of Hock-tide seems to have been particularly popular
+in the ancient town of Reading. At Coventry there was an "old
+Coventry Play of Hock Tuesday," which was performed with great
+delight before Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth: the players divided
+themselves into two companies to represent the Saxons and the Danes:
+a great battle ensued, and by the help of the Saxon women the former
+were victorious, and led the Danes captive. The queen laughed much
+at the pageant, and gave the performers two bucks and five marks in
+money.
+
+So ends the month of sunshine and of shower; but the rustic youths
+are making ready for the morris-dance, and the merry milk-maids are
+preparing their ribbons to adorn themselves for the revels of May
+Day. The May-pole is being erected on the village green, and all is
+in readiness for the rejoicings of to-morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MAY.
+
+    "Colin met Sylvia on the green
+      Once on the charming first of May,
+    And shepherds ne'er tell false, I ween,
+      Yet 'twas by chance, the shepherds say.
+
+    "Colin he bow'd and blush'd, then said,
+      'Will you, sweet maid, this first of May,
+    Begin the dance by Colin led,
+      To make this quite his holiday?'
+
+    "Sylvia replied, 'I ne'er from home
+      Yet ventur'd, till this first of May;
+    It is not fit for maids to roam,
+      And make a shepherd's holiday.'
+
+    "'It is most fit,' replied the youth,
+      'That Sylvia should this first of May
+    By me be taught that love and truth
+      Can make of life a holiday.'"--LADY CRAVEN.
+
+May Day Festivities--May-pole--Morris-dancers--The Book of
+   Sports--Bowling--Beating the Bounds--George Herbert's
+   description of a Country Parson.
+
+
+The spring has dawned with all its brightness and beauty; the
+nightingale's song is heard, and all nature seems to rejoice in the
+sweet spring-time. Our forefathers delighted, too, in the advent of
+the bright month of May, which the old poets used to compare to a
+maiden clothed in sunshine dancing to the music of birds and brooks;
+and May Day was the great rural festival of the year.
+
+Long before the break of day, men and women, old and young, of all
+classes, used to assemble and hurry away to the woods and groves to
+gather the blooming hawthorn and spring flowers, and laden with
+their spoils returned when the sun rose, with merry shouts and
+horn-blowings, and adorned every door and window in the village. The
+poet Herrick sings of this pleasant beginning to the day's
+festivities. Addressing a maiden named Corinna, he says--
+
+    "Come, my Corinna, come, and coming mark
+     How each field turns a street, and each street a park,
+     Made green and trimmed with trees; see how
+     Devotion gives each house a bough
+     Or branch; each porch, each door, ere this
+     An ark, a tabernacle is
+     Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove."
+
+The men blew cow-horns to usher in the spring, and the maids carried
+garlands to hang them in the churches; while at Oxford the
+choristers of Magdalen College assemble at the top of the tower at
+early dawn, and sing hymns of thankfulness because spring has come
+again. This pleasing custom is still observed every year on the
+first of May.
+
+But let us away to the village green, where the May-pole is being
+adorned with a few finishing touches, and is covered with flowers
+and ribbons. It has been carried here by twenty or thirty yoke of
+oxen, their horns decorated with sweet flowers, and then, with
+shouts and laughter, and with song, the young men raise the massive
+pole with handkerchiefs and flags streaming on the top, and the
+rustic feast and dance begin.
+
+           "The May-pole is up,
+            Now give me the cup,
+    I'll drink to the garlands around it;
+            But first unto those
+            Whose hands did compose
+    The glory of flowers that crown'd it."[9]
+
+A company of morris-dancers approach, and a circle is made round the
+May-pole in which they can perform. First comes a man dressed in a
+green tunic, with a bow, arrows, and bugle-horn, who represents
+Robin Hood, and by his side, attended by some maidens, walks Maid
+Marian, the May Queen.[10] Will Stukeley, Little John, and other
+companions of the famous outlaw, are represented; and last, but not
+least, comes the hobby-horse--a man with a light wooden framework
+representing a horse about him, covered with trappings reaching to
+the ground, so as to prevent the man's feet from being seen. The
+hobby-horse careered about, pranced and curveted, to the great
+amusement of the company. The morris-dancers are adorned with bells,
+which jingle merrily as they dance. But a formidable-looking dragon
+approaches, which hisses and flaps his wings, and looks very fierce,
+making the hobby-horse kick and rear frantically. When the animals
+have wearied themselves, the maidens dance again, and the archers
+set up their targets on the lower end of the green, where a close
+contest ensues, and after many shots the victor is crowned with a
+laurel wreath.
+
+Such were some of the sights and sounds of May Day in olden times.
+But the Puritans, who slew their king, Charles I., were very much
+opposed to all joyousness and mirth, and one of their first acts
+when they came into power was to put down the May-pole. They ordered
+that all May-poles (which they called "a heathenish vanity,
+generally abused to superstition and wickedness") shall be taken
+down by the constables and churchwardens, and that the said officers
+be fined five shillings till the said May-poles be taken down. So
+the merry May songs were hushed for many a long year, until Charles
+II. was restored to his throne, and then the stately pole was reared
+once more, and Robin Hood and his merry crew began their sports
+again. But times change, and we change with them: customs pass away,
+and with them have long vanished the May-pole and its bright group
+of light-hearted rustics. An American writer who visited this
+country thus describes his feeling when he saw an old May-pole still
+standing at Chester--"I shall never forget my delight. My fancy
+adorned it with wreaths of flowers, and peopled the green bank with
+all the dancing revelry of May Day. I value every custom that tends
+to infuse poetical feeling into the common people, and to sweeten
+and soften the rudeness of rustic manners without destroying their
+simplicity. Indeed, it is to the decline of this happy simplicity
+that the decline of this custom may be traced, and the rural dance
+on the green, and the homely May-day pageant, have gradually
+disappeared in proportion as the peasantry have become expensive and
+artificial in their pleasures, and too knowing for simple enjoyment.
+Some attempts, indeed, have been made by men of both taste and
+learning to rally back the popular feeling to their standards of
+primitive simplicity; but the time has gone by, the feeling has
+become chilled by habits of gain and traffic, the country apes the
+manners and amusements of the town, and little is heard of May Day
+at present, except from the lamentations of authors, who sigh after
+it from among the brick walls of the city."
+
+The name of the parish of St. Andrew _Undershaft_ records the place
+where the city May-pole, or _shaft,_ was erected, and _Shaft Alley_
+the place where it lay when it was not required for use.
+
+The proclamation of James I., called the "Book of Sports," which was
+renewed by King Charles I., throws some light upon the sports in
+vogue during his reign. It was enacted "for his good people's lawful
+recreation, after the end of Divine service, that his good people be
+not disturbed, or discouraged, from any lawful recreation, such as
+dancing for men and women, archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or
+any such harmless recreations; nor from having May games, Whitsun
+ales, and morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles, and other
+sports therewith used, so as the same be had in due and convenient
+time, without impediment or neglect of Divine service. And that
+women shall have leave to carry rushes to the church for the
+decorating of it, according to their old custom. But withal his
+Majesty doth hereby account still as prohibited all unlawful games
+to be used on Sundays only, as bear and bull-baiting, interludes,
+and at all times in the meaner sort of people by law prohibited,
+bowling."
+
+Why his Majesty should have been so very severe on the game of bowls,
+which is a very ancient pastime, and innocent enough, is not at first
+quite clear; but it appears that the numerous bowling-alleys in
+London were, in the sixteenth century, the resorts of very bad
+company, and the nests of gambling and vice. Hence the severity of
+King James' strictures on bowling.
+
+The people of Lancashire in the time of James I. were as devoted to
+sports and amusement as they are now; and when the king was making a
+progress through Lancashire, "he received a petition from some
+servants, labourers, mechanics, and other vulgar persons,
+complaining that they were debarred from dancing, playing,
+church-ales--in a word, from all recreations on Sundays after Divine
+service." King James hated Puritanism and loved recreation; so he
+readily granted the petition of the Lancashire folk, and issued a
+proclamation encouraging Sunday pastimes, which is known as the
+famous "Book of Sports."
+
+In Ireland on May Day Bale-fires are lighted, and to this day young
+men jump through the flames, and children are passed across the
+embers, in order to secure them good luck during the coming year. On
+this day, too, the Irish kings are supposed to rise from their
+graves and gather together a ghostly army of rude warriors to fight
+for their country. The wild cries of the shadowy host, the clashing
+of shields, and the sound of drums are said to have been heard
+during the period of the last rebellion in Ireland.
+
+On one of the Rogation Days, or on Ascension Day, it was the custom
+to go in procession round the boundaries of the parish to ask God's
+blessing on the fruits of the earth, and as there were few maps and
+divisions of land, to call to mind and pass on to the next
+generation the boundaries of the township or village. The choir sang
+hymns, and under certain trees, which were called Gospel Trees, the
+clergyman read the Gospel for the day, with a litany and prayers.
+Sometimes boys were whipped, or bumped against trees, or thrown into
+a river, in order to impress upon them where the boundaries were.
+But they received a substantial recompense afterwards, and the whole
+company, when the procession was over, sat down to the perambulation
+dinner, and talked about their recollections of former days.
+
+The advantages of this practice are set forth in George Herbert's
+description of a country parson. He says, "The country parson is a
+lover of old customs, if they be good and harmless. Particularly he
+loves procession, and maintains it, because there are contained in
+it four manifest advantages, 1. A blessing of God for the fruits of
+the earth. 2. Justice in the preservation of bounds. 3. Charity, in
+loving, walking, and neighbourly accompanying one another, with
+reconciling of differences at that time, if there be any. 4. Mercy,
+in relieving the poor by a liberal distribution and largess, which
+at that time is, or ought to be, used. Wherefore he exacts of all to
+be present at the perambulation, and those that withdraw and sever
+themselves from it he mislikes, and rebukes as uncharitable and
+unneighbourly; and if they will not reform, presents them" (_i.e._
+to the bishop for censure).
+
+This custom is still preserved, or has been revived, in many
+parishes, and at Oxford the boys may be seen on Ascension Day
+bearing white willow-wands, and beating the bounds of some of the
+old city parishes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JUNE.
+
+            "The woods, or some near town
+    That is a neighbour to the bordering down,
+    Hath drawn them thither, 'bout some lusty sport,
+    Or spiced wassel-bowl, to which resort
+    All the young men and maids of many a cote,
+    Whilst the trim minstrell strikes his merry note."
+
+                           FLETCHER, _The Faithful Shepherdess_.
+
+Whitsuntide Sports--Church-ales--Church-house--Quarter-staff
+--Whistling and Jingling Matches--St. John's Eve--Wrestling.
+
+
+After May Day our villagers had not long to wait until the
+Whitsuntide holiday came round. This holiday was notorious for the
+"Church-ales," which were held at this season. These feasts were a
+means of raising money for charitable purposes. If the church needed
+a new roof, or some poor people were in sad straits, the villagers
+would decide to have a "Church-ale"; generally four times a year the
+feast was given, and always at Whitsuntide. The churchwardens
+bought, and received presents of, a large quantity of malt, which
+they brewed into beer, and sold to the company, and any inhabitant
+of the parish who did not attend had to pay a fine. Every one who
+was able contributed something to the entertainment. The feast was
+held in the church-house, a building which stood near the church.
+This was the scene of many social gatherings, and is thus described
+by an old writer--
+
+     "In every parish was a church-house, to which belonged
+     spits, crocks, and other utensils for dressing provisions.
+     Here the housekeepers met. The young people were there,
+     too, and had dancing, bowling, shooting at butts, &c., the
+     ancients (_i.e._ the old folk) sitting gravely by and
+     looking on. All things were civil, and without scandal.
+     The church-ale is, doubtless, derived from the Agapai or
+     Love Feasts, mentioned in the New Testament."
+
+Whether the learned writer was right in his conjecture we cannot be
+quite certain, but church-ales subsequently degenerated into
+something quite different from New Testament injunctions, and were
+altogether prohibited on account of the excess to which they gave
+rise. Let us hope that all these feasts were not so bad as they were
+represented, and indeed in early times great reverence was attached
+to them, which prevented excess. The neighbours, too, would come in
+from the adjoining parishes and share the feast. An arbour of boughs
+was erected in the churchyard, called Robin Hood's Bower, where the
+maidens collected money for the "ales" in the same way which they
+employed at Hock-tide, and which was called "Hocking." The old books
+of St. Lawrence's Church, Reading (to which I have before referred),
+contain a record of this custom--"1505 A.D. Item. Received of the
+maidens' gathering at Whitsuntide by the tree at the church door,
+ij^s. vi^d." The morris-dancers and minstrels, the ballad-singers
+and players, were in great force on these occasions, and were
+entertained at the cost of the parish. In the churchwardens' account
+of St. Mary's, Reading, we find in the year 1557--
+
+     "Item--paid to Morris-dancers and the Minstrels, meat and
+     drink at Whitsuntide--iii^s. iiii^d."
+
+When the feasting had ended, archery, running races in sacks,
+grinning through a horse-collar (each competitor trying to make the
+most ludicrous grimaces), afforded amusement to the light-hearted
+spectators.
+
+The game of quarter-staff is an old pastime which was a great
+favourite among the rustics of Berkshire. The quarter-staff is a
+tough piece of wood about eight feet long, which the player grasped
+in the middle with one hand, while with the other he kept a loose
+hold midway between the middle and one end. The object of the game
+was, to use the forcible language of the time, to "break the head"
+of the opponent. On the White Horse Hill, where Alfred fought
+against the Danes, and carved out on the hill-side the White Horse
+as a memorial of his victory, many a rural sport has been played,
+and at the periodical "scourings of the Horse" many a Berkshire head
+broken to see who was the noted champion of the game. An old
+parishioner of mine, James of Sandhurst, was once the hero of
+quarter-staff in the early part of the century. The whistling match
+was not so dangerous a contest; the prize was conferred upon the
+whistler who could whistle clearest, and go through his tune while a
+clown, or merry-andrew, made laughable grimaces before him.
+
+[Illustration: QUARTER-STAFF.]
+
+Another diversion common at these country gatherings was the
+jingling match. A large circle was inclosed with ropes, in which the
+players took their place. All were blindfolded with the exception of
+one, who was the jingler, and who carried a bell in each hand, which
+he was obliged to keep ringing. His object was to elude the pursuit
+of his blinded companions, and he won the prize if he was still free
+when the play ceased. It was an amusing sight to see the men trying
+to catch the active jingler, running into each other's arms, and
+catching every one but the right one. When the jingling match was
+over, a pig with a short, well-soaped tail was turned out for the
+people to run after, and he who could hold it by the tail without
+touching any other part obtained it for his pains. There was also a
+game called Pigeon-holes, which appears to have been somewhat
+similar to our present game of bagatelle.
+
+And so with laughter and with song the feast ended, the evening
+shadows fell around, and the happy rustics retired to their humble
+thatched-roofed homes. The proceeds of these church-ales were often
+considerable. "There were no rates for the poor in my grandfather's
+time," says one writer, "the church-ale of Whitsuntide did the
+business"; and whether the parishioners had to pay a tax for the
+support of the King's army, or to repair the church, or to maintain
+some orphan children, it was generally found "that something still
+remained to cover the bottom of the purse."
+
+Of the "mysteries," or miracle plays, as they were called, which
+were performed in towns on Corpus Christi Day and at other times, I
+propose to write in another chapter; and we will now proceed to the
+hillsides near our villages on the eve of St. John's Day, when we
+should witness the lighting of large bonfires, and some curious
+customs connected with that ceremony. Both the old and the young
+people used to sally forth from the village to some neighbouring
+height, and there, amidst much laughter and with many a shout, they
+lighted the large bonfire. Then they danced round the blazing logs,
+and afterwards leaped through the flames, and at the close of the
+ceremony each person brought away with him a burning branch. This
+rite appears to have been a relic of Paganism. Probably the fire was
+originally lighted in honour of the sun, which our forefathers
+worshipped before they became Christians. The leaping through the
+flames had also a superstitious meaning, and the simple people
+thought that in this way they could ward off evil spirits and
+prevent sickness. The Roman shepherds used to leap through the
+Midsummer blaze in honour of Pales. The Scandinavians lit their
+bonfires in honour of their gods Odin and Thor, and the leaping
+through the flames reminds us of the worshippers of Baal and Moloch,
+who, as we read in the Bible, used to "pass their children through
+the fire" in awe of their cruel god. St. John's Day, or Midsummer
+Day (June 24th), was chosen because on that day the sun reaches its
+highest point in the zodiac. There is, however, another
+interpretation of the meaning of the fires on St. John's Day, as
+illustrating the verse which speaks of him "as a burning and a
+shining light" (St. John v. 35); but this interpretation was
+probably invented by some pious divine who endeavoured to attach a
+Christian meaning to an ancient heathen custom. The connection of
+the ceremony with the old worship of the sun is indisputable. Its
+practice was very general in nearly all European nations, and in not
+very remote times from Norway to the shores of the Mediterranean the
+glow of St. John's fires might have been seen. The Emperor
+Charlemagne in the ninth century forbade the custom as a heathen
+rite, but the Church endeavoured to win over the custom from its
+Pagan associations and to attach to it a Christian signification. In
+the island of Jersey the older inhabitants used to light fires under
+large iron pots full of water, in which they placed silver
+articles--as spoons, mugs, &c., and then knocked the silver against
+the iron with the idea of scaring away all evil spirits.[11]
+Sometimes bones were burnt in the fire, for we are told in a quaint
+homily on the Feast of St. John Baptist, that bones scared away the
+evil spirits in the air, since "wise clerks know well that dragons
+hate nothing more than the stink of burning bones, and therefore the
+country folk gather as many as they might find, and burned them; and
+so with the stench thereof they drove away the dragons, and so they
+were brought out of great disease."
+
+In some most remote northern parts of England the farmer lights a
+wisp of straw, which he carries round his fields to protect them
+from the tare and darnel, the devil and witches. In some places they
+used to cover a wheel with straw, set it on fire, and roll it down a
+hill. A learned writer on antiquities tells us that the people
+imagined that all their ill-luck rolled away from them together with
+this burning wheel. All these customs are relics of the old fire and
+sun worship, to which our forefathers were addicted. Wrestling,
+running races, and dancing were afterwards practised by the
+villagers. Wrestling is a very ancient sport, and the men of
+Cornwall and Devon, of Westmoreland and Cumberland, were famous for
+their skill. A "Cornish hug" is by no means a tender embrace.
+Sometimes the people bore back to their homes boughs of trees, with
+which they adorned their doors and windows. At Oxford the
+quadrangle of Magdalen College was decorated with boughs on St.
+John's Day, and a sermon preached from the stone pulpit in the
+corner of the quadrangle; this was meant to represent the preaching
+of St. John the Baptist in the wilderness.
+
+At length the villagers, wearied with their exertions, retire to
+their cottage homes, marching in procession from the scene of their
+observances; and silence reigns o'er the village for a few short
+hours, till the sunlight summons them to their daily toil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+JULY.
+
+    "Swift o'er the mead with lightning speed
+      The bounding ball flies on;
+    And hark! the cries of victory rise
+      For the gallant team that's won."
+
+
+Cricket--Club-ball--Trap-ball--Golf--Pall-mall--Tennis--
+                      Rush-bearing.
+
+
+At this time of the year all the cricket-clubs in town and village
+are very busy, and matches are being played everywhere. It may not
+therefore be inappropriate if I tell you in this chapter of the
+history of that game which has become so universally popular
+wherever our countrymen live. On the plains of India, in Australia
+(as some of our English cricketers have learnt to their cost), in
+Egypt, wherever Englishmen go, there cricket finds a home and a
+hearty welcome. But it is not nearly so ancient a game as others
+which I have already mentioned, although it had some fairly old
+parents, simple and humble-minded folk, who would have been greatly
+astonished to see the extraordinary development of their precocious
+offspring.
+
+Kent and Sussex were the ancestral homes of cricket, which is thus
+described by an old writer--"A game most usual in Kent, with a
+cricket-ball bowled and struck with two cricket-bats between two
+wickets. The name is derived from the Saxon word _cryc_, baculus, a
+bat or staff; which also signifies fulcimentum, a support or prop,
+whence a cricket or little stool to sit upon. Cricket play among the
+Saxons was also called _stef-plege_ (staff-play)."
+
+I fear that our old writer must have made a great mistake if he
+imagined that the Saxons ever played cricket, and I believe that the
+word was not known before the sixteenth century. In the records of
+Guildford we find that a dispute arose about the enclosure of a
+piece of land in the time of Elizabeth; and in the suit that arose
+one John Derrick stated in his evidence that he knew the place well
+"for fifty years or more, and that when he was a scholar in the free
+school at Guildford he and several of his companions did run and
+play there at cricket and other plays." Also in Cotgrave's French
+Dictionary, published in 1611, the word _crosse_ is translated "a
+cricket-staff, or the crooked-staff wherewith boys play at cricket."
+
+In the eighteenth century allusions to the game become more
+frequent, although it was still a boy's game. It had its poet, who
+sang--
+
+    "Hail, cricket, glorious, manly, British game,
+     First of all sports, be first alike in fame."
+
+It had its calumniators, who said that it "propagated a spirit of
+idleness" in bad times, when people ought to work and not play, and
+that it encouraged gambling. But the game began to prosper, and
+several noted men, poets and illustrious statesmen, recall the
+pleasurable memories of their prowess with the bat and ball. In a
+book of songs called _Pills to purge Melancholy_, published in 1719,
+we find the verse--
+
+    "He was the prettiest fellow
+     At football or at cricket:
+     At hunting chase or nimble race
+     How featly he could prick it."
+
+In the early part of the eighteenth century the game was in a very
+rudimentary condition, very different from the scientific pastime it
+has since become. There were only two wickets, a foot high and two
+feet apart, with one long bail at the top. Between the wickets there
+was a hole large enough to contain the ball, and when the batsman
+made a run, he had to place the end of his bat in this hole before
+the wicket-keeper could place the ball there, otherwise he would be
+"run out."
+
+The bat, too, was a curved, crooked arrangement very different from
+our present weapon. The Hambledon Club, in Hampshire, which has
+produced some famous players, seems to have been mainly instrumental
+in reforming and improving the game. Its members introduced a limit
+to the width of the bat, viz., four and a quarter inches--the
+standard still in force--in order to prevent players, such as a hero
+from Reigate, bringing bats as wide as the wicket. In 1775 they
+wisely introduced a middle stump, as they found the best balls
+harmlessly flying between the wide wickets. It was feared lest this
+alteration would shorten the game too much, but it does not seem to
+have had that effect, as in an All England match against the
+Hambledon Club, two years later, one Aylward scored 167 runs, and
+stayed in two whole days. England owes much to the old Club at
+Hambledon for the improvements which it wrought in the game, which
+has become our great national pastime.
+
+Miss Mitford, in her charming book, _Our Village_, describes the
+rivalry which existed between the village elevens at the beginning
+of the nineteenth century, and gives a sketch of a match between two
+Berkshire village teams, which brought about some very happy results
+of a romantic nature. She tells us, too, of the comments of the
+rustics on the "new-fashioned" style of bowling which one of the
+team had introduced from London, which did not at all commend itself
+to them, but effectually took their wickets. When that celebrated
+company of cricketers, dressed in frock-coats and tall hats, whose
+portraits adorn many a pavilion, competed for the honour of All
+England, they were quite ignorant of "round-arm" bowling, which is,
+of course, an invention of modern times. Only "lobs," or
+"under-hands," were the order of the day. It has been stated that we
+are indebted to the ladies for the important discovery of the modern
+style of delivering the ball. The story may be legendary, but I have
+read somewhere that the elder Lillywhite used to practise cricket
+all through the winter, and that his daughters used to bowl to him.
+During the bitter cold of a winter's day they wore their shawls, and
+found it more convenient to bowl with extended arms than in the old
+method. Their balls so delivered used to puzzle their father, and
+often take his wicket; so he began to imitate them, and introduced
+his new method into matches, and thus the age of round-arm bowling
+was inaugurated. I cannot vouch for the truth of the story, and only
+tell it as it was told to me.[12] At any rate Lillywhite was the
+father of modern bowling, which would have startled and considerably
+puzzled the veteran cricketers in the early part of the present
+century.
+
+The proper parent of cricket seems to have been club-ball, which is
+a very old game, and of which there is a picture in the Bodleian
+Library at Oxford, dated 1344 A.D. It represents a female throwing a
+ball to a man who is in the act of raising his bat to strike it.
+Behind the woman, at a little distance, appear several other figures
+of men and women waiting attentively to catch or stop the ball when
+hit by the batsman. There is a still more ancient picture of two
+club-ball players, representing the batsman holding the ball also
+and preparing to hit it, while the other player holds his hands in
+readiness to catch the ball. He has the appearance of a very careful
+fielder. Here we have the rudimentary idea of cricket; but how they
+scored their game, what rules they had, we cannot determine.
+Stool-ball claims also to be an ancestor of cricket, and consists in
+one player defending a stool with his hand from being hit by a ball
+bowled by another player. Here is a simple form of the modern game,
+the stool being used as a wicket, and the hand for a bat.
+
+Trap-ball is a much older game than cricket, and can be traced to
+the beginning of the fourteenth century. The modern game differs
+little from that which the old pictures describe, except in the
+shape of the trap which holds the ball. But the most ancient of all
+games of this nature is golf, or goff (as it used to be spelt),
+which was played with a crooked club or staff, sometimes called a
+bandy. Scotsmen are very fond of this game, which has lately
+migrated into England and found many admirers. It was probably
+introduced into Scotland from Holland, and was a popular pastime as
+early as 1457. In spite of proclamations encouraging archery, and
+forbidding golf, it continued to flourish; it has a long list of
+royal patrons; and the Stuart monarchs seem to have been as
+enthusiastic over the game as all true golfers ought to be. Poets
+have sung the praises of golf, and the glory of the heroes who drove
+their balls along St. Andrew's Links, or those of East Neuk. The
+object of the game is to drive the ball into certain holes in the
+fewest number of strokes. James II. was an expert golfer, and had
+only one rival, an Edinburgh shoemaker, named Paterson.
+
+[Illustration: PALL-MALL.]
+
+If you have visited London you will probably have walked along the
+street called Pall Mall, which name is derived from an old game
+fashionable in the reign of Charles II. The merry monarch and his
+courtiers frequently amused themselves with this game, which
+somewhat resembled golf, and consisted in driving a ball by means of
+a mallet through an iron hoop suspended from the ground in the
+fewest blows. The game was played in St. James's Park, where the
+street which bears its name now runs.
+
+Tennis also has a history. It commenced its career as hand-ball, the
+ball being driven backwards and forwards with the palm of the hand.
+Then the players used gloves, and afterwards bound cords round their
+hands to make the ball rebound more forcibly. Here we have the
+primitive idea of a racket. France seems to have been the original
+home of tennis, which in the thirteenth century was played in
+unenclosed spaces; but in the fourteenth it migrated to the towns,
+and walls enclosed the motions of the ball. In Paris alone there
+were said to be eighteen hundred tennis-courts. In the sixteenth
+century there were several covered tennis-courts in England, and
+some of our English monarchs were very devoted to the game. Henry
+VII. used to play tennis, and there is a record of his having lost
+twelvepence at tennis, and threepence for the loss of balls. Henry
+VIII. was also very fond of the game, and lost much money at wagers
+with certain Frenchmen; but, like a sensible man, "when he perceived
+their craft he eschewed their company, and let them go." He built
+the famous court at Hampton, which still remains. Charles II. also
+played tennis. The old game is very different from the modern
+lawn-tennis which is now so popular: it was always the game of the
+select few, and not of the many, like its precocious offspring; and
+there are only thirty-one tennis-courts in England at the present
+day. The court attached to the palace of the French King Louis XVI.
+at Versailles was the scene of some very exciting meetings in the
+early days of the French Revolution in 1789.
+
+[Illustration: PALL-MALL.]
+
+[Illustration: TENNIS.]
+
+There were some other forms of ball-play, such as balloon-ball,
+stow-ball, &c.; but of these it is hardly needful for me to speak,
+as they are only varieties of those games which I have already
+described. The history of football has been narrated in a preceding
+chapter. You will be able to trace from the descriptions of these
+old sports the ancestors of our noble game of cricket, and wonder at
+the extraordinary development of so scientific a game from such rude
+and simple beginnings.
+
+The floors of the houses and churches of old England consisted
+simply of the hard, dry earth, which the people covered with rushes;
+and once a year there was a great ceremony called "Rush-bearing,"
+when the inhabitants of each village or town went in procession to
+the church to strew the floor with newly-cut rushes. The company
+went to a neighbouring marsh and cut the rushes, binding them in
+long bundles, and decorating them with ribands and flowers. Then a
+procession was formed, every one bearing a bundle of rushes; and
+with music, drums, and ringing of bells they marched to the church,
+and strewed the floor with their honoured burdens. Long after the
+rushes ceased to be used in churches the ceremony was continued, and
+I have witnessed a rush-bearing procession such as I have described.
+There was a rush-cart with a large pile of decorated rush-sheaves,
+and some characters from the May-day games were introduced. A queen
+sat under a canopy of rushes, a few morris-dancers performed their
+antics, and a jester amused the spectators with his quaint sayings.
+A village feast, followed by dancing round a May-pole, generally
+formed the conclusion of the day's festivities. In 1884 this
+pleasant custom was revived at Grasmere in the Lake district, when
+the children of the village carried out a "rush-bearing" after the
+manner of their forefathers, and the village green again resounded
+with songs of joy.
+
+I fear that our ancestors were not always very cleanly people; they
+seldom washed their floors, and therefore they were obliged to adopt
+some device to hide their uncleanliness. The old rushes were not
+taken away before the new ones were brought in; hence the lowest
+layer became filthy, and one writer attributes the frequent
+pestilences which often broke out to the dirtiness of their floors
+and the masses of filthy rushes lying upon them. Perhaps some of the
+wise folks in Lancashire discovered this, for we find the following
+entry in the account books of Kirkham Church, 1631--"Paid for
+carrying the rushes out of the Church in the sickness time, 5._s_.
+0_d_." Straw was used in winter: it would seem very strange to us to
+have our floors covered with straw, like a stable!
+
+In this matter of cleanliness we have certainly improved upon the
+habits of our forefathers: dirty cottages are the exception, and not
+the rule, as they were in the days of "good Queen Bess"; and the
+absence of those terrible plagues which used to devastate our land
+in former times is due in a great measure to the improved
+cleanliness and more careful regard for sanitation by the people of
+England.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+AUGUST.
+
+    "Crowned with the ears of corn, now come,
+     And to the pipe sing harvest home.
+     Come forth, my lord, and see the cart
+     Dressed up with all the country art:
+     The horses, mares, and frisking fillies
+     Clad all in linen white as lilies.
+     The harvest swains and wenches bound
+     For joy, to see the hock-cart crowned."
+
+                             HERRICK'S _Hesperides_.
+
+Lammas Day--St. Roch's Day--Harvest-home--"Ten-pounding"--
+     Sheep-shearing--"Wakes"--Fairs.
+
+
+The harvest fields have begun to ripen, and the corn will soon be
+ready for the sickle; of this fact our forefathers were reminded by
+the Lammas Festival, which was celebrated on the first of this
+month. _Lammas_ is a shortened form of the word Loaf-mass, or feast
+of the loaf. A loaf of bread was made of the first-ripe corn, and
+used in Holy Communion on this day; so this feast was a preliminary
+harvest thanksgiving festival--a feast of "first-fruits," such as
+the Jews were commanded in the old Mosaic law to observe.
+
+When the harvest was gathered in there were great festivities, and
+it has been thought that August 16th, St. Roch's Day, was generally
+observed as the harvest-home. St. Roch, or Roque, was a Frenchman,
+who lived in the early part of the fourteenth century, and was
+supposed to have performed miraculous cures, but August 16th seems
+to have been rather early in the year for a harvest-home. However,
+when the feast of ingathering did take place, there were great
+rejoicings in our English villages, and the mode of its celebration
+helped to knit together the masters and labourers, and to promote
+good feeling between them.
+
+When the fields were almost cleared of the golden grain, the last
+few sheaves were decorated with flowers and ribbons, and brought
+home in a waggon, called the "Hock-cart," while the labourers, their
+wives and children, carrying green boughs, sheaves of wheat and rude
+flags, formed a glad procession. All the pipes and tabors in the
+village sounded, and shouts of laughter and of song were raised as
+the glad procession marched along. They sang--
+
+    "Harvest-home, harvest-home,
+     We have ploughed, we have sowed,
+     We have reaped, we have mowed,
+     We have brought home every load.
+         Hip, hip, hip, harvest-home!"
+
+or, as they say in Berkshire--
+
+    "Whoop, whoop, whoop, harvest whoam!"
+
+Sometimes the most comely maiden in the village was chosen as
+Harvest Queen, and placed upon her throne at the top of the sheaves
+in the hock-cart as it was drawn homewards to the farm.
+
+[Illustration: HARVEST-HOME.]
+
+The rustics receive a hearty welcome at their master's house, where
+they find the fuelled chimney blazing wide, and the strong table
+groaning beneath the smoking sirloin--
+
+                  "Mutton, veal,
+    And bacon, which makes full the meal,
+    With several dishes standing by,
+    As here a custard, there a pie,
+    And here all-tempting frumenty."
+
+Frumenty, which is made of wheat boiled in milk was a standing dish
+at every harvest supper. And then around the festive board old tales
+are told, well-known jests abound, and thanks given to the good
+farmer and his wife for their hospitality in some such homely rhymes
+as these--
+
+        "Here's a health to our master,
+           The lord of the feast;
+         God bless his endeavours,
+           And send him increase.
+
+        "May everything prosper
+           That he takes in hand,
+         For we be his servants,
+           And do his command."
+
+The youths and maidens dance their country dances, as an old writer,
+who lived in the reign of Charles II., tells us:--"The lad and the
+lass will have no lead on their heels. O, 'tis the merry time
+wherein honest neighbours make good cheer, and God is glorified in
+His blessings on the earth." When the feast is over, the company
+retire to some near hillock, and make the welkin ring with their
+shouts, "Holla, holla, holla, largess!"--largess being the presents
+of money and good things which the farmer had bestowed.
+
+Such was the harvest-home in the good old days--joy and delight to
+both old and young. The toils of the labourers did not seem so hard
+and wearisome when they knew that the farmers had such a grateful
+sense of their good services; and if any one felt aggrieved or
+discontented, the mutual intercourse at the harvest-home, when all
+were equal, when all sat at the same table and conversed freely
+together, soon banished all ill-feeling, and promoted a sense of
+mutual trust, which is essential to the happiness and well-being of
+any community. Shorn of much of its merriment and quaint customs,
+the harvest-home still lingers on in some places; but modern habits
+and notions have deprived it of much of its old spirit and
+light-heartedness. We have our harvest thanksgiving services, which
+(thank God!) are observed in almost every village and hamlet. It is,
+of course, our first duty to thank God for the fruits of His bounty
+and love; but the harvest-home should not be forgotten. When
+labourers simply regard harvest-time as a season when they can earn
+a few shillings more than usual, and take no further interest in
+their work, or in the welfare of their master, all brightness
+vanishes from their industry: their minds become sordid and
+mercenary; and mutual trust, good-feeling, and fellowship cease to
+exist.
+
+Neither did the harvest-men allow drunkenness, laziness, swearing,
+quarrelling, nor lying, to go unpunished. The labourers in Suffolk,
+if they found one of their number guilty, would hold a court-martial
+among themselves, lay the culprit down on his face, and an
+executioner would administer several hard blows with a shoe studded
+with hob-nails. This was called "ten-pounding," and must have been
+very effectual in checking any of the above delinquencies.
+
+Besides the harvest-home there was also observed another feast of a
+similar character in the spring, when the sheep were shorn. A
+plentiful dinner was given by the farmer to the shearers and their
+friends, and a table was often set in the open village for the young
+people and children. Tusser, who wrote a book upon _Five Hundred
+Points of Husbandry_, did not forget the treats which ought to be
+given to the labourers, and alludes to the sheep-shearing festival
+in the following lines--
+
+    "Wife, make us a dinner; spare flesh, neither corn,
+     Make wafers and cakes, for our sheep must be shorn;
+     At sheep-shearing, neighbours none other things crave,
+     But good cheer and welcome like neighbours to have."
+
+We have in many villages and towns a feast called "the Wakes," which
+is one of the oldest of our English festivals. The day of "the
+Wakes" is the festival of the Saint to whom the parish church is
+dedicated, and it is so called because, on the previous night, or
+vigil, the people used to watch, or "wake," in the church till the
+morning dawned. It was the custom for the inhabitants of the parish
+to keep open house on that day, and to entertain all their relations
+and friends who came to them from a distance. In early times the
+people used to make booths and tents with the boughs of trees near
+to the church, and were directed to celebrate the feast in them with
+thanksgiving and prayer. By degrees they began to forget their
+prayers, and remembered only the feasting, and other abuses crept
+in, so at last the "waking" on the eve of the festival was
+suppressed. But these primitive feasts were the origin of most of
+our fairs, which are generally held on the dedication festival of
+the parish church.[13] The neighbours from the adjoining villages
+used to attend the wakes, so the peddlers and hawkers came to find a
+market for their wares. Their stalls began to multiply, until at
+last an immense fair sprang into existence, which owed its origin
+entirely to the religious festival of "the wakes." Fairs have
+degenerated like many other good things, and we can hardly realize
+their vastness in the middle ages. The circuit of a fair sometimes
+was very great, and it would have been impossible in those days to
+carry on the trade of the country without them. The great
+Stourbridge Fair, near Cambridge, I have described in my former book
+on _English Villages_. The booths were planted in a cornfield, and
+the circuit of the fair, which was one of the largest in Europe, was
+over three miles. All kinds of sports were held on these occasions:
+plays, comedies, tragedies, bull-baiting, &c., and King James was
+very wroth with the undergraduates of Cambridge who would insist
+upon frequenting Stourbridge Fair rather than attend to their
+studies.
+
+The "Wakes," or village feast, was a great day for all sports and
+pastimes. A writer in the _Spectator_ describes the "country wake"
+which he witnessed at Bath. The green was covered with a crowd of
+all ages and both sexes, decked out in holiday attire, and divided
+into several parties, "all of them endeavouring to show themselves
+in those exercises wherein they excelled." In one place there was a
+ring of cudgel-players, in another a football match, in another a
+ring of wrestlers. The prize for the men was a hat, and for the
+women, who had their own contests, a smock. Running and leaping also
+found a place in the programme. In Berkshire back-sword play and
+wrestling were the favourite amusements for vigorous youths, and men
+strove hard to win the honour of being champion and the prizes which
+were offered on the occasion. There were "cheap jacks," and endless
+booths containing all kinds of fairings, ribands, gingerbread cakes,
+and shows, with huge pictures hung outside of giants and wild
+Indians, pink-eyed ladies, live lions, and deformities of all kinds.
+There were minor sports, such as climbing the pole, jumping in
+sacks, rolling wheelbarrows blindfolded, donkey races, muzzling in a
+flour-tub, &c.; but the back-sword play was the chief and most
+serious part of the programme.
+
+A good sound ash-stick with a large basket handle was the weapon
+used, very similar to, but heavier and shorter than an ordinary
+single-stick. The object is to "break the head" of the opponent--
+_i.e._ to cause blood to flow anywhere above the eyebrow. A slight
+blow will often accomplish this, so the game is not so savage
+as it appears to be. The play took place on a stage of rough planks
+about four feet high. Each player was armed with a stick, looping the
+fingers of his left hand in a handkerchief or strap, which he
+fastened round his left leg, measuring the length, so that when he
+drew it tight with his left elbow up he had a perfect guard for the
+left side of his head.[14] Guarding his head with the stick in his
+right hand, he advanced, and then the fight began; fast and furious
+came the blows, until at last a red streak on the temple of one of
+the combatants declared his defeat. The _Reading Mercury_ of May 24,
+1819, advertised the rural sports at Peppard, when the not very
+magnificent prize of eighteenpence was offered to every man who broke
+a head at cudgel-play, and a shilling to every one who had his head
+broken.
+
+Such was the sport which our old Berkshire rustics delighted in.
+Back-sword play, wrestling, and other pastimes made them a hardy
+race, full of courage, and developed qualities which it is hoped
+their descendants have not altogether lost. The gallant Berkshire
+Regiment, which fought so bravely at Maiwand, is composed of the
+sons of those who used to wield the back-sword on the Berkshire
+downs, and showed themselves not unworthy of their ancestry,
+although the quarter-staff and ashen-swords are forgotten. The old
+village feasts are forgotten too--more's the pity. Then old quarrels
+were healed, old bitternesses removed: aged friends met, and became
+young again in heart, as they revived old memories and sweet
+recollections of youthful days. Rich and poor, the squire and the
+farmer, the farmer and his labourers, all mingled together, class
+with class; and good-fellowship, harmony, and mutual confidence were
+promoted by these annual gatherings. It is true that these village
+feasts degenerated, because the well-to-do folk abstained from them;
+but would it not be possible to revive them, to preserve the good
+which they certainly did, and to eliminate the evil which is so
+often mingled with the good? Such a consideration is worthy of the
+attention of all who have the welfare of the people at heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+SEPTEMBER.
+
+    "Nor is there hawk which mantleth her on pearch,
+       Whether high tow'ring or accoasting low,
+     But I the measure of her flight do search,
+       And all her prey, and all her diet know."--SPENSER.
+
+Hawking--Michaelmas--Bull and Bear-baiting.
+
+
+Of all old English sports hawking is one of the most ancient and the
+most fashionable. It has almost died out now, but there are one or
+two hawking enthusiasts who have endeavoured to revive this old
+English pastime, and on the Berkshire Downs a hawking party was seen
+a few years ago. Hawking consists in the training and flying of
+hawks for the purpose of catching other birds. Kings and noblemen,
+barons and ladies of feudal times, used to delight in following the
+sport on horseback, and to watch their favourite birds towering high
+to gain the upward flights in order to swoop down upon some heron,
+crane, or wild duck, and bear it to the ground. Persons of high rank
+always carried their hawks with them wherever they went, and in old
+paintings the hawk upon the wrist of a portrait was the sign of
+noble birth. The sport was practised by our Saxon forefathers before
+the Normans came, and the first trained hawk in England is said to
+have been sent by St. Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans," as a
+present to Ethelbert, King of Kent, in the eighth century. The
+history of the sport of the kings who loved to take part in it, and
+of their adventures, would require a volume, and my space only
+allows me to give you a brief account of the manner in which the
+sport was conducted.
+
+I may mention that before the reign of King John only kings and
+noblemen were allowed to take part in hawking; but in the forest
+Charter, which that monarch was compelled to sign, every freeman was
+permitted to have his own hawks and falcons. The falconer, who took
+care of the hawks, was a very important person. The chief falconer
+of the King of France received four thousand florins a year, besides
+a tax upon every hawk sold in the kingdom. The Welsh princes
+assigned the fourth place of honour in their courts to this officer;
+but this proud distinction had its responsibilities, and this high
+official was only allowed to take three draughts from his horn, lest
+his brain should not be as clear as it ought to be, and the precious
+birds might be neglected.
+
+Sometimes the hawking party went on foot, carrying long poles to
+enable them to jump the ditches and to follow the course. Henry
+VIII. nearly lost his life on one occasion through falling (his pole
+having broken) into a bog, from which he was rescued by one John
+Moody, who happened to see the accident. But mounted on gallant
+steeds the lords and ladies were accustomed to follow their
+favourite pastime, and amid the blowing of horns and laughter and
+shoutings they rode along, galloping up-hill and down-hill, with
+their eyes fixed upon the birds, which were battling or chasing each
+other high overhead. The hawk did not always win the fight:
+sometimes a crafty heron would turn his long bill upwards just as
+the hawk was descending upon him, and pierce his antagonist through
+the body.
+
+Great skill and perseverance were required in training these birds.
+When they were not flying after their prey, they were hoodwinked,
+_i.e._ their heads were covered with caps, which were often finely
+embroidered. On their legs they had strings of leather, called
+_jesses_, with rings attached. When a hawk was being trained, a long
+thread was fastened to these rings to draw the bird back again, but
+when it was well educated, it would obey the voice of the falconer
+and return when it had performed its flight. It was necessary for
+the bird to know its master very intimately, so a devoted follower
+of the sport would always carry his hawk about with him, and the two
+were as inseparable as a Highland shepherd and his dog. The
+sportsman would feed his bird and train it daily, and in an old book
+of directions he is advised "at night to go to the mews, and take it
+from its perch, and set it on his fist, and bear it all the night,"
+in order to be ready for the morrow's sport.
+
+[Illustration: A FALCONER.]
+
+The mews were the buildings where the hawks were kept when moulting,
+the word "mew" being a term used by falconers to signify to moult,
+or cast feathers; and the King's Mews, near Charing Cross, was the
+place where the royal hawks were kept. This place was afterwards
+enlarged, and converted into stables for horses; but the old name
+remained, and now most stables in London are called mews, although
+the word is derived from falconry, and the hawks have long since
+flown away.
+
+The sport declined at the end of the seventeenth century, when
+shooting with guns became general, but our language has preserved
+some traces of this ancient pastime. When a person is blinded by
+deceit, he is said to be "hoodwinked," and this word is derived from
+the custom of placing a hood over the hawk's eyes before it was
+released from restraint.
+
+On the Feast of St. Michael, or Michaelmas, the tenants were in the
+habit of bringing presents of a fat goose to their landlord, in
+order to make him kind and lenient in the matters of rent, repairs,
+and the renewal of leases, and the noble landlords used to entertain
+their tenants right royally in the great halls of their ancestral
+mansions, roast goose forming a standing dish of the repast. This is
+probably the origin of the custom which prevails at the present time
+of eating geese at Michaelmas.
+
+When the harvest was over, and the farmers were not so busy, they
+often amused themselves by the cruel sport of baiting a bull. An old
+gentleman who lived at Wokingham was so fond of this savage pastime
+that he left in his will a sum of money for the purpose of providing
+every year two bulls to be baited for the amusement of the people of
+his native town. The bulls are still bought, but they are put to
+death in a more merciful manner, and the meat given to the poor.
+Amongst the hills in Yorkshire there is a small village, through
+which a brook runs, crossed by two bridges, and having a stone wall
+on each side. Thus, when the bridges were stopped up, there was
+formed a wall-encircled space, into which, once a year, at least, a
+poor bull was placed, to be worried to death by dogs, and within the
+memory of men now living this cruel sport has been carried on.
+
+Nor was this only a sport for ignorant rustics; kings and noble
+courtiers, and even ladies, used to frequent the bear-gardens of the
+metropolis, and witness with delight the slaughter of bulls, and
+bears, and dogs. Erasmus tells us that in the reign of Henry VIII.
+"many herds of bears were maintained in this country for the purpose
+of baiting." Queen Elizabeth commanded bears, bulls, and the
+ape to be baited in her presence, and James I. was not averse
+to the sight. The following is a description of this barbarous
+entertainment--"There is a place built in the form of a theatre,
+which serves for baiting of bulls and bears. They are fastened
+behind, and then worried by great English bull-dogs; but not without
+risk to the dogs from the horns of the one and the teeth of the
+other." Even horses were sometimes baited, and sometimes asses.
+Evelyn, in his _Diary_, thus describes the strange sight--"June
+16th, 1670. I went with some friends to the bear-garden, where was
+cock-fighting, dog-fighting, bear and bull-baiting, it being a
+famous day for all these butcherly sports, or rather barbarous
+cruelties. The bulls did exceedingly well, but the Irish wolf-dog
+exceeded, which was a tall greyhound, a stately creature indeed, who
+beat a cruel mastiff. One of the bulls tossed a dog full into a
+lady's lap, as she sat in one of the boxes at a considerable height
+from the arena. Two poor dogs were killed, and so all ended with the
+ape on horseback, and I most heartily weary of the rude and dirty
+pastime, which I had not seen, I think, in twenty years before."
+Foreigners, who have visited England in by-gone times, often allude
+scornfully to our forefathers' barbarous diversions; but on the
+whole they seem rather to have enjoyed the sport. A Spanish nobleman
+was taken to see a poor pony baited with an ape fastened on its
+back; and he wrote--"to see the animal kicking amongst the dogs,
+with the screams of the ape, beholding the curs hanging from the
+ears and neck of the pony, is very laughable!" But enough has been
+said of these terrible and monstrous cruelties. Happily for us they
+no longer exist, and together with cock-fighting, throwing at cocks
+and hens, and other barbarous amusements, cannot now be reckoned
+among our sports and pastimes. It was a happy thing for us when the
+conscience of the nation was aroused, and the law stepped in to put
+an end to such disgraceful scenes which were witnessed in the Paris
+Garden at Southwark, or in the rude bull-run of a Yorkshire village.
+The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was not known
+in the days of bear-baiting and cock-throwing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+OCTOBER.
+
+    "Rivet well each coat of mail;
+     Blows shall fall like showers of hail;
+     Merrily the harness rings,
+     Of tilting lists and tournay sings,
+     Honour to the valiant brings.
+        Clink, clink, clink!"--_Armourers' Chorus_.
+
+Tournaments--_Mysteries_--_Moralities_--_Pageants_.
+
+
+In the days of chivalry, when gallant knights used to ride about in
+search of adventures; and when there were many wars, battles, and
+crusades, martial exercises were the chief amusements of the people
+of England. We have already mentioned some of these sports in which
+the humbler folk used to show their strength and dexterity, and now
+I propose to tell you of those wonderful trials of military skill
+called tournaments, which were the favourite pastimes of the
+noblemen and gentry of England in the middle ages, and afforded much
+amusement to their poorer neighbours who flocked to see these
+gallant feats of arms. Tournaments were fights in miniature, in
+which the combatants fought simply to exhibit their strength and
+prowess. There was a great deal of pomp and ceremony attached to
+them. The lists, as the barriers were called which inclosed the
+scene of combat, were superbly decorated, and surrounded by
+pavilions belonging to the champions, ornamented with their arms and
+banners. The seats reserved for the noble ladies and gentlemen who
+came to see the fight were hung with tapestry embroidered with gold
+and silver. Everyone was dressed in the most sumptuous manner: the
+minstrels and heralds were clothed in the costliest garments; the
+knights who were engaged in the sports and their horses were most
+gorgeously arrayed. The whole scene was one of great splendour and
+magnificence, and, when the fight began, the shouts of the heralds
+who directed the tournament, the clashing of arms, the clang of
+trumpets, the charging of the combatants, and the shouts of the
+spectators, must have produced a wonderfully impressive and exciting
+effect upon all who witnessed the strange spectacle.
+
+The regulations and laws of the tournament were very minute. When
+many preliminary arrangements had been made with regard to the
+examination of arms and helmets and the exhibition of banners, &c.,
+at ten o'clock on the morning of the appointed day the champions and
+their adherents were required to be in their places. Two cords
+divided the combatants, who were each armed with a pointless sword
+and a truncheon hanging from their saddles. When the word was given
+by the lord of the tournament, the cords were removed, and the
+champions charged and fought until the heralds sounded the signal to
+retire. It was considered the greatest disgrace to be unhorsed. A
+French earl once tried to unhorse our King Edward I. when he was
+returning from Palestine, wearied by the journey. The earl threw
+away his sword, cast his arms around the king's neck, and tried to
+pull him from his horse. But Edward put spurs to his horse and drew
+the earl from the saddle, and then shaking him violently, threw him
+to the ground.
+
+The joust (or just) differed from tournament, because in the former
+only lances were used, and only two knights could fight at once. It
+was not considered quite so important as the grand feat of arms
+which I have just described, but was often practised when the more
+serious encounter had finished. Lances or spears without heads of
+iron were commonly used, and the object of the sport was to ride
+hard against one's adversary and strike him with the spear upon the
+front of the helmet, so as to beat him backwards from his horse, or
+break the spear. You will gather from these descriptions that this
+kind of sport was somewhat dangerous, and that men sometimes lost
+their lives at these encounters. In order to lessen the risk and
+danger of the two horses running into each other when the knights
+charged, a boarded railing was erected in the midst of the lists,
+about four or five feet high. The combatants rode on separate sides
+of this barrier, and therefore could not encounter each other except
+with their lances.
+
+[Illustration: A TOURNAMENT.]
+
+In the days of chivalry ladies were held in high honour and
+respect. It was their privilege to assign the prizes to those who
+had distinguished themselves most in the tournament. They were the
+arbiters of the sport; and, indeed, the jousts were usually held in
+honour of the ladies, who received as their right the respect and
+devotion of all true knights. This respect for women had a softening
+and ennobling influence, which was of great value in times when such
+influences were rare. It was probably derived (according to a French
+writer) from our ancestors, the Germans, "who attributed somewhat of
+divinity to the fair sex." It is the sign of a corrupt age and
+degraded manners when this respect ceases to be paid.
+
+Only men of noble family, and who owned land, were allowed to take
+part in the jousts or tournament; but the yeomen and young farmers
+used to practise similar kinds of sport, such as tilting at a ring,
+quintain, and boat jousts, which have already been mentioned in a
+preceding chapter. Richard I., the lion-hearted king, was a great
+promoter of these martial sports, and appointed five places for the
+holding of tournaments in England, namely, at some place between
+Salisbury and Wilton, between Warwick and Kenilworth, between
+Stamford and Wallingford, between Brackley and Mixbury, and between
+Blie and Tykehill. But in almost every part of England tournaments
+or jousts have been held, and scenes enacted such as I have
+described. Sometimes two knights would fight in mortal combat. If
+one knight accused the other of crime or dishonour, the latter
+might challenge him to fight with swords or lances, and, according
+to the superstition of the times, the victor was considered to be
+the one who spoke the truth. But this ordeal combat was far removed
+from the domain of sport.
+
+When jousts and tournaments were abandoned, tilting on horseback at
+a ring became a favourite courtly amusement. A ring was suspended on
+a level with the eye of the rider; and the sport consisted in riding
+towards the ring, and sending the point of a lance through it, and
+so bearing it away. Great skill was required to accomplish this
+surely and gracefully. Ascham, a writer in the sixteenth century,
+tells us what accomplishments were required from the complete
+English gentleman of the period. "To ride comely, to run fair at the
+tilt or ring, to play at all weapons, to shoot fair in bow, or
+surely in gun; to vault lustily, to run, to leap, to wrestle, to
+swim, to dance comely, to sing, and play of instruments cunningly;
+to hawk, to hunt, to play at tennis, and all pastimes generally
+which be joined to labour, containing either some fit exercises for
+war, or some pleasant pastime for peace--these be not only comely
+and decent, but also very necessary for a courtly gentleman to use."
+The courtly gentleman must have been very industrious to acquire all
+these numerous accomplishments!
+
+There was another form of spectacle which gave great pleasure to our
+ancestors; and often in the market-places of old towns, or in open
+fields, at the bottom of natural amphitheatres near some of the
+ancient monasteries, were Scriptural plays performed, which were
+called _Miracles_, or _Mysteries_, because they treated of scenes
+taken from the Old or New Testament, or from the lives of saints and
+martyrs. The performances were very simple and often grotesque, but
+the plays were regarded by the monks, who assisted in these
+representations, as a means of teaching the people sacred truths.
+The miracle play of Norman and mediæval times was a long,
+disconnected performance, which often lasted many days. In the reign
+of Henry IV. there was a play which lasted eight days, and,
+beginning with the creation of the world, contained the greater part
+of the history of the Old and the New Testament. The words of the
+play seem to us strange, and sometimes profane; but they were not
+thought to be so by those who listened to them. The _Mystery_ play
+only lasted one day, and consisted of one subject, such as _The
+Conversion of St. Paul_. _Noah and the Flood_ was a very popular
+piece. His wife is represented as being much opposed to the perilous
+voyage in the ark, and abuses Noah very severely for compelling her
+to go. Sometimes the authors thought it necessary to introduce a
+comic character to enliven the dullness of the performance. But, in
+spite of humorous demons, these mysteries ceased to attract, and
+plays called _Moralities_ were introduced, in which the actors
+assumed the parts of personified virtues, &c., and you might have
+heard "Faith" preaching to "Prudence," or "Death" lecturing "Beauty"
+and "Pride." The first miracle play performed in England was that of
+_St. Catherine_, which was acted at Dunstable, 1110 A.D.; and
+another early piece was the play called _The Image of St. Nicholas_.
+These were of a religious nature and were performed in church during
+Divine service. The following is an outline of the plot of the
+latter: instead of the image of St. Nicholas, which adorned his
+shrine, a man stood in the garb of the saint whom he represented.
+The service is divided into two portions, and the play is produced
+during the interval. A stranger appears at the west door, who is
+evidently a rich heathen, and lays down his treasures before the
+image of the saint and beseeches him to take care of them. A band of
+thieves enter and steal the treasures, and when the heathen returns,
+he is so enraged that he proceeds to chastise the image of the
+saint; when lo! the figure descends, marches out of the church, and
+convinces the thieves of their wickedness. Struck with fear on
+account of the miracle, they restore the treasures, the Pagan sings
+a song of joy, and St. Nicholas tells him to worship God, and to
+praise Christ. Then, after an act of adoration to the Almighty, the
+service is resumed.[15]
+
+There were also strolling companies of minstrels, jugglers, and
+jesters, who went about the country, and acted secular pieces
+composed of comic stories, jokes, and dialogues, interspersed with
+dancing and tumbling. The whole performance was very absurd and
+often indecent, and the clergy did their utmost to suppress these
+strolling companies.
+
+The stage upon which the _Mysteries_ were played was built on
+wheels, in order that it might be drawn to different parts of the
+town. Sometimes religious plays were acted in churches before the
+Reformation; but in Cornwall the people formed an earthen
+amphitheatre in some open field, and as the players did not learn
+their parts very well, a prompter used to follow them about with a
+book and tell them what to say. Coventry, York, Wakefield, Reading,
+Hull, and Leicester were famous for their plays, and in the
+churchwardens' accounts we find many entries referring to the
+performances.
+
+1469.--_e.g._ Item paid to Noah and his wife ... ... xxi^d.
+  "          "    for a rope to hang the ship in the church ... ii^d.
+
+These performances would probably seem very foolish and childish to
+a modern audience, but they helped to enliven and diversify the
+lives of our more simple-minded forefathers.
+
+The people, too, loved pageants which were performed on great
+occasions, during a Royal progress for instance, or to welcome the
+advent of some mighty personage. Great preparations were made for
+these exhibitions of rustic talent; long verses were committed to
+memory; rehearsals were endless, and the stories of Greek and Roman
+mythology were ransacked to provide scenes and subjects for the
+rural pageant. All this must have afforded immense amusement and
+interest to the country-folk in the neighbourhood of some lord's
+castle, when the king or queen was expected to sojourn there.
+Shepherds and shepherdesses, gods and goddesses, clowns and mummers,
+all took part in the play, and it may interest my readers to give an
+account of one of these pageants, which was performed before Queen
+Elizabeth when she visited the ancient and historic castle of
+Sudeley.[16]
+
+The play is founded on the old classical story of Apollo and Daphne.
+The sun-god, Apollo, was charmed by the beauty of the fair Daphne,
+the daughter of a river-god, and pursued her with base intent. Just
+as she was about to be overtaken she prayed for aid, and was
+immediately changed into a laurel-tree, which became the favourite
+tree of the disappointed lover. The pageant founded on this old
+classical legend commenced with a man, who acted the part of Apollo,
+chasing a woman, who represented Daphne, followed by a young
+shepherd bewailing his hard fate. He, too, loved the fair and
+beautiful Daphne, but Apollo wooed her with fair words, and
+threatened him with diverse penalties, saying he would change him
+into a wolf, or a cockatrice, or blind his eyes. The shepherd in a
+long speech tells how Daphne was changed into a tree, and then
+Apollo is seen at the foot of a laurel-tree weeping, accompanied by
+two minstrels. The repentant god repeats the verse--
+
+    "Sing you, play you; but sing and play my truth;
+     This tree my lute, these sighs my note of ruth:
+     The laurel leaf for ever shall be green,
+     And Chastity shall be Apollo's Queen.
+     If gods may die, here shall my tomb be placed,
+     And this engraven, 'Fond Phoebus, Daphne chaste.'"
+
+A song follows, and then, wonderful to relate, the tree opens, and
+Daphne comes forth. Apollo resigns her to the humble shepherd, and
+then she runs to her Majesty the Queen, and with a great deal of
+flattery wishes her a long and prosperous reign.
+
+Such was the simple play which delighted the minds of our
+forefathers, and helped to raise them from sordid cares and the dull
+monotony of continual toil. In our popular amusements the village
+folk do not take part, except as spectators, and therefore lose half
+the pleasure; whereas in the time of the Virgin Queen the
+rehearsals, the learning the speeches by heart, the dresses, the
+excitement, all contributed to give them fresh ideas and new
+thoughts. The acting may not have been very good; indeed Queen
+Elizabeth did not always think very highly of the performances of
+her subjects at Coventry, and was heard to exclaim, "What fools ye
+Coventry folk are!" but I think her Majesty must have been pleased
+at the concluding address of the players at Sudeley. After the
+shepherds had acted a piece in which the election of the King and
+Queen of the Bean formed a part, they knelt before the real Queen,
+and said, "Pardon, dread Sovereign, poor shepherds' pastimes, and
+bold shepherds' presumptions. We call ourselves kings and queens to
+make mirth; but when we see a king or queen, we stand amazed. At
+chess there are kings and queens, and they of wood. Shepherds are no
+more, nor no less, wooden. In theatres workmen have played emperors;
+yet the next day forgotten neither their duties nor occupation. For
+our boldness in borrowing their names, and in not seeing your
+Majesty for our blindness, we offer these shepherds' weeds: which,
+if your Majesty vouchsafe at any time to wear, it shall bring to our
+hearts comfort, and happiness to our labours."
+
+When the Queen visited Kenilworth Castle, splendid pageants were
+performed in her honour. As she entered the castle the gigantic
+porter recited verses to greet her Majesty, gods and goddesses
+offered gifts and compliments on bended knee, and the Lady of the
+Lake, surrounded by Tritons and Nereids, came on a floating island
+to do homage to the peerless Elizabeth, and to welcome her to all
+the sport the castle could afford. For an account of the strange
+conduct of Orion and his dolphin upon this occasion, we refer our
+readers to Sir Walter Scott's _Kenilworth_, and the lover of
+pageants will find much to interest him in Gascoigne's _Princely
+Progress_. In many of the chief towns of England the members of the
+Guilds were obliged by their ordinances to have a pageant once every
+year, which was of a religious nature. The Guild of St. Mary at
+Beverley made a yearly representation of the Presentation of Christ
+in the Temple, one of their number being dressed as a queen to
+represent the Virgin, "having what may seem a son in her arms," two
+others representing Joseph and Simeon, and two others going as
+angels carrying lights. The people of England seem always to have
+had a great fondness for shows and pageants.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NOVEMBER.
+
+    "The ploughman, though he labour hard,
+     Yet on the holiday
+       Heigh trolollie, lollie loe.
+     No emperor so merrily
+     Doth pass his time away;
+       Then care away,
+       And wend along with me."--_Complete Angler_.
+
+              "The curious preciseness,
+    And all pretended gravity of those
+    That seek to banish hence these harmless sports,
+    Have thrust away much ancient honesty."--IRVING'S _Sketch Book_.
+
+All-hallow Eve--"Soul Cakes"--Diving for Apples--The Fifth of
+November--Martinmas--_Demands Joyous_--Indoor Games.
+
+
+The first of November is All Saints' Day, and the eve of that day,
+called All-hallow Even, was the occasion of some very ancient and
+curious customs. It seems to have been observed more by the
+descendants of the Celts than by the Saxons; and Wales, Scotland,
+and Ireland were the homes of many of the popular superstitions
+connected with this festival. In Scotland the bonfires were set up
+in every village, and each member of a family would throw in a white
+stone marked with his name; and if that stone could not be found
+next morning, it was supposed that that person would die before the
+following All Saints' Day. This foolish superstition may be classed
+with the other well-known superstition with regard to the sitting of
+thirteen people at one table, in which some are still foolish enough
+to believe.
+
+All-hallow Even was supposed to be a great night for witches:
+possibly it was with the intention of guarding against their spells
+that the farmers used to carry blazing straw around their cornfields
+and stacks. It was the custom for the farmer to regale his men with
+seed cake on this night; and there were cakes called "Soul Mass
+Cakes," or "Soul Cakes," which were given to the poor. These were of
+triangular shape, and poor people in Staffordshire used to go
+_a-souling_, i.e. collecting these soul cakes, or anything else they
+could get.
+
+On this night the fishermen of Scotland signed their boats, that is
+put a cross of tar upon them, in order that their fishing might
+prosper. The church bells were rung all night long for all Christian
+souls, and we find from some old account books that the good folk
+were very careful to have all their bell-ropes and bells in good
+order for All-hallow Even. This ringing was supposed to benefit the
+souls of the dead in Purgatory, and was suppressed after the
+Reformation.
+
+There were some very homely pastimes for All-hallow Even for the
+young folk in the north of England. Apples were placed in a vessel
+of water and "dived for"; or they were suspended from the roof and
+caught at by several expectant mouths. Sometimes a rod was suspended
+with an apple at one end, and at the other a lighted candle. The
+youths had their hands tied behind their backs, and caught at the
+apple, often causing the candle to swing round and burn their hair.
+The cracking of nuts was an important ceremony among the young men
+and maidens, who threw nuts into the fire, and from the way in which
+they cracked, or burned, foretold all kinds of happiness or misery
+for themselves. The nuts that burned brightly prophesied prosperity
+to their owners, but those that crackled or burned black denoted
+misfortune. In olden times, when people were more superstitious than
+they are now, they attached great importance to these omens and
+customs, but happily the young people of our times have ceased to
+believe in magic and foolish customs, and country girls strive to
+attract their swains by other charms than those of nut-cracking on
+All-hallow Even.
+
+We have still our bonfires on November 5th, but the event which
+happened on that day is very recent as compared with many of the old
+customs of which I have been writing. However, it is nearly three
+hundred years ago since Guy Fawkes and his companions attempted to
+blow up the Houses of Parliament with gunpowder; and yet we still
+light our bonfires and burn Guy Fawkes' effigy, with much
+accompaniment of squibs and crackers, just as if the event which we
+commemorate only occurred last year. Probably very few of our
+rustics think much of the origin of the customs observed on November
+the Fifth, or remember that it was instituted by the House of
+Commons as "a holiday for ever in thankfulness to God for our
+deliverance, and detestation of the Papists;" but this ignorance
+does not prevent them from keeping up the custom and enjoying the
+excitement of the bonfire and fireworks. If you are not acquainted
+with the history of the conspiracy, I would advise you to read it in
+some good history book, and--
+
+    "Pray to remember
+     The fifth of November
+       Gunpowder treason and plot,
+     When the King and his train
+     Had nearly been slain,
+       Therefore it shall not be forgot."
+
+The Berkshire boys, as they carried their Guy and collected wood for
+their bonfires, used to add the words--
+
+    "Our king's a valiant soldier,
+     With his blunderbuss on his shoulder,
+     Cocks his pistol, draws his rapier;
+     Pray give us something for his sake here.
+     A stick and a stake, for our good king's sake:
+     If ye won't give one, I'll take two,
+     The better for me, and the worse for you.
+
+     CHORUS--
+       "Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, make the bells ring,
+        Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, God save the King."
+
+Some of the rhymes tell us about the nefarious deeds of wicked Guy
+Fawkes, who
+
+      "... with his companions did contrive
+    To blow the House of Parliament up alive,
+    With three score barrels of powder down below,
+    To prove Old England's wicked overthrow;
+    But by God's mercy all of them got catched,
+    With their dark lantern, and their lighted match.
+    Ladies and gentlemen sitting by the fire,
+    Please put hands in pockets and give us our desire:
+    While you can drink one glass, we can drink two,
+    The better for we, and none the worse for you."
+
+This rhyme was concluded with the following strange jingle--
+
+    "Rumour, rumour, pump a derry,
+     Prick his heart and burn his body,
+     And send his soul to Purgatory."[17]
+
+The streets of Oxford used to be the scenes of great encounters
+between the townsmen and gownsmen (or college students) on this
+night, who, on any other night in the year, never thought of
+fighting. Happily in recent years these fights have ceased, but even
+now the gownsmen are "gated" on the night of the Fifth of November,
+_i.e._ are confined to their colleges, lest there should be a
+renewal of these encounters. So severe were the battles in ancient
+times, that the tower of Carfax Church was lowered because the
+townsfolk used to ascend thither and shoot their arrows at the
+undergraduates; and the butchers were obliged to ply their trade
+beyond the city walls, because they had used their knives and
+cleavers in their annual fight.
+
+At Martinmas, or the Feast of St. Martin, it was the custom to lay
+in a stock of winter provisions, and many cows, oxen, and swine were
+killed at this time, their flesh being salted and hung up for the
+winter, when fresh provisions were seldom to be had.
+
+And now the long evenings have set in, and our ancestors in hall or
+cottage assemble round the blazing hearth, and listen to the
+minstrel's lays, and recite their oft-told tales of adventure and
+romance. Sometimes they indulge in asking each other riddles, and
+there exists at the present time an old collection of these early
+efforts of wit and humour which are not of a very high order. The
+book is called _Demands Joyous,_ and was printed in A.D. 1511. I may
+extract the following riddles:--"What is it that never was and never
+will be? Answer: A mouse's nest in a cat's ear. Why does a cow lie
+down? Because it cannot sit. How many straws go to a goose's nest?
+Not one, for straws, not having feet, cannot go anywhere."
+
+With such feeble efforts of wit did the country folk try to beguile
+the long evenings. In those days there were no newspapers, very few
+books, even if they could be read, and the only means of gathering
+information from other parts of the country were the peddlers or
+wandering minstrels, who told them the news as they passed from
+place to place. Consequently, the above humble efforts of wit were
+not to be despised, and served to beguile the tediousness of the
+long winter's night. Besides, the villagers had the carols to
+practise for Christmas, many of which were handed down from father
+to son for many generations, and probably both words and music
+received many variations in their course. Old collections of these
+carols still exist, such as the one entitled, "Good and True, Fresh
+and New, Christmas Carols," which was made in the middle of the
+seventeenth century. As an instance of the way in which the words
+became changed as they were passed on by illiterate singers, I may
+mention a carol of which the refrain is now printed "Now Well, Now
+Well"; originally this must have been "Noel, Noel." Some of the
+carols degenerated into songs about the wassail bowl, and the
+virtues of strong ale, and our forefathers were not unlike some of
+their children, who forget the Saviour in the enjoyment of His
+gifts. And besides the carols the villagers had the ordinary hymns
+to practise, with grand accompaniment of violins, flutes,
+clarionets, etc., for each village had its own musicians, who took
+great pride and interest in their playing, and used to practise
+together in the evenings. The old instruments have vanished: we have
+our organs and harmoniums: our choirs sing better and more
+reverently; but there are no reunions of the village orchestra,
+which used to afford so much pleasure to the rustics of former days.
+
+In the lord's hall there were plenty of sedentary games, and amongst
+these pre-eminently stands the noble pastime of chess. It is very
+ancient, and is supposed to have been invented by Xerxes, a
+philosopher in the court of Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon. It was
+well known in England before the Conquest, and Canute was very fond
+of the chessboard. King John was so engrossed in this game that when
+some messengers came to tell him that the French king had besieged
+one of his cities, he would not listen to them until he had finished
+his chess. The complicated movements of the various men seem to show
+that the game was developed and improved, and not the invention of
+one man, but few changes have been made during several centuries.
+Players are checkmated now in very much the same way as they were
+five hundred years ago.
+
+Besides chess they had backgammon, or tables, as the game was
+called, Merelles, or Nine men's Morris (which also found its way to
+the shepherds' cottages), dice, and card games, some of which I have
+described before. Gambling was often carried on to a great extent,
+but evidently our modern people are not wiser than their ancestors
+in this matter; and instead of playing games for recreation, are not
+satisfied until they lose fortunes on the hazard of a dice or a
+card. Let us hope that men will at length become wiser as the world
+grows older.
+
+[Illustration: TWO INDIVIDUALS PLAYING CHESS AS TWO OTHERS LOOK ON.]
+
+Erasmus, the learned Dutchman, in his _Colloquies_ suggests some
+curious awards for victors. He represents two youths, Adolphus and
+Bernard, who begin to play a game at bowls. Adolphus says, "What
+shall he that beats get, or he that is beaten lose?" Bernard
+replies, "What if he that beats shall have a piece of his ear cut
+off? It is a mean thing to play for money: you are a German, and I a
+Frenchman: we will both play for the honour of his country. If I
+shall beat you, you shall cry out thrice, 'Let France flourish!' if
+I shall be beat (which I hope I shall not), I will in the same words
+celebrate your Germany." They bowl away: a stone represents the
+Jack: a mischievous bit of brickbat rather interferes with the
+German's accuracy, of aim, but in the end he wins, and the French
+cock has to crow thrice, "Let Germany flourish." In another game
+between two students who are contending in the play of striking a
+ball through an iron ring, it is arranged that he that is beat shall
+make and repeat extempore some verses in praise of him that beat
+him. This certainly would make many a youth keen to win the contest!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DECEMBER.
+
+    "The Darling of the world is come,
+     And fit it is we find a room
+     To welcome Him. The nobler part
+     Of all the house here is the heart,
+
+    "Which we will give Him; and bequeath
+     This holly and this ivy wreath
+     To do Him honour, who's our King,
+     And Lord of all this revelling."
+
+                       HERRICK, _A Christmas Carol_.
+
+St. Nicholas Day--The Boy Bishop--Christmas Eve--Christmas
+Customs--Mummers--"Lord of Misrule"--Conclusion.
+
+
+Now dark and chill December has arrived; and very dark and chill it
+must have seemed to our ancestors. No gaslights illuminated the
+streets, here and there a feeble oil lamp helped to make the
+darkness visible, when the oil was not frozen: the roads were deep
+with mud, and everything outside was cold and cheerless. But within
+the farmer's kitchen the huge logs burned brightly, and the
+Christmas holidays were at hand with the accustomed merrymakings, to
+cheer the hearts of all in the depths of the dreary winter.
+
+But before Christmas Day arrived, the children enjoyed a great treat
+on St. Nicholas' Day, December 6th, when it was the custom for
+parents to convey secretly presents of various kinds to their little
+sons and daughters, who were taught to believe that they owed them
+to the kindness of St. Nicholas, who, going up and down among the
+towns and villages, came in at the windows and distributed the
+gifts. St. Nicholas, who died A.D. 343, threw a purse filled with
+money into the bedroom of a poor man for the benefit of his three
+daughters, who were in sore trouble; and this story seems to have
+originated the custom which has been observed in many countries, and
+brought much enjoyment to the young folk who received St. Nicholas'
+bounty.
+
+Before the Reformation there was another very strange custom
+associated with this day; namely, the election of a boy bishop, who
+was dressed in episcopal robes, with a mitre on his head, and who
+actually was allowed to preach in the church. This was done
+regularly at many of our cathedrals and collegiate churches, and we
+find records of the custom amongst the archives of Salisbury and
+many other places; even the service which they used is in existence.
+The youthful bishop was elected by the choir-boys, and exercised his
+functions until Holy Innocents' Day. On that day in great state he
+entered the cathedral surrounded by the other boys, who played the
+part of prebendaries, and attended by the dean and canons, who on
+this occasion yielded up their dignity to the youthful prelate and
+his followers. The collect for Holy Innocents' Day in our
+Prayer-book formed part of the service. It was a strange ceremony,
+not unmixed with irreverence, and happily has long been
+discontinued, being forbidden by Royal proclamation in 1542, and
+finally abolished by Elizabeth.
+
+In the archives of the ancient town of Bristol there is a book of
+directions for the Mayor and his brethren, and on St. Nicholas' Day
+they are ordered to go to the Church of St. Nicholas and join in the
+festival of the boy bishop, to hear his sermon and receive his
+blessing. Then they dined together, and waited for the young bishop
+to come to them, playing the meanwhile at dice, the town clerk being
+ordered to find the dice, and to receive a penny for every raffle.
+The bishop was regaled with bread and wine, and preached again to
+the Mayor and corporation in the evening. I am informed that a
+curious memorial of this custom existed until recent years in one
+village at least. An old lady recollected that when she was a child
+she was allowed to play with her companions in church on St.
+Nicholas' Day.
+
+But Christmas is approaching, and we must hasten to describe that
+bright and happy festival. The holiday began on Christmas Eve, and
+perhaps you have wondered why we hang up mistletoe, and decorate our
+churches and houses with holly, why our ancestors brought in the
+Yule-log, and performed many other customs which do not seem to be
+very closely connected with the celebration of the birthday of our
+Lord. But we must remember that our forefathers were originally
+heathen, and at this period of the year they practised several
+strange customs connected with their Druidical worship, and held
+great feasts in honour of their gods. When Christian missionaries
+converted these heathen, they strove to put down some of the old
+idolatrous practices; but their efforts were in vain, for the people
+were warmly attached to these old rights and usages. So a compromise
+was effected: the old Pagan customs were shorn of their idolatry and
+transferred to our Christian festivals. Cutting the mistletoe was
+distinctly a rite practised by the Druids, who cut the sacred plant
+with a golden knife, and sacrificed two white bulls to the sylvan
+deities whom they thus sought to propitiate. We hang up our bunches
+of mistletoe now, but we do not attach any superstitious importance
+to it, nor imagine that any gods of the woods will be influenced by
+our procedure. The bringing in of the Yule-log was a Norse custom
+observed in honour of Thor, from whose name we derive our word
+Thursday or Thor's-day. The mighty log was drawn into the baronial
+hall with great pomp, while the bards sang their songs of praise and
+chanted "Welcome Yule."
+
+    "Welcome be Thou, heavenly King,
+     Welcome, born on this morning;
+     Welcome for whom we shall sing
+          Welcome, Yule."
+
+Herrick, who delighted so much in singing of
+
+    "Maypoles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes--"
+
+then bursts out in joyous strains:
+
+    "Come, bring with a noise,
+       My merry, merry boys,
+     The Christmas log to the firing;
+       While my good dame, she
+       Bids ye all be free
+     And drink to your heart's desiring.
+       With the last year's brand
+       Light the new block, and
+     For good success in his spending,
+       On your psaltries play,
+       That sweet luck may
+     Come while the log is a-teending."
+
+We can fancy that we see the ceremony, the glad procession of
+retainers and servants, the lights flaring in all directions: we can
+hear the shouts and chorus of many voices, the drums beating and
+flutes and trumpets sounding. The huge hearth receives the mighty
+log, and the flames and sparks shoot up the gaping chimney.
+
+At Court in olden times Christmas was kept right royally, if we may
+judge from the extensive _menu_ of the repasts of King Henry III.
+and his courtiers in the year 1247. He kept his Christmas at
+Winchester Castle, and the neighbourhood must have been ransacked to
+furnish supplies for the royal table. The choice dainties were as
+follows: Boars, with heads entire, well cooked and very succulent,
+48; fowls, 1900; partridges, mostly "put in paste," 500; swans, 41;
+peacocks, 48; hares, 260; eggs, 24,000; 300 gallons of oysters; 300
+rabbits, and more if possible; birds of various sorts, as many as
+could be had; of whitings, "particularly good and heavy," and conger
+eels the same; a hundred mullets, "fat and very heavy." For bread
+the king paid £27 10s., at the price of four loaves to the penny.
+When the king kept his Christmas at York in 1250, the royal treasury
+must have been very full, for he ordered for the royal banquets 7000
+fowls, 1750 partridges, besides immense numbers of boars, swans,
+pheasants, &c. Of course the king had a very large retinue of
+vassals and feudal lords to provide for; but the store seems
+sufficiently vast to supply the wants of an army of faithful, but
+hungry, subjects. Sometimes, when the king was short of money, there
+was a considerable reduction in the amount of good things consumed
+at Christmas.
+
+Our ancestors were very careful to attend the services of the
+church, which their loving hands had adorned with holly, bay,
+rosemary, and laurel. They considered it a day of special
+thanksgiving and rejoicing, as an old poet observed--
+
+    "At Christmas be merry and thankful with all,
+     And feast thy poor neighbours, the great and the small."
+
+The solemn service of Holy Communion was celebrated on Christmas
+Eve, in mediæval times--the only night in all the year when an
+evening celebration was allowed. The halls of the knights and barons
+of ancient days were thrown open to all comers, and open house was
+kept for a fortnight. Rejoicing at Christmas time seems to have been
+universal, and it is not for us to judge whether in their mirth they
+sometimes forgot the reason of true Christmas joy, and thought more
+of their feasting than of Him who was born on Christmas Day. But by
+their hearty manner of keeping this annual festival, by the
+hospitality which the farmers and rich men showed to their labourers
+and poorer neighbours, they promoted, at any rate, "goodwill amongst
+men"--old animosities, quarrels, and bitternesses were forgotten,
+and the hearts of the poor cheered.
+
+In the North of England every farmer gave two feasts, one called
+"the old folks' night," and the other "the young folks' night." The
+old Squire used to receive his tenants and neighbours at daybreak,
+when the black-jacks were passed round, and woe betide the luckless
+cook who had overslept herself, and had not boiled the Hackin, or
+large sausage, ere the day dawned, for then she was seized by the
+arms and made to run round the market-place, or courtyard, until
+she was ashamed of her laziness.
+
+And now let us enter the hall of some great baron and see how our
+ancestors kept a merry Christmas. The panelled walls, and stags'
+horns, and gallery at one end of the great room were hung with holly
+and mistletoe. The Yule-log blazed upon the hearth, and then entered
+the vassals, tenants, and servants of the lord to share in the
+Christmas banquet. Rank and ceremony were laid aside: all were
+deemed equal, whether lords or barons, serfs or peasants--a custom
+which arose, doubtless, from the remembrance of Him who on the first
+Christmas Day, "although He was rich, yet for our sakes became
+poor."
+
+And now on the huge oaken table were placed the various dishes of
+the feast--a mighty boar's head, decorated with laurel and rosemary,
+whose approach was often heralded with trumpets as the king of the
+feast; then came a peacock, stuffed with spices and sweet herbs, and
+adorned with its gay feathers, and then followed a goodly company of
+geese, capons, sirloins of beef, pheasants, mince-pies, and
+plum-porridge. A carol was often sung when the boar's head was
+brought in; here is one from the collection of Wynkyn de Worde:
+
+            Caput Apri defero
+            Reddens laudes Domino,
+        The Boar's Head in hand bring I
+        With garlands gay and rosemary;
+        I pray you all sing merrily
+            Qui estis in convivio.
+
+        The Boar's Head, I understand,
+        Is the chief service in this land;
+        Look wherever it be fande:
+            Servile cum cantico.
+
+        Be glad, lords, both more and lasse,
+          For this hath ordained our stewárd
+        To cheer you all this Christmasse,
+            The Boar's Head with mustárd.[18]
+
+Neither were the ale and wassail-bowl forgotten, and they circulated
+sometimes too often, I fear, and laid the seeds of gout and other
+evils, from which other generations suffer. But when the prodigious
+appetites of the company had been appeased, the maskers and mummers
+entered the hall and performed strange antics and a curious play,
+fragments of which have come down to our own time. The youths of the
+villages of England still come round at Christmas-time and act their
+mumming-drama, in which "St. George" kills a "Turkish knight," who
+is raised to life by "Medicine Man," and performs a very important
+part of the play--passing round the money-box. This is a remnant of
+the mumming of ancient days, and perhaps of some "mystery" play, of
+which I told you in a previous chapter.
+
+In Berkshire the characters are represented by "Molly," a stalwart
+man dressed in a woman's gown, shawl, and bonnet, with a besom in
+his hand, who strives in his dialogue to imitate a woman's voice;
+King George, a big burly man dressed as a knight, with a wooden
+sword and a home-made helmet; a French officer, with a cocked hat
+and sword; a Doctor, who wears a pig-tail; Jack Vinny, a jester;
+Happy Jack, a humorous character dressed in tattered garments, and
+Old Beelzebub, who appears as Father Christmas. In some parts of the
+royal county the part of King George is taken by an "Africky king,"
+and a Turkish knight instead of the French officer. Very curious are
+the words of the old play, and very ludicrous the representation
+when the parts are acted by competent players.
+
+There was also in the baron's hall a great person dressed in a very
+fantastic garb, who was here, there, and everywhere, directing the
+mummers, making jokes to amuse the company, and looking after
+everybody. He was called the "Lord of Misrule." Sometimes his rule
+was harmless enough, and did good service in directing the revels;
+but often he was more worthy of his name, and was guilty of all
+kinds of absurd and mischievous pranks, which did great harm, and
+were very profane. But these were not part of the Christmas feast,
+where all was happiness and mirth. Sir Walter Scott says, in his
+description of the festival--
+
+    "England was merry England when
+     Old Christmas brought his sports again;
+     A Christmas gambol oft would cheer
+     A poor man's heart through all the year."
+
+All the old poets sing in praise of the great day which, as Herrick
+says, "sees December turned to May," and which makes the "chilling
+winter's morn smile like a field beset with corn." Old carols chant
+in reverent strains their homage to the infant Saviour: some reflect
+time-honoured customs and social joys when old age casts aside its
+solemnity and mingles once more in the light-hearted gaiety of
+youth, and all unite in chanting the praises of this happy festival.
+The poet Withers sings--
+
+    "Lo! now is come our joyful'st feast!
+       Let every man be jolly;
+     Each room with ivy leaves is drest,
+       And every post with holly.
+
+    "Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke,
+       And Christmas blocks are burning;
+     Their ovens they with baked meats choke,
+       And all their spits are turning.
+
+    "Without the door let sorrow lie,
+     And if, for cold, it has to die,
+     We'll bury it in Christmas pie,
+       And evermore be merry."
+
+Thus the happy night was spent; and if, like grave elders, we look
+down upon these frolics of a younger age, and think ourselves so
+much wiser and better than our forefathers, we should not forget the
+benefits which come from open-handed hospitality, goodwill, and
+simple manners, nor scornfully regard honest merriment and
+light-hearted gaiety. A light heart is generally not far removed
+from a holy heart.
+
+Yes, England was merry England then; and although there were plenty
+of troubles in those days, when plagues decimated whole villages,
+when wars were frequent, food scarce, and oppression common, yet the
+Christmas festivities, the varieties of sports and pastimes which
+each season provided, the homely customs and bonds of union between
+class and class which these observances strengthened, added
+brightness to the lives of our simple forefathers, who might
+otherwise have sunk beneath the burdens of their daily toil. We have
+seen how many customs and sports, which were at first simple and
+harmless, degenerated and were abused: we have noticed some of the
+bad features of these ancient pastimes, such as cruelty to animals
+and intemperance; and are thankful that there is some improvement
+manifest in these respects. But it is interesting to witness again
+in imagination the scenes that once took place in our market-places
+and on our village greens; and, if it be impossible to restore again
+the glories of May Day and the brightness of the Christmas feast, we
+may still find plenty of harmless and innocent recreation, and learn
+to be merry, and at the same time wise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[Footnote 1: Although the 1st of January was popularly regarded as
+the beginning of the year from early times, it was not until 1752
+A.D. that the legal commencement of the year was changed from March
+25th to the former date.]
+
+[Footnote 2: These fires signified our Saviour and the Twelve
+Apostles. One of the fires, which represented Judas, the traitor,
+was extinguished soon after it was lighted, and the materials of the
+fire kicked about.]
+
+[Footnote 3: The distaff was the staff which held the flax or wool
+in spinning. All maidens were engaged in this occupation, and a
+"spinster" (_i.e._ one who spins) is still the legal term for an
+unmarried woman.]
+
+[Footnote 4: St. Blaize (or Blasius) was Bishop of Sebaste in
+Armenia, and was martyred 316 A.D. His flesh was torn with iron
+combs, so the wool-staplers have adopted him as their patron saint.]
+
+[Footnote 5: _Shrove-tide_ and _Shrove Tuesday_ derive their names
+from the ancient practice of confessing one's sins on that day. _To
+be shriven,_ or _shrove_, means to obtain absolution from one's
+sin.]
+
+[Footnote 6: It was practised as late as the end of the last
+century.]
+
+[Footnote 7: So called from the Gospel of the day, which treats of
+the feeding of the five thousand.--_Cf_. Wheatley on Prayer-book.]
+
+[Footnote 8: The caber is a small tree, or beam, heavier at one end
+than the other. The performer holds this perpendicularly, with the
+smaller end downwards, and his object is to toss it so as to make it
+fall on the other end.]
+
+[Footnote 9: _A Pleasant Grove of New Fancies_, 1637.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Sometimes the May Queen did not consort with
+morris-dancers, but sat in solitary state under a canopy of boughs.]
+
+[Footnote 11: A Correspondence in _Athenæum_, Sept. 20, 1890.]
+
+[Footnote 12: The same story is told of Willes, who is supposed by
+some cricketers to be the inventor of the modern style of delivery.]
+
+[Footnote 13: The word _fair_ is derived from the ecclesiastical
+term, _feria_, a holiday.]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Cf._ Govett's _King's Book of Sports_, and _Tom
+Brown's Schooldays,_ to which I am indebted for the above accurate
+description of back-sword play.]
+
+[Footnote 15: I am indebted for this description to Mr. W. Andrews'
+interesting book on the _Curiosities of the Church_.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Cf. _Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley_, by Mrs.
+Dent.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Cf. _Glossary of Berkshire Words and Phrases_, by
+Major B. Lowsley, R.E.]
+
+[Footnote 18: The custom of bringing in the boar's head is still
+preserved at Queen's College, Oxford. The story is told of a student
+of the college who was attacked by a wild boar while he was
+diligently studying Aristotle during a walk near Shotover Hill. His
+book was his only means of defence, so he thrust the volume down the
+animal's throat, exclaiming, "It is Greek!" The boar found Greek
+very difficult to digest, and died on the spot, and the head was
+brought home in triumph by the student. Ever since that date, for
+five hundred years, a boar's head has graced the college table at
+Christmas.]
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+Agape, suggested origin of "Church ales," 53
+
+Ales, Church, 52, 53, 57
+
+Alfred, laws relating to holidays, 5
+
+All-hallow Eve, 105
+
+Animals to be hunted, 16
+
+April, 36
+
+Archery, 25--31
+
+Ascension Day, 50
+
+Ascham's accomplishments of English Gentleman, 97
+
+
+Back-sword play, 81
+
+Baiting bears, bulls, &c., 89
+
+Bale-fires, 50
+
+Ball games, 20, 21, 61--71
+
+Barley-brake, 39
+
+Bath, wakes at, 81
+
+Battledore, 23
+
+Bean, King of, 7
+
+Berks--Old sports, 81
+
+"Bessy," 9
+
+Blaize St., 18
+
+Boar's head at Christmas, 123
+
+Bonfires, 6, 57, 106, 108
+
+Book of Sports, 48, 50
+
+Bounds, beating, 50
+
+Bowl, 49
+
+Boy bishop, 116
+
+Bull-baiting, 89
+
+Burning wheel, 59
+
+Butts, 27
+
+
+Caber-tossing, 38
+
+Candlemas, 18
+
+Carols, 111
+
+_Catherine, St._, miracle play, 99
+
+Charlemagne, 58
+
+Chess, 112
+
+Chester, 41, 48
+
+Choirs, Old, 111
+
+Christmas holidays, 5
+  customs, 118-126
+  at Court, 120
+
+Church decoration, 37, 49, 121
+
+Churchwardens' accounts, 34, 36, 42, 54, 72, 100
+
+Church ale, 52, 53, 57
+
+Church house, 53
+
+Cloudslee, William of, 28
+
+Club-ball, 65, 66
+
+Cock-fighting, 23, 24
+
+Cock-throwing, 23
+
+Collop Monday, 19
+
+_Colloquies_ of Erasmus, 113
+
+_Conversion of St. Paul_, mystery play, 98
+
+Country parson, 51
+
+Coventry, 42, 103
+
+_Crafte of Hunting_, 16
+
+Cricket, 38, 61-65
+
+Cross-bow, 27
+
+Cudgel-play, 38
+
+Curling, 39
+
+Customs, local, 4, 5, 6, 12, 20, 24, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 50,
+  54, 60, 62, 78, 81, 106, 108, 109, 117
+
+
+Dances, country, on village green, 11
+
+Dancing with swords, 10
+
+December, 115
+
+Dedication festivals, 3
+
+_Demands Joyous_, 110
+
+Devonshire custom, 4
+
+Distaff, St., 9
+
+Dragons, 59
+
+Dues, Cock-fight, 24
+
+
+Early sport, 14, 16
+
+Easter, 36--41
+
+Eighteenth century cricket, 63
+
+Election of King of Bean, 7
+
+England "Merry," 1, 125, 126
+
+_English Villages, Our_, 3, 80
+
+Epiphany, 5
+
+Erasmus, _Colloquies_ of, 113
+
+Evelyn's _Diary_, 90
+
+
+Fairs, 3, 80
+
+Falconer, 87
+
+February, 13
+
+Festivals, 3, 36, 50, 118
+
+Finsbury, 28
+
+Football, 20, 21, 41
+
+Foot-races, 22, 38
+
+Fox-hunting extraordinary, 17
+
+France, home of tennis, 39
+
+
+Gambling, 112
+
+Games, minor ball, 71
+  "  ball, 20, 21, 64, 71
+  "  indoor, 21, 112
+
+George Herbert, 51
+
+Golf, 66, 68
+
+Good Friday cake, 33
+
+Gospel trees, 50
+
+Grasmere, 72
+
+Guildford, cricket at, 62
+
+Gunpowder Plot, 108
+
+Guy Fawkes, 107
+
+
+Hambledon Cricket Club, 63, 64
+
+Handball, 27
+
+Handball in Church, 38
+
+Harvest home, 75, 79
+
+Hawking, 84
+
+Heaving, 37
+
+Herbert, George, 51
+
+Herefordshire custom, 6
+
+Herrick, 9, 31, 74, 115, 119, 125
+
+Hobby-horse, 26
+
+Hock-cart, 75
+
+Hocking, 54
+
+Hock-tide, 41, 42
+
+Holland, golf introduced from, 66
+
+Horse-collar, grinning through a, 54
+
+Hot cross buns, 33, 34
+
+Hunting, 13, 17
+
+Hurling, 22, 23
+
+
+Indoor games, 21
+
+Ireland, 50
+
+Isaak Walton, 17
+
+
+January, 1
+
+Jersey, 59
+
+Jingling match, 56
+
+John's, St., Eve, 57
+
+Jousts, 94
+
+July, 61
+
+June, 52
+
+
+Kenilworth Castle, pageants at 103
+
+Kent and Sussex, first homes of cricket, 62
+
+King of the Bean, 7
+
+
+Lammas, 74
+
+Lancashire, 49
+
+Lawn-tennis, 70
+
+Lifting, 37
+
+Lillywhite, 65
+
+Local customs, 4, 5, 6, 12, 19, 20, 24, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41,
+  50, 54, 60, 62, 78, 81, 107, 108, 109, 117, 123
+
+"Lord of Misrule," 125
+
+
+Magdalen hymn, 45
+
+Magdalen pulpit, 60
+
+March, 25
+
+Martinmas, 110
+
+Maundy Thursday--Money, 33
+
+May--May Day, 44
+
+May-pole, 45, 46, 48
+
+May Queen, 46
+
+"Merry England," 1, 125, 126
+
+Mews, origin of word, 88
+
+Michaelmas, 88
+
+Midsummer Eve, 58
+
+Minor ball-games, 71
+
+Miracle plays, 36, 57, 98
+
+Misrule," "Lord of, 125
+
+Mitford, Miss, _Our Village_, 64
+
+_Moralities_, 99
+
+Mothering-Sunday, 31
+
+Mummers, 124
+
+_Mysteries_, 57, 98, 100
+
+
+New Year's Day, 45
+
+_Nicholas, St., The Image of_, mystery play, 99
+
+Nicholas, Day, St., 116
+
+_Noah and the Flood_, mystery play, 98
+
+November, 105
+
+
+October, 92
+
+Old songs, 4, 6, 8, 13, 14, 23, 28, 36, 46, 63, 75, 76, 77, 109
+
+Orchards, wassailing of, 4, 6
+
+Otter-hunting, 17
+
+_Our English Villages_, reference, 3, 80
+
+_Our Village_, reference, 64
+
+Outdoor winter sports, 7
+
+Oxford customs, 109, 123
+
+
+Pace, _Pasche, Paschal_, eggs, 37
+
+Pageants, 101
+
+Pall Mall, 68
+
+Palm Sunday, 32
+
+Park, St. James's, 68
+
+Parson, country, 50
+
+Pea, Queen of, 8
+
+Pig-catching, 56
+
+Pigeon-holes, 56
+
+Plagues, 72
+
+Plough Monday, 9
+
+Pole-leaping, 38
+
+Purification, 18
+
+Puritans, 47
+
+
+Quarter-staff, 38, 54, 56
+
+Queen of the Pea, 8
+
+Queen of the Play, 46
+
+Quintain, 41
+
+
+Reading town, 27, 42, 54
+
+Reformation, 9, 18, 22
+
+Refreshment Sunday, 31
+
+Relics of Sun-worship, 51, 59
+
+Revival of Bounds-beating, 51
+
+Robin Hood, 28
+
+Roch's, St., Day, 75
+
+Rogation Days, 50
+
+Royal golfers, 66
+  " tennis players, 69, 70
+
+Rush-bearing, rushes in Churches, 49, 71, 72
+
+
+Salisbury, boy bishop, 116
+
+September, 84
+
+Sepulchres, 35
+
+Sheep-shearing, 79
+
+Shere Thursday, 33
+
+Shrovetide, 19, 24
+
+Simnell-cakes, 32
+
+Single-stick, 35
+
+Skating, 10, 38
+
+"Spinster," derivation of, 9
+
+Sports, Book of, 48, 49, 50
+
+Sports, early, 14, 16
+
+Songs, old, 4, 6, 8, 13, 14, 23, 28, 36, 46, 63, 75, 76, 77, 109
+
+Soul-cakes, 106
+
+Stool-ball, 66
+
+Stuarts, 21, 48, 50, 66, 68, 80
+
+Sudeley Castle, pageants at, 101
+
+Sun-worship, relics of, 57, 59
+
+Superstitions, 5, 33, 39, 50, 59, 106, 107
+
+Sussex custom, 4
+
+Sussex and Kent, first homes of cricket, 62
+
+
+Tansy-cake, 38
+
+Tennis, 68, 71
+
+Tilting at a ring, 97
+
+Tipcat called Billet, 23
+
+Tournaments, 92
+
+Trap-ball, 66
+
+Tusser, _Five Hundred Points of Husbandry_, 79
+
+Twelfth Day Eve, 5, 6
+
+Twelfth Night, 7
+
+
+_Undershaft_, St. Andrew, 48
+
+Uncleanliness, 72
+
+
+Valentine, St., 18
+
+
+Wakes, 79, 80, 81
+
+Walton, Isaak, 17
+
+"Wassail," 4
+
+Water tournament, 39, 40
+
+Whistling match, 56
+
+White Horse Hill, 54
+
+Whitsuntide, 52
+
+Willes, 65
+
+Winter games, indoor, 10
+
+Wise men from East, 7
+
+Withers, Christmas song, 125
+
+Wrestling, 59
+
+
+Year, New, festivities, 4, 5
+
+Yule-log, 118
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14315 ***
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14315 ***</div>
+<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Old English Sports, by Peter Hampson
+Ditchfield</h1>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>OLD ENGLISH SPORTS</h2>
+
+<h3><span style="font-family: 'excalibur SF'; font-size: 24px">Pastimes and Customs</span></h3>
+
+<h4>BY</h4>
+
+<h3>P.H. DITCHFIELD, M.A.</h3>
+
+<p class="frontPage">FELLOW OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY; RECTOR OF BARKHAM, BERKS
+HON. SEC. OF BERKS ARCH&AElig;OLOGICAL SOCIETY
+ETC.
+</p>
+
+<h6>First published by Methuen &amp; Co., 1891</h6>
+
+<hr />
+<p class="frontPage">
+TO
+
+<span style="font-family: 'excalibur SF'; font-size: 24px">Lady Russell</span>
+
+THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH THE AUTHOR'S
+
+KINDEST REGARDS.
+
+</p>
+<hr />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/Preface.jpg" name="figPreface" id="figPreface">
+<img  src="images/Preface-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Preface Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="PREFACE"></a><h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Encouraged by the kind reception which his former book, <i>Our English
+Villages</i>, met with at the hands of both critics and the public, the
+author has ventured to reproduce in book-form another series of
+articles which have appeared during the past year in the pages of
+<i>The Parish Magazine</i>. He desires to express his thanks to Canon
+Erskine Clarke for kindly permitting him to reprint the articles,
+which have been expanded and in part rewritten. The Sports and
+Pastimes of England have had many chroniclers, both ancient and
+modern, amongst whom may be mentioned Strutt, Brand, Hone, Stow, and
+several others, to whose works the writer is indebted for much
+valuable information.</p>
+
+<p>The object of this book is to describe, in simple language, the
+holiday festivals as they occurred in each month of the year; and
+the sports, games, pastimes, and customs associated with these rural
+feasts. It is hoped that such a description may not be without
+interest to our English villagers, and perhaps to others who love
+the study of the past. Possibly it may help forward the revival of
+the best features of old village life, and the restoration of some
+of those pleasing customs which Time has deprived us of. The writer
+is much indebted to Mr. E.R.R. Bindon for his very careful revision
+of the proof-sheets.</p>
+
+BARKHAM RECTORY,<br />
+1891.<br />
+
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/Preface2.png" name="fig002" id="fig002">
+<img  src="images/Preface2-thumb.png"
+alt="Preface End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr  /><br />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/Contents.jpg" name="fig003" id="fig003">
+<img  src="images/Contents-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Contents Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></p>
+<p class="center">JANUARY </p>
+<p class="toc">
+Dedication Festivals&mdash;New Year's Day&mdash;&quot;Wassail&quot;&mdash;Twelfth
+Night&mdash;&quot;King of the Bean&quot;&mdash;St. Distaffs Day&mdash;Plough
+Monday&mdash;Winter Games&mdash;Skating&mdash;Sword-dancing
+</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page001" id="toc001">1</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></p>
+<p class="center">FEBRUARY.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Hunting&mdash;Candlemas Day&mdash;St. Blaize's Day&mdash;Shrove-tide&mdash;
+Football&mdash;Battledore and Shuttlecock&mdash;Cock-throwing
+</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page013" id="toc013">13</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></p>
+<p class="center">MARCH.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Archery&mdash;Lent&mdash;&quot;Mothering&quot; Sunday&mdash;Palm Sunday&mdash;
+&quot;Shere&quot; Thursday&mdash;Watching the Sepulchre</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page025" id="toc025">25</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></p>
+<p class="center">APRIL.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Easter Customs&mdash;Pace Eggs&mdash;Handball in Churches&mdash;Sports confined
+to special localities&mdash;Stoolball and Barley-brake&mdash;Water
+Tournament:&mdash;Quintain&mdash;Chester Sports&mdash;Hock-tide</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page036" id="toc036">36</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></p>
+<p class="center">MAY.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+May-day Festivities&mdash;May-pole&mdash;Morris-dancers&mdash;The Book of
+Sports&mdash;Bowling&mdash;Beating the Bounds&mdash;George
+Herbert's description of a Country Parson</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page044" id="toc044">44</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></p>
+<p class="center">JUNE.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Whitsuntide Sports&mdash;Church-ales&mdash;Church-house&mdash;Quarter-staff&mdash;
+Whistling and Jingling Matches&mdash;St. John's Eve&mdash;Wrestling</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page052" id="toc052">52</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">JULY.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Cricket&mdash;Club-ball&mdash;Trap-ball&mdash;Golf&mdash;Pall-mall&mdash;Tennis&mdash;
+Rush-bearing</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page061" id="toc061">61</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">AUGUST.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Lammas Day&mdash;St. Roch's Day&mdash;Harvest Home&mdash;&quot;Ten-pounding&quot;&mdash;Sheep-shearing&mdash; &quot;Wakes&quot;&mdash;Fairs</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page074" id="toc074">74</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></p>
+<p class="center">SEPTEMBER.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Hawking&mdash;Michaelmas&mdash;Bull and Bear-baiting</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page084" id="toc084">84</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></p>
+<p class="center">OCTOBER.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Tournaments&mdash;&quot;Mysteries&quot;&mdash;&quot;Moralities&quot;&mdash;Pageants</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page092" id="toc092">92</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></p>
+<p class="center">NOVEMBER.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+All-hallow Eve&mdash;&quot;Soul Cakes&quot;&mdash;Diving for Apples&mdash;The Fifth of November&mdash;Martinmas&mdash;&quot;Demands Joyous &quot;&mdash;Indoor
+Games</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page105" id="toc105">105</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">DECEMBER.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+St. Nicholas' Day&mdash;The Boy Bishop&mdash;Christmas Eve&mdash;Christmas
+Customs&mdash;Mummers&mdash;&quot;Lord of Misrule&quot;&mdash;Conclusion</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page115" id="toc115">115</a></p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="toc">INDEX</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page129" id="toc129">129</a></p>
+<br />
+<br />
+
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page001" id="page001"></a>[pg 001]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/001.jpg" name="fig001" id="fig001">
+<img  src="images/001-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<h2>OLD ENGLISH SPORTS.</h2>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>JANUARY.</h3>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Come then, come then, and let us bring<br /></span>
+<span>Unto our pretty Twelfth-Tide King,<br /></span>
+<span>Each one his several offering.&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i9"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Herrick's</span> <i>Star Song</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<h4>
+Dedication Festivals&mdash;New Year's Day&mdash;&quot;Wassail&quot;&mdash;Twelfth
+Night&mdash;&quot;King of the Bean&quot;&mdash;St. Distaff's Day&mdash;Plough
+Monday&mdash;Winter Games&mdash;Skating&mdash;Sword-dancing.
+</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterI.png" name="fig001i" id="fig001i"><img  src="images/LetterI-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter I" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">N the old life of rural England few things are more interesting
+than the ancient sports and pastimes, the strange superstitions, and
+curious customs which existed in the times of our forefathers. We
+remember that our land once rejoiced in the name of &quot;Merry England,&quot;
+and perhaps feel some regret that many of the outward signs of
+happiness have passed away from us, and that in striving to become a
+great an<span class="pagenum"><a name="page002" id="page002"></a>[pg 002]</span>d prosperous nation, we have ceased to be a genial,
+contented, and happy one. In these days new manners are ever pushing
+out the old. The restlessness of modern life has invaded the
+peaceful retirement of our villages, and railway trains and cheap
+excursions have killed the old games and simple amusements which
+delighted our ancestors in days of yore. The old traditions of the
+country-side are forgotten, and poor imitations of town manners have
+taken their place. Old social customs which added such diversity to
+the lives of the rustics two centuries ago have died out. Very few
+of the old village games and sports have survived. The village
+green, the source of so much innocent happiness, is no more; and
+with it has disappeared much of that innocent and light-hearted
+cheerfulness which brightened the hours of labour, and refreshed the
+spirit of the toiling rustic, when his daily task was done. Times
+have changed, and we have changed with them. We could not now revive
+many of the customs and diversions in which our fathers took
+delight. Serious and grave men no longer take pleasure in the
+playthings which pleased them when they were children; and our
+nation has become grave and serious, and likes not the simple joys
+which diversified the lives of our forefathers, and made England
+&quot;merry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Is it possible that we cannot restore some of these time-honoured
+customs? The sun shines as brightly now as ever it did on a May-day
+festival; the Christma<span class="pagenum"><a name="page003" id="page003"></a>[pg 003]</span>s fire glows as in olden days. Let us try to
+revive the spirit which animated their festivals. Let us endeavour
+to realize how our village forefathers used to enjoy themselves,
+how they used to spend their holidays, and to picture to ourselves
+the scenes of social intercourse which once took place in our own
+hamlets. Every season of the year had its holiday customs and quaint
+manner of observance, some of them confined to particular counties,
+but many of them universally observed.</p>
+
+<p>In the volume, recently published, which treated of the story and
+the antiquities of &quot;Our English Villages,&quot; I pointed out that the
+Church was the centre of the life of the old village&mdash;not only of
+its religious life, but also of its secular every-day life. This is
+true also with regard to the amusements of the people. The festival
+of the saint, to whom the parish church was dedicated, was
+celebrated with much rejoicing. The annual fair was held on that
+day, when, after their business was ended, friends and neighbours
+met together and took part in some of the sports and pastimes which
+I shall try to describe. The other holidays of the year were
+generally regulated by the Church's calendar, the great
+festivals&mdash;Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday&mdash;-being all
+duly observed. I propose to record in these pages the principal
+sports, pastimes, and customs which our forefathers delighted in
+during each month of the year, the accounts of which are not only
+amusing, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="page004" id="page004"></a>[pg 004]</span> add to our historical knowledge, and help us to realize
+something of the old village life of rural England. </p>
+
+<p>We will begin with New Year's Day<a name="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>. It was an ancient Saxon custom
+to begin the year by sending presents to each other. On New Year's
+Eve the wassail bowl of spiced ale was carried round from house to
+house by the village maidens, who sang songs and wished every one &quot;A
+Happy New Year.&quot; &quot;Wassail&quot; is an old Saxon word, meaning &quot;Be in
+health.&quot; Rowena, the daughter of the Saxon king Hengist, offered a
+flowing bowl to the British king Vortigern, welcoming him with the
+words, &quot;Lloured King Wassheil.&quot; In Devonshire and Sussex it was the
+custom to wassail the orchards; a troop of boys visited the
+orchards, and, encircling the apple-trees, they sang the words&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Stand fast, bear well top,<br /></span>
+<span>Pray God send us a howling crop;<br /></span>
+<span>Every twig, apples big;<br /></span>
+<span>Every bough, apples enow;<br /></span>
+<span>Hats full, caps full,<br /></span>
+<span>Full quarter-sacks full.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Then the boys shouted in chorus, and rapped the trees with their
+sticks.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page005" id="page005"></a>[pg 005]</span>
+<p>The custom of giving presents on New Year's Day is as old as the
+time of the Romans, who attached superstitious importance to it, and
+thought the gifts brought them a lucky year. Our Christian
+forefathers retained the pleasant custom when its superstitious
+origin was long forgotten. Fathers and mothers used to delight each
+other and their little ones by their mutual gifts; the masters gave
+presents to their servants, and with &quot;march-paynes, tarts, and
+custards great,&quot; they celebrated the advent of the new year. Oranges
+stuck with cloves, or a fat capon, were some of the usual forms of
+New Year's gifts.</p>
+
+<p>The &quot;bringing-in&quot; of the new year is a time-honoured custom; which
+duty is performed by the first person who enters the house after the
+old year has expired. In the North of England this important person
+must be a dark man, otherwise superstitious folk believe that
+ill-luck would befall the household. In other parts of England a
+light-complexioned man is considered a more favourable harbinger of
+good fortune.</p>
+
+<p>The Christmas holidays extended over twelve days, which bring us to
+January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. It is stated that &quot;in the
+days of King Alfred a law was made with regard to holidays, by
+virtue of which the twelve days after the Nativity of our Saviour
+were made festivals.&quot; Twelfth Day Eve was a great occasion among the
+rustics of England, and many curious customs are connected with it.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page006" id="page006"></a>[pg 006]</span>
+In Herefordshire the farmers and servants used to meet together in
+the evening and walk to a field of wheat. There they lighted twelve
+small fires and one large one<a name="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2"><sup>[2]</sup></a>, and forming a circle round the
+huge bonfire, they raised a shout, which was answered from all the
+neighbouring fields and villages. At home the busy housewife was
+preparing a hearty supper for the men. After supper they adjourned
+to the ox-stalls, and the master stood in front of the finest of the
+oxen and pledged him in a curious toast; the company followed his
+example with all the other oxen, and then they returned to the house
+and found all the doors locked, and admittance sternly refused until
+they had sung some joyous songs.</p>
+
+<p>In the south of Devonshire, on the eve of the Epiphany, the
+best-bearing trees in the orchard were encircled by the farmer and
+his labourers, who sang the following refrain&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">&quot;Here's to thee, old apple-tree,<br /></span>
+<span>Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blow,<br /></span>
+<span>And whence thou may'st bear apples enow!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Hats full! caps full!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Bushel-bushel-sacks full,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And my pockets full too! Huzza!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The returning company were not allowed to enter<span class="pagenum"><a name="page007" id="page007"></a>[pg 007]</span> the house until
+some one guessed what was on the spit, which savoury tit-bit was
+awarded to the man who first named it.</p>
+
+<p>The youths of the village during the holidays had plenty of sport,
+outdoor and indoor, which kept out the cold by wholesome exercise
+and recreative games. Many a hard battle was fought with snowballs,
+or with bat-and-ball on the ice; the barns were the scenes of many a
+wrestling match or exciting game at skittles; and in the evenings
+they played such romping games as blind-man's-buff, hunt the
+slipper, and others of a similar character. While the company sat
+round the yule-log blazing on the hearth, eating mince-pies, or plum
+porridge, and quaffing a bowl of well-spiced elder wine, the mummers
+would enter, decked out in ribands and strange dresses, execute
+their strange antics, and perform their curious play. So the wintry
+days passed until Twelfth Night, with its pleasing associations and
+mirthful customs.</p>
+
+<p>Twelfth Night was a very popular festival, when honour was done to
+the memory of the Three Wise Men from the East, who were called the
+Three Kings. The election of kings and queens by beans was a very
+ancient custom. The farmer invited his friends and labourers to
+supper, and a huge plumcake was brought in, containing a bean and a
+pea. The man who received the piece of cake containing the bean was
+called the King of the Bean, and received<span class="pagenum"><a name="page008" id="page008"></a>[pg 008]</span> the honour of the company;
+and the pea conferred a like privilege on the lady who drew the
+favoured lot. The rest of the visitors assumed the rank of
+ministers of state or maids of honour. The festival was generally
+held in a large barn decorated with evergreens, and a large bough of
+mistletoe was not forgotten, which was often the source of much
+merriment. When the ceremony began, some one repeated the lines&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">&quot;Now, now the mirth comes<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With the cake full of plums,<br /></span>
+<span>When Bean is King of the Sport here.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Beside, you must know,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The Pea also<br /></span>
+<span>Must revel as Queen of the Court here.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Then the cake was cut and distributed amid much laughter and merry
+shouts. The holders of the bean and pea were hailed as king and
+queen for the night, the band struck up some time-honoured melody,
+and a country dance followed which was ever carried on with much
+spirit. The king exercised his royal prerogative by choosing
+partners for the women, and the queen performed a like office for
+the men; and so they merrily played their parts till the hours grew
+late.</p>
+
+<p>But the holidays were nearly over, and the time for resuming work
+had arrived. However, neither the women nor the men seemed to be in
+any hurry to begin. The day after Twelfth Day was humorously<span class="pagenum"><a name="page009" id="page009"></a>[pg 009]</span> called
+St. Distaft's<a name="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> Day, which was devoted to &quot;partly work and partly
+play.&quot; Herrick, the recorder of many social customs, tells us that
+the ploughmen used to set on fire the flax which the maids used for
+spinning, and received pails of water on their heads for their
+mischief. The following Monday was called Plough Monday, when the
+labourers used to draw a plough decked with ribbons round the
+parish, and receive presents of money, favouring the spectators with
+sword-dancing and mumming. The rude procession of men, clad in clean
+smock-frocks, headed by the renowned &quot;Bessy,&quot; who sang and rattled
+the money-box, accompanied by a strangely-dressed character called
+the Fool, attired in skins of various animals and having a long
+tail, threw life into the dreary scenery of winter, as the
+gaily-decked plough was drawn along the quiet country lanes from one
+village to another. The origin of Plough Monday dates back to
+pre-Reformation times, when societies of ploughmen called guilds
+used to keep lights burning upon the shrine of some saint, to invoke
+a blessing on their labour. The Reformation put out the lights, but
+it could not extinguish the festival.</p>
+
+<p>In the long winter evenings the country folk amused themselves
+around their winter's fireside<span class="pagenum"><a name="page010" id="page010"></a>[pg 010]</span> by telling old romantic stories of
+errant knights and fairies, goblins, witches, and the rest; or by
+reciting </p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i7">&quot;Some merry fit<br /></span>
+<span>Of Mayde Marran, or els of Robin Hood.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In the Tudor times there were plenty of winter games for those who
+could play them, amongst which we may mention chess, cards, dice,
+shovel-board, and many others.</p>
+
+<p>And when the ponds and rivers were frozen, as early as the twelfth
+century the merry skaters used to glide over the smooth ice. Their
+skates were of a very primitive construction, and consisted of the
+leg-bones of animals tied under their feet by means of thongs.
+Neither were the skaters quite equal to cutting &quot;threes&quot; and
+&quot;eights&quot; upon the ice; they could only push themselves along by
+means of a pole with an iron spike at the end. But they used to
+charge each other after the manner of knights in a tournament, and
+use their poles for spears. An old writer says that &quot;they pushed
+themselves along with such speed that they seemed to fly like a bird
+in the air, or as darts shot out from the engines of war.&quot; Some of
+the less adventurous youths were content with sliding, or driving
+each other forward on great pieces of ice. &quot;Dancing with swords&quot; was
+a favourite form of amusement among the young men of Northern
+nations, and in those parts of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page011" id="page011"></a>[pg 011]</span> England where the Norsemen and Danes
+settled, this graceful gymnastic custom long lingered. </p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/011.jpg" name="fig011" id="fig011">
+<img  src="images/011-thumb.png"
+alt="DANCING ON THE VILLAGE GREEN." /></a>
+<h5>DANCING ON THE VILLAGE GREEN.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<p>The old country dances which used to delight our fathers seem to be
+vanishing. I have not seen for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page012" id="page012"></a>[pg 012]</span> many years the village rustics
+&quot;crossing hands&quot; and going &quot;down the middle,&quot; and tripping merrily
+to the tune of a fiddle; but perhaps they do so still.</p>
+
+<p>In olden days the city maidens of London were often &quot;dancing and
+tripping till moonlight&quot; in the open air; and later on we read that
+on holidays, after evening prayer, while the youths exercised their
+wasters and bucklers, the maidens, &quot;one of them playing on a
+timbrel, in sight of their masters and dames, used to dance for
+garlands hanged athwart the streets.&quot; Stow, the recorder of this
+custom, wisely adds, &quot;which open pastimes in my youth, being now
+suppressed, worser practices within doors are to be feared.&quot; In some
+parts of England they still trip it gaily in the moonlight. A
+clergyman in Gloucestershire tried to establish a cricket club in
+his parish, but his efforts were all in vain; the young men
+preferred to dance together on the village green, and the more manly
+diversion had no charms for them. Dancing was never absent from our
+ancestors' festivities, and round the merry May-pole</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i7">&quot;Where the jocund swains<br /></span>
+<span>Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe strains;&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>or in the festal hall, adorned with evergreens and mistletoe, with
+tripping feet they passed the hours &quot;till envious night commands
+them to be gone.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page013" id="page013"></a>[pg 013]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/013.jpg" name="fig013" id="fig013">
+<img  src="images/013-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>FEBRUARY.</h3>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Down with rosemary and bayes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Down with the mistleto,<br /></span>
+<span>Instead of holly, now up-raise<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The greener box, for show.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;The holly hitherto did sway;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Let box now domineere,<br /></span>
+<span>Untill the dancing Easter-day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or Easter's eve appeare.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Hunting&mdash;Candlemas Day&mdash;St. Blaize's Day&mdash;Shrove-tide&mdash;
+Football&mdash;Battledore and Shuttlecock&mdash;Cock-throwing.
+</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterT.png" name="fig013t" id="fig013t">
+<img  src="images/LetterT-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter T" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">HE fox-hounds often meet in our village during this cheerless
+month, and I am reminded by the red coats of the huntsmen, and by
+the sound of the cheerful horn, of the sportsmen of ancient days,
+who chased the wolf, hart, wild boar, and buck among these same
+woods and dales of England. All hearts love to hear the merry sound
+of the huntsman's horn, except perhaps that of the hunted fox or
+stag. The love of hunting seems ingrained in every Englishman, and
+whenever the horsemen appear in sight, or the &quot;music&quot; <span class="pagenum"><a name="page014" id="page014"></a>[pg 014]</span>of the hounds
+is heard in the distance, the spade is laid aside, the ploughman
+leaves his team, the coachman his stables, the gardener his
+greenhouses, books are closed, and every one rushes away to see the
+sport. The squire, the farmers, and every one who by hook or by
+crook can procure a mount, join in the merry chase, for as an old
+poet sings&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;The hunt is up, the hunt is up,<br /></span>
+<span>Sing merrily we, the hunt is up;<br /></span>
+<span>The birds they sing,<br /></span>
+<span>The deer they fling:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Hey, nony, nony-no:<br /></span>
+<span>The hounds they cry,<br /></span>
+<span>The hunters they fly,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Hey trolilo, trolilo,<br /></span>
+<span>The hunt is up.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We English folks come of a very sporting family. The ancient Britons
+were expert hunters, and lived chiefly on the prey which they
+killed. Our Saxon forefathers loved the chase, and in some very old
+Saxon pictures illustrating the occupations of each month we see the
+lord, attended by his huntsmen, chasing the wild boars in the woods
+and forests. The Saxon king, Edgar, imposed a tribute of wolves'
+heads, and Athelstan ordered the payment of fines in hawks and
+strong-scented dogs. Edward the Confessor, too, who scorned worldly
+amusements, used to take &quot;delight in following a pack of swift dogs,
+and in cheering them with his voice.&quot; The illustration is taken from
+an old illumination which adorned an <span class="pagenum"><a name="page015" id="page015"></a>[pg 015]</span>ancient MS., and represents
+some Saxons engaged in unearthing a fox. </p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/015.jpg" name="fig015" id="fig015">
+<img  src="images/015-thumb.jpg"
+alt="HUNTING IN SAXON TIMES (from an ancient MS.)." /></a>
+<h5>HUNTING IN SAXON TIMES (from an ancient MS.).</h5>
+</div>
+
+<p>When the Normans came to England great changes were made, and
+hunting&mdash;the favourite sport of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page016" id="page016"></a>[pg 016]</span>Conqueror&mdash;was promoted with a
+total disregard of the welfare of the people. Whole villages and
+churches were pulled down in order to enlarge the royal forests,
+and any one who was rash enough to kill the king's deer would lose
+his life or his eyesight. It was not until the reign of Henry III.
+that this law was altered. William the Conqueror, who forbade the
+killing of deer and of boars, and who &quot;loved the tall stags as
+though he were their father,&quot; greatly enlarged the New Forest, in
+Hampshire. Henry I. built a huge stone wall, seven miles in
+circumference, round his favourite park of Woodstock, near Oxford;
+and if any one wanted a favour from King John, a grant of
+privileges, or a new charter, he would have to pay for it in horses,
+hawks, or hounds. The Norman lords were as tyrannical in preserving
+their game as their king, and the people suffered greatly through
+the selfishness of their rulers. There is a curious MS. in the
+British Museum, called <i>The Craft of Hunting</i>, written by two
+followers of Edward II., which gives instructions with regard to the
+game to be hunted, the rules for blowing the horn, the dogs to be
+used in the chase, and so on. It is too long to quote, but I may
+mention that the animals to be hunted included the hare, hart, wolf,
+wild boar, buck, doe, fox (&quot;which oft hath hard grace&quot;), the
+martin-cat, roebuck, badger, polecat, and otter. Many of these
+animals have long since disappeared through the clearing of the old
+forests, or been exterminated on account of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page017" id="page017"></a>[pg 017]</span>mischief which they
+did. Our modern hunters do not enjoy quite such a variety of sport.</p>
+
+<p>Otter-hunting, now very rare, was once a favourite sport among
+villagers who dwelt near a river. Isaac Walton, in his book called
+<i>The Complete Angler</i>, thus describes the animated scene: &quot;Look!
+down at the bottom of the hill there, in the meadow, checkered with
+water-lilies and lady-smocks; there you may see what work they make;
+look! look! you may see all busy&mdash;men and dogs&mdash;dogs and men&mdash;all
+busy.&quot; At last the otter is found. Then barked the dogs, and shouted
+the men! Boatmen pursue the poor animal in the water. Horsemen dash
+into the river. The otter dives, and strives to escape; but all in
+vain her efforts, and she perishes by the teeth of the dogs or the
+huntsmen's spears.</p>
+
+<p>Foreigners are always astonished at our love of sport and hunting,
+and our disregard of all danger in the pursuit of our favourite
+amusement, and one of our visitors tells the following story: &quot;When
+the armies of Henry VIII. and Francis, King of France, were drawn up
+against each other, a fox got up, which was immediately pursued by
+the English. The 'varmint' ran straight for the French lines, but
+the Englishmen would not cease from the chase; the Frenchmen opposed
+them, and killed many of these adventurous gentlemen who for the
+moment forgot their warfare in the charms of the chase.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But I must proceed to mention other February <span class="pagenum"><a name="page018" id="page018"></a>[pg 018]</span>customs and sports.
+Great importance was attached to the Feast of the Purification,
+commonly called Candlemas Day (February 2nd), when consecrated
+candles were distributed and carried about in procession. At the
+Reformation this custom did not entirely disappear, for we find a
+proclamation of Henry VIII., in 1539 A.D., which orders that &quot;on
+Candlemas Day it shall be declared that the bearing of candles is
+done in memory of Christ the spiritual light, whom Simeon did
+prophesy, as it is read in the Church on that day.&quot; Christmas
+decorations were removed from the houses; the holly, rosemary, bay,
+and mistletoe disappeared, to make room for sprigs of box, which
+remained until Easter brought in the yew. Our ancestors were very
+fond of bonfires, and on the 3rd of this month, St. Blaize's Day,<a name="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4"><sup>[4]</sup></a>
+the red flames might be seen darting up from every hilltop. But why
+they should do this on that day is not evident, except that the good
+Bishop's name sounded something like <i>blaze</i>, and perhaps that
+was quite a sufficient reason! And why the day of St. Valentine should
+have been selected for the drawing lots for sweethearts, and for the
+sending affectionate greetings, is another mystery. St. Valentine
+was a priest and martyr in Italy in the third century, and had<span class="pagenum"><a name="page019" id="page019"></a>[pg 019]</span>
+nothing to do with the popular commemoration of the day.</p>
+
+<p>Now we come to the diversions of Shrove-tide,<a name="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> which immediately
+precedes the Lenten Fast. The Monday before Ash Wednesday was called
+Collop Monday in the north, because slices of bacon (or collops)
+were the recognized dish for dinner. But on Tuesday the chief
+amusements began; the bells were rung, pancakes tossed with great
+solemnity, and devoured with great satisfaction, as an old writer,
+who did not approve of so much feasting, tells us&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;In every house are shouts and cries, and mirth and revel rout,<br /></span>
+<span>And dainty tables spread, and all beset with guests about.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He further describes this old English carnival, which must have
+rivalled any that we read of on the Continent&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Some run about the streets attired like monks, and some like kings <br /></span>
+<span>Accompanied with pomp, and guard, and other stately things.<br /></span>
+<span>Some like wild beasts do run abroad in skins that divers be<br /></span>
+<span>Arrayed, and eke with loathsome shapes, that dreadful are to see,<br /></span>
+<span>They counterfeit both bears and wolves, and lions fierce in sight, <br /></span>
+<span>And raging bulls; some play the cranes, with wings and stilts upright.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page020" id="page020"></a>[pg 020]</span>
+<p>But the great game for Shrove Tuesday was our time-honoured
+football, which has survived so many of the ancient pastimes of our
+land, and may be considered the oldest of all our English national
+sports. The play might not be quite so scientific as that played by
+our modern athletes, but, from the descriptions that have come down
+to us, it was no less vigorous. &quot;After dinner&quot; (says an old writer)
+&quot;all the youths go into the fields to play at the ball. The ancient
+and worthy men of the city come forth on horseback to see the sport
+of the young men, and to take part of the pleasure in beholding
+their agility.&quot; There are some exciting descriptions of old football
+matches; and we read of some very fierce contests at Derby, which
+was renowned for the game. In the seventeenth century it was played
+in the streets of London, much to the annoyance of the inhabitants,
+who had to protect their windows with hurdles and bushes. At
+Bromfield, in Cumberland, the annual contest on Shrove Tuesday was
+keenly fought. Sides having been chosen, the football was thrown
+down in the churchyard, and the house of the captain of each side
+was the goal. Sometimes the distance was two or three miles, and
+each step was keenly disputed. He was a proud man at Bromfield who
+succeeded in reaching the goal with the ball, which he received as
+his guerdon. How the villagers used to talk over the exploits of the
+day, and recount their triumphs of former years with quite as much
+satisfaction as their <span class="pagenum"><a name="page021" id="page021"></a>[pg 021]</span>ancestors enjoyed in relating their feats in
+the border wars! </p>
+
+<p>The Scots were famous formerly, as they now are, for prowess in the
+game, and the account of the Shrove Tuesday match between the
+married and single men at Scone, in Perthshire, reads very like a
+description of a modern Rugby contest. At Inverness the women also
+played, the married against the unmarried, when the former were
+always victorious. King James I., who was a great patron of sports,
+did not approve of his son Henry being a football player. He wrote
+that a young man ought to have a &quot;moderate practice of running,
+leaping, wrestling, fencing, dancing, and playing at the caitch, or
+tennis, bowls, archery, pall-mall, and riding; and in foul or stormy
+weather, cards and backgammon, dice, chess, and billiards,&quot; but
+football was too rough a game for his Majesty, and &quot;meeter for
+laming than making able.&quot; Stubbs also speaks of it as a &quot;bloody and
+murthering practice, rather than a fellowly sport or pastime.&quot; From
+the descriptions of the old games, it seems to have been very
+painful work for the shins, and there were no rules to prevent
+hacking and tripping in those days.</p>
+
+<p>Football has never been the spoilt child of English pastimes, but
+has lived on in spite of royal proclamations and the protests of
+peace-loving citizens who objected to the noise, rough play, and
+other vagaries of the early votaries of the game. Edward II. and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page022" id="page022"></a>[pg 022]</span>
+succeeding monarchs regarded it as a &quot;useless and idle sport,&quot; which
+interfered with the practice of archery, and therefore ought to be
+shunned by all loyal subjects. The violence displayed at the
+matches is evident from the records which have come down to us, and
+from the opinions of several writers who condemn it severely. Free
+fights, broken limbs, and deaths often resulted from old football
+encounters; and when the games took place in the streets, lines of
+broken windows marked the progress of the players. &quot;A bloody and
+murdering practice,&quot; &quot;a devilish pastime,&quot; involving &quot;beastly fury
+and extreme violence,&quot; the breaking of necks, arms, legs and
+backs&mdash;these were some of the descriptions of the football of olden
+times. The Puritans set their faces against it, and the sport
+languished for a long period as a general pastime. In some places it
+was still practised with unwonted vigour, but it was not until the
+second half of the present century that any revival took place. But
+football players have quickly made up for lost time; few villages do
+not possess their club, and our young men are ready to &quot;Try it out
+at football by the shins,&quot; with quite as much readiness as the
+players in the good old days, although the play is generally less
+violent, and more scientific.</p>
+
+<p>Hurling, too, was a fast and furious game, very similar to our game
+of hockey, and played with sticks and a ball. Two neighbouring
+parishes used to compete, and the object was to drive the ball from
+some central <span class="pagenum"><a name="page023" id="page023"></a>[pg 023]</span>spot to one, or other, village. The contest was keen
+and exciting; a ball was driven backwards and forwards, over hills,
+dales, hedges, and ditches, through bushes, briars, mires, plashes,
+and rivers, until at length the wished-for goal was gained.
+Battledore and shuttlecock were favourite games for the girls, which
+they played singing quaint rhymes&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Great A, little A;<br /></span>
+<span>This is pancake day!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and the men also indulged in tip-cat, or billet.</p>
+
+<p>There is one other custom, of a most barbarous and cruel
+description, which was practised on Shrove Tuesday by our
+forefathers, and which happily has perished,<a name="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> and that was
+throwing at cocks or hens with sticks. The poor bird was tied by the
+leg, and its tormentors stood twenty-two yards distant and had three
+throws each for twopence, winning the bird if they could knock it
+down. The cock was trained beforehand to avoid the sticks, so as to
+win more money for its brutal master. Well might a learned foreigner
+remark, &quot;The English eat a certain cake on Shrove Tuesday, upon
+which they immediately run mad, and kill their poor cocks.&quot;
+Cock-fighting was a favourite amusement on Shrove Tuesday, as well
+as at other times. This shameful and barbarous practice was
+continued until the eighteenth century; some of our kings took
+delight in it, and in the old grammar <span class="pagenum"><a name="page024" id="page024"></a>[pg 024]</span>schools in the North of
+England it was sanctioned by the masters, who received from their
+scholars a small tax called &quot;cock-fight dues.&quot; Happily, with
+bull-baiting, bear-baiting, dog-fighting, and the like, this cruel
+and brutal pastime has ceased to exist. If we have lost some of the
+simple joys and cheerful light-heartedness of our forefathers, we
+have also happily lost some of their cruel disregard for the
+sufferings of animals, and abandoned such barbarous amusements as I
+have tried to describe. But the old sports of England were not all
+like these; the archery, running, leaping, wrestling, football, and
+other games in which our ancestors delighted, made the young men of
+England a manly and a sturdy race, and our nation mainly owes its
+greatness to the courage, manliness, and daring of her sons.</p>
+
+<p>But Ash Wednesday has dawned, and all is still in town and village.
+The Shrove-tide feast is ended, and the days of fasting and of
+prayer have hushed the sounds of merriment and song.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/024.jpg" name="fig024" id="fig024">
+<img  src="images/024-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page025" id="page025"></a>[pg 025]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/025.jpg" name="fig025" id="fig025">
+<img  src="images/025-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>MARCH.</h3>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;And now a solemn fast we keep,<br /></span>
+<span>When earth wakes from her winter sleep.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;And he was clad in cote and hode of grene;<br /></span>
+<span>A shefe of pecocke arrowes bryght and shene<br /></span>
+<span>Under his belt he bare ful thriftely,<br /></span>
+<span>Well could he dresse his tackle yomanly;<br /></span>
+<span>His arrowes drouped not with fethers lowe,<br /></span>
+<span>And in hande he bare a myghty bowe.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Archery&mdash;Lent&mdash;&quot;Mothering&quot; Sunday&mdash;Palm Sunday&mdash;
+&quot;Shere&quot; Thursday&mdash;Watching the Sepulchre.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterO.png" name="fig025o" id="fig025o"><img  src="images/LetterO-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter O" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">F all the sports and pastimes of old England, archery was the most
+renowned, and many a hard-fought victory has been gained through the
+skill which our English archers acquired in the use of their famous
+bows. &quot;Alas, alas for Scotland when English arrows fly!&quot; was the sad
+lament of many a Highland clan, and Frenchmen often learnt to their
+cost the force of our bowmen's arms. The accounts of the fights of
+Cre&ccedil;y and Poitiers tell of the prowess of our archers; <span class="pagenum"><a name="page026" id="page026"></a>[pg 026]</span>and the skill
+which they acquired by practising at the butts at home has gained
+many a victory. Archery was so useful in war that several royal
+proclamations <span class="pagenum"><a name="page027" id="page027"></a>[pg 027]</span>were issued to encourage the sport, and in many
+parishes there were fields set apart for the men to practise.
+Although the sport has died out as a popular pastime, the old name,
+the butts, remains in many a town and village, recording the spot
+where our forefathers acquired their famous skill. The name is still
+retained in the neighbouring town of Reading, and in some old
+records I find that in 1549 a certain &quot;Will'm Watlynton received
+xxxvi<i>s</i>. for making of the butts;&quot; and there are several items
+of charges in other years for repairing and renewing the same.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/026.jpg" name="fig026" id="fig026">
+<img  src="images/026-thumb.jpg"
+alt="TWO ARCHERS WEARING MILITARY ARMOR." /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>Edward III. ordered &quot;that every one strong in body, at leisure on
+holidays, should use in their recreation bows and arrows, and learn
+and exercise the art of shooting, forsaking such vain plays as
+throwing stones, handball, football, bandyball, or cock-fighting,
+which have no profit in them.&quot; Edward IV. ordered every Englishman,
+of whatever rank, to have a bow his own height always ready for use,
+and to instruct his children in the art. In every township the butts
+were ordered to be set up, and the people were required to shoot &quot;up
+and down&quot; every Sunday and feast-day, under penalty of one
+halfpenny.</p>
+
+<p>The sport began to decline in the sixteenth century, in spite of
+royal proclamations and occasional revivals. Henry VIII. forbade the
+use of the cross-bow, lest it should interfere with the practice of
+the more ancient weapon, and many old writers lament over the decay
+of this famous pastime of old England, which, as <span class="pagenum"><a name="page028" id="page028"></a>[pg 028]</span>Bishop Latimer
+stated in one of his sermons, &quot;is a goodly art, a wholesome kind of
+exercise, and much commended as physic.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The Finsbury archers had, in 1594, no less than one hundred and
+sixty-four targets in Finsbury Fields, set up on pillars with
+curious devices over them; but four years later Stow laments that
+&quot;by reason of closing in of common grounds, our archers, for want of
+room to shoot abroad, creep into ordinary dicing-houses and
+bowling-alleys near home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The famous Robin Hood, who lived in the reign of Richard I., was the
+king of archers. The exploits of this renowned outlaw and his merry
+men form the subject of many old ballads and romances, and the old
+oaks in Sherwood Forest could tell the tale of many an exciting
+chase after the king's deer, and of many a luckless traveller who
+had to pay dearly for the hospitality of Robin Hood and Little John.
+The ballads narrate that they could shoot an arrow a measured mile,
+but this is a flight of imagination which we can hardly follow!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;But he was an archer true and good,<br /></span>
+<span>And people called him Robin Hood;<br /></span>
+<span>Such archers as he and his men<br /></span>
+<span>Will England never see again.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page029" id="page029"></a>[pg 029]</span>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/029.jpg" name="fig029" id="fig029">
+<img  src="images/029-thumb.jpg"
+alt="CROSS-BOW SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS." /></a>
+<h5>CROSS-BOW SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS (from MS. dated 1496).</h5>
+</div>
+
+<p>Another ballad relates the prowess of William of Cloudslee, who
+scorned to shoot at an ordinary target, and cutting a hazel rod from
+a tree, he shot at it from twenty score paces, cleaving the rod in
+two.</p>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page030" id="page030"></a>[pg 030]</span>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/030.jpg" name="fig030" id="fig030">
+<img  src="images/030-thumb.jpg"
+alt="A SINGLE ARCHER." /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>Like William Tell of great renown, our English archer could split an
+apple placed on his son's head at the distance of six score paces. </p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page031" id="page031"></a>[pg 031]</span>
+<p>In time of war the archers were armed with a body-armour, the arms
+being left free. They had a long bow made of yew, a sheaf of arrows
+winged with gray goose-feathers, a sword, and small shield. Such was
+the appearance of the men who struck such terror among the knights
+and chivalry of France, and won many victories for England before
+the days of muskets and rifles.</p>
+
+<p>We are now in the season of Lent, and our towns and villages were
+very still and quiet during these weeks. But there was an old custom
+on Refreshment<a name="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> or Mid-Lent Sunday for people to visit their
+mother-church and make offerings on the altar. Hence probably arose
+the practice of &quot;mothering,&quot; or going to visit parents on that day,
+and taking presents to them. Herrick alludes to this pleasant custom
+in the following lines&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;I'll to thee a simnell bring,<br /></span>
+<span>'Gainst thou go'st a mothering;<br /></span>
+<span>So that when she blesseth thee,<br /></span>
+<span>Half that blessing thou'lt give me.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Many a mother's heart would rejoice to welcome to the old village
+home once again some fond youth or maiden who had gone to seek their
+fortunes in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page032" id="page032"></a>[pg 032]</span>town, and many happy recollections would long linger
+of &quot;Mothering&quot; Sunday. The cakes alluded to in the above verse,
+which children presented to their parents on these occasions, were
+called Simnells. In some parts of England&mdash;in Lancashire,
+Shropshire, and Herefordshire&mdash;these cakes are still eaten on
+Mid-Lent Sunday. Possibly they had some religious signification, for
+the Saxons were in habit of eating consecrated cakes at their
+festivals. The name Simnell is derived from a Latin word signifying
+fine flour, and not from the mythical persons, Simon and Nell, who
+are popularly supposed to have invented the cake. Hot cross buns are
+a relic of an ancient rite of the Saxons, who ate cakes in honour of
+the goddess of spring, and the early Christian missionaries strove
+to banish the heathen ideas associated with the cakes (which latter
+the people would not abandon) by putting a cross upon them.</p>
+
+<p>In memory of our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the
+people took branches of palm-trees and scattered them in the way, on
+Palm Sunday our ancestors went in procession through the town or
+village, bearing branches of willow, yew, or box (as there were no
+palms growing in this country), which were subsequently carried to
+the church and offered at the altar. This custom lingered on after
+the Reformation, and until recent times the practice of going
+a-palming, or gathering branches of willow, on the Saturday before
+Palm Sunday, has continued. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page033" id="page033"></a>[pg 033]</span>Sometimes in medi&aelig;val times a wooden
+figure representing our Saviour riding upon an ass was drawn along
+by the crowds in the procession, and the people scattered their
+willow branches before the figure as it passed.</p>
+
+<p>Thursday before Easter Day was called Shere, or Maundy, Thursday.
+The first name is derived from the ancient custom of <i>shering</i> the
+head and clipping the beard on that day; and Maundy is a corruption
+of the Latin word <i>mandatum</i>, which means &quot;a command,&quot; and refers to
+the command of our Lord to imitate His example in the humility which
+He showed in washing the feet of His disciples. In memory of His
+lowly act the kings and queens of England used to wash the feet of a
+large number of poor men and women, and bestowed upon them gifts and
+money. This practice was continued until the reign of James II., and
+in our own day the Queen presents to a certain number of poor people
+bags of silver pennies, called Maundy money, which is coined for
+that special purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Many of my readers are familiar with the rhyme concerning &quot;Hot cross
+buns,&quot; but perhaps they are not acquainted with the superstition
+which our forefathers attached to them. A writer on Cornish customs
+says: &quot;In some of our farmhouses the Good Friday cake may be seen
+hanging to the bacon-rack, slowly but surely diminishing, until the
+return of the season replaces it by a fresh one. It is of sovereign
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page034" id="page034"></a>[pg 034]</span>good in all manner of diseases that may afflict the family, or
+flocks and herds. I have seen a little of this cake grated into a
+warm mash for a sick cow.&quot; Hot cross buns were supposed to have
+great power in preserving friendship. If two friends broke a bun in
+half exactly at the cross, while standing within the church-doors on
+Good Friday morning before service, and saying the words&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Half for you, and half for me,<br /></span>
+<span>Between us two good-will shall be. Amen,&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>then, so long as they kept their halves, no quarrel would arise
+between them. In the West of England it was considered very sinful
+to work on Good Friday, and woe betide the luckless housewife who
+did her washing on that day, for one of the family, it was believed,
+would surely die before the end of the year. There are many other
+superstitions attached to the day, such as the preserving of eggs
+laid on Good Friday, which were supposed to have power to extinguish
+fire; the making of cramp-rings out of the handles of coffins, which
+rings were blessed by the King of England as he crept on his knees
+to the cross, and were supposed to be preservatives against cramp.</p>
+
+<p>In old churchwardens' account-books we find such entries as the
+following&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;To the sextin for watching the sepulture two nyghts viii<i>d</i>.&quot;<br />
+<br />
+&quot;Paide to Roger Brock for watching of the sepulchre 8<i>d</i>.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page035" id="page035"></a>[pg 035]</span>
+<p>And as the nights were cold we find an additional item&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Paid more to said Roger Brock for syses and colles, 3<i>d.</i>&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>These entries allude to the ancient custom of erecting on Good
+Friday a small building to represent the Holy Sepulchre, and setting
+a person to watch for two nights in remembrance of the soldiers
+watching the grave in which our Lord's Body was laid. At the dawning
+of the Easter morn the bells rang joyously, and all was life and
+animation. The sun itself was popularly supposed to dance with joy
+on the Feast of the Resurrection. But the manners and customs,
+sports and pastimes, which were associated with Easter, I will
+reserve for my next chapter.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/035.png" name="fig035" id="fig035">
+<img  src="images/035-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page036" id="page036"></a>[pg 036]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/036.png" name="fig036" id="fig036">
+<img  src="images/036-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h4>APRIL.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;The spring clad all in gladness<br /></span>
+<span>Doth laugh at winter's sadness;<br /></span>
+<span>And to the bagpipe's sound<br /></span>
+<span>The nymphs tread out their ground.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Fie then, why sit we musing,<br /></span>
+<span>Youth's sweet delight refusing;<br /></span>
+<span>Say dainty nymphs, and speak:<br /></span>
+<span>Shall we play barley-breake?&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i9"><i>Old Ballad</i> (A.D. 1603).<br /></span>
+</div></div >
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Easter Customs&mdash;Pace Eggs&mdash;Handball in Churches&mdash;Sports
+confined to Special Localities&mdash;Stoolball and Barley-brake
+&mdash;Water Tournament&mdash;Quintain&mdash;Chester Sports&mdash;Hock-tide.
+</h4>
+
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterF.png" name="fig036f" id="fig036f">
+<img  src="images/LetterF-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter F" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">ROM the earliest days of Christianity Easter has always been
+celebrated with the greatest joy, and accounted the Queen of
+Festivals. Many curious customs are associated with this feast, some
+of which represented in a rude, primitive way the Resurrection of
+our Lord. There was an old Miracle Play which was performed at
+Easter; for we find in the churchwardens' books at<span class="pagenum"><a name="page037" id="page037"></a>[pg 037]</span>
+Kingston-upon-Thames, in the reign of Henry VIII., certain expenses
+for &quot;a skin of parchment and gunpowder for the play on Easter Day,&quot;
+for a player's coat, stage, and &quot;other things belonging to the
+play.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then there was the custom in the North of England of &quot;lifting&quot; or
+&quot;heaving,&quot; which was originally designed to represent our Saviour's
+Resurrection. On Easter Monday the men used to lift the women, whom
+they met, thrice above their heads into the air, and the women
+responded on Easter Tuesday, and lifted the men. This custom
+prevailed also in North Wales, Warwickshire, and Shropshire.</p>
+
+<p>The Pace Eggs, or <i>Pasche</i>, or <i>Paschal</i> Eggs, were originally
+intended to show forth the same truth, as the egg retaining the
+elements of future life was used as an emblem of the Resurrection.
+These Pace eggs were dyed, decorated with pretty devices, and
+presented by friends to each other. In the North of England, the
+home of so many of our old customs, the practice of giving Pace eggs
+still lingers on; and we find amongst the household expenses of King
+Edward I. an item of &quot;four hundred and a half of
+eggs&mdash;eighteenpence,&quot; which were purchased on Easter Day. The prices
+current in the thirteenth century for eggs would scarcely be deemed
+sufficient by our modern poultry-keepers!</p>
+
+<p>The decoration of churches and houses with flowers just risen from
+their winter sleep, the practice of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page038" id="page038"></a>[pg 038]</span>always wearing some part of the
+dress new on Easter Day, all seem to have had their origin in the
+holy lessons which cluster round the festival of the resurrection.
+An old writer tells us that it was the custom in some churches for
+the clergy to play at handball at this season; even bishops and
+archbishops took part in the pastime; but why they should profane
+God's house in this way we are at a loss to discover. The reward of
+the victors was a tansy-cake, so called from the bitter herb tansy,
+which was supposed to be beneficial after eating so much fish during
+Lent. Of the various kinds of games with balls I propose to treat in
+another chapter.</p>
+
+<p>At Easter there were numerous sports in vogue in different parts of
+the country. In olden times almost every county had its peculiar
+sport, which was regarded as a monopoly of that district. People did
+not work so hard in those days, and seem to have had more time and
+energy for ancient pastimes. Many of these old games have entirely
+vanished; others have left their old neighbourhoods, and received a
+hearty welcome all over the country. Berkshire and Somersetshire
+were the ancestral homes of cudgel-play, quarter-staff, and
+single-stick. Skating and pole-leaping were the characteristic
+sports of the fen country. Kent and Sussex were famous for their
+cricket; the northern counties for their football. Scotland rejoiced
+in golf, curling, and tossing the caber; while Cumberland and
+Westmoreland, Cornwall <span class="pagenum"><a name="page039" id="page039"></a>[pg 039]</span>and Devon, were noted for their vigorous and
+active wrestlers. Curling, tossing the caber<a name="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8"><sup>[8]</sup></a>, and wrestling have
+clung to their old homes; but the other sports have wandered far
+and wide, and are no longer confined to their native counties.</p>
+
+<p>At Easter the local favourite sport was renewed with zest and
+eagerness, and almost everywhere foot-races were run, the prize of
+the conqueror being a tansy-cake. Stoolball and barley-brake were
+also favourite games in this month, as Poor Robin says in his
+<i>Almanack</i> for 1677. Barley-brake seems to have been a very merry
+game, in which the ladies took part, and of which we find some very
+bright descriptions in the writings of some old English poets. The
+only science of the pastime consisted in one couple trying with
+&quot;waiting foot and watchful eye&quot; to catch the others and bear them
+off as captives.</p>
+
+<p>An old writer thus describes a water tournament, which seems to have
+been a popular pastime among the youths of London at Easter&mdash;&quot;They
+fight battels on the water. A shield is hanged upon a pole (this is
+a kind of quintain) fixed in the midst of the stream. A boat is
+prepared without oars, to be carried by the violence of the water,
+and in the fore-part thereof standeth a young man ready to give<span class="pagenum"><a name="page040" id="page040"></a>[pg 040]</span>
+charge upon the shield with his lance. If so be he break his lance
+against the shield, and do not fall, he is thought to have performed
+a worthy deed. If so be that, without breaking his lance, he
+runneth strongly against the shield, down he falleth into the water,
+for the boat is violently tossed with the tide; but on each side of
+the shield ride two boats furnished with young men, which recover
+him that falleth as soon as they may. Upon the bridge, wharves, and
+houses by the river-side, stand great numbers to see and laugh
+thereat.&quot; Stow thus describes the water tournament&mdash;&quot;I have seen
+also in the summer season, upon the river Thames, some rowed in
+wherries, with staves in their hands, flat at the fore-end, running
+one against the other; and for the most part, one or both of them
+were overthrown and well ducked.&quot; This sport on the water was a
+variety of the famous quintain, which was itself derived from the
+jousts or tournaments, only, instead of a human adversary, the
+knight or squire, riding on a horse, charged a shield or wooden
+figure attached to a piece of wood, which easily turned round upon
+the top of a post. At the other end of the wood was a heavy bag of
+sand, which, when the rider struck the shield with his lance, swung
+round and struck him with great force on the back if he did not ride
+fast and so escape his ponderous foe. There were other forms of this
+sport, which is so ancient that its origin has been lost in
+antiquity. Queen Elizabeth was very much <span class="pagenum"><a name="page041" id="page041"></a>[pg 041]</span>amused at Kenilworth Castle
+by the hard knocks which the inexpert riders received from the
+rotating sand-bag when they charged &quot;a comely quintane&quot; in her
+royal presence in the year 1575.</p>
+
+<p>A handsome quintain still stands on Offham village green, in Kent,
+although it is no longer used for the skilful practice of former
+days. It is the custom to hoist married men, who are not blest with
+children, on the quintain, which is made to revolve rapidly.
+Sometimes discontented and disobedient wives share the same fate.</p>
+
+<p>Chester was famous for its Easter sports, when the mayor with his
+mace, the corporation with twenty guilds, marched to the Rood-eye,
+to play at football. But &quot;inasmuch as great strife did arise among
+the young persons of the same city&quot; on account of the game, a change
+was made in the reign of Henry VIII., and foot-races and horse-races
+were substituted for the time-honoured football, and an arrow of
+silver was given to the best archer.</p>
+
+<p>But Easter sports are almost finished: however, we have not long to
+wait for another popular anniversary; for the famous Hock-tide
+sports always took place a fortnight after Easter, and much
+amusement, and profit also, were derived from the quaint observances
+of Hock Monday and Tuesday. The meaning of the word and the origin
+of the custom have been the subjects of much conjecture; but the
+festival is supposed to be held in remembrance of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page042" id="page042"></a>[pg 042]</span>victory of our
+Saxon forefathers over the Danes in the time of Ethelred. The custom
+was that on Hock Monday the men should go out into the streets and
+roads with cords, and stop and bind all the women they met,
+releasing them on payment of a small ransom. On the following day
+the women bound the men, and the proceeds were devoted to charitable
+purposes. It is to be noted that the women always extracted the most
+money, and in the old churchwardens' accounts we find frequent
+records of this strange method of collecting subscriptions&mdash;<i>e.g.</i>,
+St. Lawrence's, Reading, A.D. 1499:&mdash;&quot;Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd&quot; (gathered) &quot;of women xx<i>s</i>. Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd of men iiij<i>s</i>.&quot; We also find that the women had a supper
+given to them as a reward for their exertions, for there is the
+&quot;item for wives' supper at Hock-tide xxiij<i>d</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The observance of Hock-tide seems to have been particularly popular
+in the ancient town of Reading. At Coventry there was an &quot;old
+Coventry Play of Hock Tuesday,&quot; which was performed with great
+delight before Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth: the players divided
+themselves into two companies to represent the Saxons and the Danes:
+a great battle ensued, and by the help of the Saxon women the former
+were victorious, and led the Danes captive. The queen laughed much
+at the pageant, and gave the performers two bucks and five marks in
+money.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page043" id="page043"></a>[pg 043]</span>
+<p>So ends the month of sunshine and of shower; but the rustic youths
+are making ready for the morris-dance, and the merry milk-maids are
+preparing their ribbons to adorn themselves for the revels of May
+Day. The May-pole is being erected on the village green, and all is
+in readiness for the rejoicings of to-morrow.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/043.png" name="fig043" id="fig043">
+<img  src="images/043-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page044" id="page044"></a>[pg 044]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/044.jpg" name="fig044" id="fig044">
+<img  src="images/044-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h4>MAY.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Colin met Sylvia on the green<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Once on the charming first of May,<br /></span>
+<span>And shepherds ne'er tell false, I ween,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet 'twas by chance, the shepherds say.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Colin he bow'd and blush'd, then said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Will you, sweet maid, this first of May,<br /></span>
+<span>Begin the dance by Colin led,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To make this quite his holiday?'<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Sylvia replied, 'I ne'er from home<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet ventur'd, till this first of May;<br /></span>
+<span>It is not fit for maids to roam,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And make a shepherd's holiday.'<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;'It is most fit,' replied the youth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'That Sylvia should this first of May<br /></span>
+<span>By me be taught that love and truth<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Can make of life a holiday.'&quot;&mdash;<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Lady Craven.</span><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>May Day Festivities&mdash;May-pole&mdash;Morris-dancers&mdash;The Book of
+Sports&mdash;Bowling&mdash;Beating the Bounds&mdash;George Herbert's
+description of a Country Parson.
+</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterT.png" name="fig044t" id="fig044t">
+<img  src="images/LetterT-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter T" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">HE spring has dawned with all its brightness and beauty; the
+nightingale's song is heard, and all nature seems to rejoice in the
+sweet spring-time. Our forefathers delighted, too, in the advent of
+the bright month of May, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page045" id="page045"></a>[pg 045]</span>which the old poets used to compare to a
+maiden clothed in sunshine dancing to the music of birds and brooks;
+and May Day was the great rural festival of the year.</p>
+
+<p>Long before the break of day, men and women, old and young, of all
+classes, used to assemble and hurry away to the woods and groves to
+gather the blooming hawthorn and spring flowers, and laden with
+their spoils returned when the sun rose, with merry shouts and
+horn-blowings, and adorned every door and window in the village. The
+poet Herrick sings of this pleasant beginning to the day's
+festivities. Addressing a maiden named Corinna, he says&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Come, my Corinna, come, and coming mark<br /></span>
+<span>How each field turns a street, and each street a park,<br /></span>
+<span>Made green and trimmed with trees; see how<br /></span>
+<span>Devotion gives each house a bough<br /></span>
+<span>Or branch; each porch, each door, ere this<br /></span>
+<span>An ark, a tabernacle is<br /></span>
+<span>Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The men blew cow-horns to usher in the spring, and the maids carried
+garlands to hang them in the churches; while at Oxford the
+choristers of Magdalen College assemble at the top of the tower at
+early dawn, and sing hymns of thankfulness because spring has come
+again. This pleasing custom is still observed every year on the
+first of May.</p>
+
+<p>But let us away to the village green, where the May-pole is being
+adorned with a few finishing <span class="pagenum"><a name="page046" id="page046"></a>[pg 046]</span>touches, and is covered with flowers
+and ribbons. It has been carried here by twenty or thirty yoke of
+oxen, their horns decorated with sweet flowers, and then, with
+shouts and laughter, and with song, the young men raise the massive
+pole with handkerchiefs and flags streaming on the top, and the
+rustic feast and dance begin.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">&quot;The May-pole is up,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Now give me the cup,<br /></span>
+<span>I'll drink to the garlands around it;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But first unto those<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whose hands did compose<br /></span>
+<span>The glory of flowers that crown'd it.&quot;<a name="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9"><sup>[9]</sup></a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>A company of morris-dancers approach, and a circle is made round the
+May-pole in which they can perform. First comes a man dressed in a
+green tunic, with a bow, arrows, and bugle-horn, who represents
+Robin Hood, and by his side, attended by some maidens, walks Maid
+Marian, the May Queen.<a name="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> Will Stukeley, Little John, and other
+companions of the famous outlaw, are represented; and last, but not
+least, comes the hobby-horse&mdash;a man with a light wooden framework
+representing a horse about him, covered with trappings reaching to
+the ground, so as to prevent the man's feet from being seen. The
+hobby-horse careered about, pranced and curveted, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page047" id="page047"></a>[pg 047]</span>to the great
+amusement of the company. The morris-dancers are adorned with bells,
+which jingle merrily as they dance. But a formidable-looking dragon
+approaches, which hisses and flaps his wings, and looks very fierce,
+making the hobby-horse kick and rear frantically. When the animals
+have wearied themselves, the maidens dance again, and the archers
+set up their targets on the lower end of the green, where a close
+contest ensues, and after many shots the victor is crowned with a
+laurel wreath.</p>
+
+<p>Such were some of the sights and sounds of May Day in olden times.
+But the Puritans, who slew their king, Charles I., were very much
+opposed to all joyousness and mirth, and one of their first acts
+when they came into power was to put down the May-pole. They ordered
+that all May-poles (which they called &quot;a heathenish vanity,
+generally abused to superstition and wickedness&quot;) shall be taken
+down by the constables and churchwardens, and that the said officers
+be fined five shillings till the said May-poles be taken down. So
+the merry May songs were hushed for many a long year, until Charles
+II. was restored to his throne, and then the stately pole was reared
+once more, and Robin Hood and his merry crew began their sports
+again. But times change, and we change with them: customs pass away,
+and with them have long vanished the May-pole and its bright group
+of light-hearted rustics. An American writer who visited this
+country thus describes his <span class="pagenum"><a name="page048" id="page048"></a>[pg 048]</span>feeling when he saw an old May-pole still
+standing at Chester&mdash;&quot;I shall never forget my delight. My fancy
+adorned it with wreaths of flowers, and peopled the green bank with
+all the dancing revelry of May Day. I value every custom that tends
+to infuse poetical feeling into the common people, and to sweeten
+and soften the rudeness of rustic manners without destroying their
+simplicity. Indeed, it is to the decline of this happy simplicity
+that the decline of this custom may be traced, and the rural dance
+on the green, and the homely May-day pageant, have gradually
+disappeared in proportion as the peasantry have become expensive and
+artificial in their pleasures, and too knowing for simple enjoyment.
+Some attempts, indeed, have been made by men of both taste and
+learning to rally back the popular feeling to their standards of
+primitive simplicity; but the time has gone by, the feeling has
+become chilled by habits of gain and traffic, the country apes the
+manners and amusements of the town, and little is heard of May Day
+at present, except from the lamentations of authors, who sigh after
+it from among the brick walls of the city.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The name of the parish of St. Andrew <i>Undershaft</i> records the place
+where the city May-pole, or <i>shaft,</i> was erected, and <i>Shaft Alley</i>
+the place where it lay when it was not required for use.</p>
+
+<p>The proclamation of James I., called the &quot;Book of Sports,&quot; which was
+renewed by King Charles I., <span class="pagenum"><a name="page049" id="page049"></a>[pg 049]</span>throws some light upon the sports in
+vogue during his reign. It was enacted &quot;for his good people's lawful
+recreation, after the end of Divine service, that his good people
+be not disturbed, or discouraged, from any lawful recreation, such
+as dancing for men and women, archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or
+any such harmless recreations; nor from having May games, Whitsun
+ales, and morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles, and other
+sports therewith used, so as the same be had in due and convenient
+time, without impediment or neglect of Divine service. And that
+women shall have leave to carry rushes to the church for the
+decorating of it, according to their old custom. But withal his
+Majesty doth hereby account still as prohibited all unlawful games
+to be used on Sundays only, as bear and bull-baiting, interludes,
+and at all times in the meaner sort of people by law prohibited,
+bowling.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Why his Majesty should have been so very severe on the game of
+bowls, which is a very ancient pastime, and innocent enough, is not
+at first quite clear; but it appears that the numerous
+bowling-alleys in London were, in the sixteenth century, the resorts
+of very bad company, and the nests of gambling and vice. Hence the
+severity of King James' strictures on bowling.</p>
+
+<p>The people of Lancashire in the time of James I. were as devoted to
+sports and amusement as they are now; and when the king was making a
+progress <span class="pagenum"><a name="page050" id="page050"></a>[pg 050]</span>through Lancashire, &quot;he received a petition from some
+servants, labourers, mechanics, and other vulgar persons,
+complaining that they were debarred from dancing, playing,
+church-ales&mdash;in a word, from all recreations on Sundays after Divine
+service.&quot; King James hated Puritanism and loved recreation; so he
+readily granted the petition of the Lancashire folk, and issued a
+proclamation encouraging Sunday pastimes, which is known as the
+famous &quot;Book of Sports.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In Ireland on May Day Bale-fires are lighted, and to this day young
+men jump through the flames, and children are passed across the
+embers, in order to secure them good luck during the coming year. On
+this day, too, the Irish kings are supposed to rise from their
+graves and gather together a ghostly army of rude warriors to fight
+for their country. The wild cries of the shadowy host, the clashing
+of shields, and the sound of drums are said to have been heard
+during the period of the last rebellion in Ireland.</p>
+
+<p>On one of the Rogation Days, or on Ascension Day, it was the custom
+to go in procession round the boundaries of the parish to ask God's
+blessing on the fruits of the earth, and as there were few maps and
+divisions of land, to call to mind and pass on to the next
+generation the boundaries of the township or village. The choir sang
+hymns, and under certain trees, which were called Gospel Trees, the
+clergyman read the Gospel for the day, with a litany and prayers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page051" id="page051"></a>[pg 051]</span>
+Sometimes boys were whipped, or bumped against trees, or thrown into
+a river, in order to impress upon them where the boundaries were.
+But they received a substantial recompense afterwards, and the
+whole company, when the procession was over, sat down to the
+perambulation dinner, and talked about their recollections of former
+days.</p>
+
+<p>The advantages of this practice are set forth in George Herbert's
+description of a country parson. He says, &quot;The country parson is a
+lover of old customs, if they be good and harmless. Particularly he
+loves procession, and maintains it, because there are contained in
+it four manifest advantages, 1. A blessing of God for the fruits of
+the earth. 2. Justice in the preservation of bounds. 3. Charity, in
+loving, walking, and neighbourly accompanying one another, with
+reconciling of differences at that time, if there be any. 4. Mercy,
+in relieving the poor by a liberal distribution and largess, which
+at that time is, or ought to be, used. Wherefore he exacts of all to
+be present at the perambulation, and those that withdraw and sever
+themselves from it he mislikes, and rebukes as uncharitable and
+unneighbourly; and if they will not reform, presents them&quot; (<i>i.e.</i>
+to the bishop for censure).</p>
+
+<p>This custom is still preserved, or has been revived, in many
+parishes, and at Oxford the boys may be seen on Ascension Day
+bearing white willow-wands, and beating the bounds of some of the
+old city parishes.</p>
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page052" id="page052"></a>[pg 052]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/052.jpg" name="fig052" id="fig052">
+<img  src="images/052-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h4>JUNE.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i3">&quot;The woods, or some near town<br /></span>
+<span>That is a neighbour to the bordering down,<br /></span>
+<span>Hath drawn them thither, 'bout some lusty sport,<br /></span>
+<span>Or spiced wassel-bowl, to which resort<br /></span>
+<span>All the young men and maids of many a cote,<br /></span>
+<span>Whilst the trim minstrell strikes his merry note.&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i7"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Fletcher</span>, <i>The Faithful Shepherdess</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Whitsuntide Sports&mdash;Church-ales&mdash;Church-house&mdash;Quarter-staff
+&mdash;Whistling and Jingling Matches&mdash;St. John's Eve&mdash;Wrestling.
+</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterA.png" name="fig052a" id="fig052a">
+<img  src="images/LetterA-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter A" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">FTER May Day our villagers had not long to wait until the
+Whitsuntide holiday came round. This holiday was notorious for the
+&quot;Church-ales,&quot; which were held at this season. These feasts were a
+means of raising money for charitable purposes. If the church needed
+a new roof, or some poor people were in sad straits, the villagers
+would decide to have a &quot;Church-ale&quot;; generally four times a year the
+feast was given, and always at Whitsuntide. The churchwardens
+bought, and received presents of, a large quantity of malt, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page053" id="page053"></a>[pg 053]</span>
+they brewed into beer, and sold to the company, and any inhabitant
+of the parish who did not attend had to pay a fine. Every one who
+was able contributed something to the entertainment. The feast was
+held in the church-house, a building which stood near the church.
+This was the scene of many social gatherings, and is thus described
+by an old writer&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="note"><p>&quot;In every parish was a church-house, to which belonged
+     spits, crocks, and other utensils for dressing provisions.
+     Here the housekeepers met. The young people were there,
+     too, and had dancing, bowling, shooting at butts, &amp;c., the
+     ancients (<i>i.e.</i> the old folk) sitting gravely by and
+     looking on. All things were civil, and without scandal.
+     The church-ale is, doubtless, derived from the Agapai or
+     Love Feasts, mentioned in the New Testament.&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>Whether the learned writer was right in his conjecture we cannot be
+quite certain, but church-ales subsequently degenerated into
+something quite different from New Testament injunctions, and were
+altogether prohibited on account of the excess to which they gave
+rise. Let us hope that all these feasts were not so bad as they were
+represented, and indeed in early times great reverence was attached
+to them, which prevented excess. The neighbours, too, would come in
+from the adjoining parishes and share the feast. An arbour of boughs
+was erected in the churchyard, called Robin Hood's Bower, where the
+maidens collected money for the &quot;ales&quot; in the same <span class="pagenum"><a name="page054" id="page054"></a>[pg 054]</span>way which they
+employed at Hock-tide, and which was called &quot;Hocking.&quot; The old books
+of St. Lawrence's Church, Reading (to which I have before
+referred), contain a record of this custom&mdash;&quot;1505 A.D. Item.
+Received of the maidens' gathering at Whitsuntide by the tree at the
+church door, ij<sup>s</sup>.vi<sup>d</sup>.&quot; The morris-dancers and minstrels, the
+ballad-singers and players, were in great force on these occasions,
+and were entertained at the cost of the parish. In the
+churchwardens' account of St. Mary's, Reading, we find in the year
+1557&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="note"><p>&quot;Item&mdash;paid to Morris-dancers and the Minstrels,
+meat and drink at Whitsuntide&mdash;iii<sup>s</sup>.iiii<sup>d</sup>.&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>When the feasting had ended, archery, running races in sacks,
+grinning through a horse-collar (each competitor trying to make the
+most ludicrous grimaces), afforded amusement to the light-hearted
+spectators.</p>
+
+<p>The game of quarter-staff is an old pastime which was a great
+favourite among the rustics of Berkshire. The quarter-staff is a
+tough piece of wood about eight feet long, which the player grasped
+in the middle with one hand, while with the other he kept a loose
+hold midway between the middle and one end. The object of the game
+was, to use the forcible language of the time, to &quot;break the head&quot;
+of the opponent. On the White Horse Hill, where Alfred fought
+against the Danes, and carved out on the hill-side the White Horse
+as a memorial of his victory, many a rural sport has been played,
+and at the periodical &quot;scourings of the Horse&quot; many a Berkshire head
+broken to see who was the noted champion of the game. An old
+parishioner of mine, James of Sandhurst, was once the hero of
+quarter-staff in the early part of the century. The whistling match
+was not so dangerous a contest; the prize was conferred upon the
+whistler who could whistle clearest, and go through his tune while a
+clown, or merry-andrew, made laughable grimaces before him.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page055" id="page055"></a>[pg 055]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/055.jpg" name="fig055" id="fig055">
+<img  src="images/055-thumb.jpg"
+alt="QUARTER-STAFF." /></a>
+<h5>QUARTER-STAFF.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page056" id="page056"></a>[pg 056]</span>
+<p>Another diversion common at these country gatherings was the
+jingling match. A large circle was inclosed with ropes, in which the
+players took their place. All were blindfolded with the exception of
+one, who was the jingler, and who carried a bell in each hand, which
+he was obliged to keep ringing. His object was to elude the pursuit
+of his blinded companions, and he won the prize if he was still free
+when the play ceased. It was an amusing sight to see the men trying
+to catch the active jingler, running into each other's arms, and
+catching every one but the right one. When the jingling match was
+over, a pig with a short, well-soaped tail was turned out for the
+people to run after, and he who could hold it by the tail without
+touching any other part obtained it for his pains. There was also a
+game called Pigeon-holes, which appears to have been somewhat
+similar to our present game of bagatelle.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page057" id="page057"></a>[pg 057]</span>
+<p>And so with laughter and with song the feast ended, the evening
+shadows fell around, and the happy rustics retired to their humble
+thatched-roofed homes. The proceeds of these church-ales were often
+considerable. &quot;There were no rates for the poor in my grandfather's
+time,&quot; says one writer, &quot;the church-ale of Whitsuntide did the
+business&quot;; and whether the parishioners had to pay a tax for the
+support of the King's army, or to repair the church, or to maintain
+some orphan children, it was generally found &quot;that something still
+remained to cover the bottom of the purse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Of the &quot;mysteries,&quot; or miracle plays, as they were called, which
+were performed in towns on Corpus Christi Day and at other times, I
+propose to write in another chapter; and we will now proceed to the
+hillsides near our villages on the eve of St. John's Day, when we
+should witness the lighting of large bonfires, and some curious
+customs connected with that ceremony. Both the old and the young
+people used to sally forth from the village to some neighbouring
+height, and there, amidst much laughter and with many a shout, they
+lighted the large bonfire. Then they danced round the blazing logs,
+and afterwards leaped through the flames, and at the close of the
+ceremony each person brought away with him a burning branch. This
+rite appears to have been a relic of Paganism. Probably the fire was
+originally lighted in honour of the sun, which our forefathers
+worshipped <span class="pagenum"><a name="page058" id="page058"></a>[pg 058]</span>before they became Christians. The leaping through the
+flames had also a superstitious meaning, and the simple people
+thought that in this way they could ward off evil spirits and
+prevent sickness. The Roman shepherds used to leap through the
+Midsummer blaze in honour of Pales. The Scandinavians lit their
+bonfires in honour of their gods Odin and Thor, and the leaping
+through the flames reminds us of the worshippers of Baal and Moloch,
+who, as we read in the Bible, used to &quot;pass their children through
+the fire&quot; in awe of their cruel god. St. John's Day, or Midsummer
+Day (June 24th), was chosen because on that day the sun reaches its
+highest point in the zodiac. There is, however, another
+interpretation of the meaning of the fires on St. John's Day, as
+illustrating the verse which speaks of him &quot;as a burning and a
+shining light&quot; (St. John v. 35); but this interpretation was
+probably invented by some pious divine who endeavoured to attach a
+Christian meaning to an ancient heathen custom. The connection of
+the ceremony with the old worship of the sun is indisputable. Its
+practice was very general in nearly all European nations, and in not
+very remote times from Norway to the shores of the Mediterranean the
+glow of St. John's fires might have been seen. The Emperor
+Charlemagne in the ninth century forbade the custom as a heathen
+rite, but the Church endeavoured to win over the custom from its
+Pagan associations and to attach to it a Christian signification. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page059" id="page059"></a>[pg 059]</span>In
+the island of Jersey the older inhabitants used to light fires under
+large iron pots full of water, in which they placed silver
+articles&mdash;as spoons, mugs, &amp;c., and then knocked the silver against
+the iron with the idea of scaring away all evil spirits.<a name="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a>
+Sometimes bones were burnt in the fire, for we are told in a quaint
+homily on the Feast of St. John Baptist, that bones scared away the
+evil spirits in the air, since &quot;wise clerks know well that dragons
+hate nothing more than the stink of burning bones, and therefore the
+country folk gather as many as they might find, and burned them; and
+so with the stench thereof they drove away the dragons, and so they
+were brought out of great disease.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In some most remote northern parts of England the farmer lights a
+wisp of straw, which he carries round his fields to protect them
+from the tare and darnel, the devil and witches. In some places they
+used to cover a wheel with straw, set it on fire, and roll it down a
+hill. A learned writer on antiquities tells us that the people
+imagined that all their ill-luck rolled away from them together with
+this burning wheel. All these customs are relics of the old fire and
+sun worship, to which our forefathers were addicted. Wrestling,
+running races, and dancing were afterwards practised by the
+villagers. Wrestling is a very ancient sport, and the men of
+Cornwall and Devon, of Westmoreland and Cumberland, were famous <span class="pagenum"><a name="page060" id="page060"></a>[pg 060]</span>for
+their skill. A &quot;Cornish hug&quot; is by no means a tender embrace.
+Sometimes the people bore back to their homes boughs of trees, with
+which they adorned their doors and windows. At Oxford the
+quadrangle of Magdalen College was decorated with boughs on St.
+John's Day, and a sermon preached from the stone pulpit in the
+corner of the quadrangle; this was meant to represent the preaching
+of St. John the Baptist in the wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>At length the villagers, wearied with their exertions, retire to
+their cottage homes, marching in procession from the scene of their
+observances; and silence reigns o'er the village for a few short
+hours, till the sunlight summons them to their daily toil.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/060.png" name="fig060" id="fig060">
+<img  src="images/060-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page061" id="page061"></a>[pg 061]</span>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/061.png" name="fig061" id="fig061">
+<img  src="images/061-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h4>JULY.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Swift o'er the mead with lightning speed<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The bounding ball flies on;<br /></span>
+<span>And hark! the cries of victory rise<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For the gallant team that's won.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<h4>Cricket&mdash;Club-ball&mdash;Trap-ball&mdash;Golf&mdash;Pall-mall&mdash;Tennis&mdash;
+Rush-bearing</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterA.png" name="fig061a" id="fig061a">
+<img  src="images/LetterA-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter A" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">T this time of the year all the cricket-clubs in town and
+village
+are very busy, and matches are being played everywhere. It may not
+therefore be inappropriate if I tell you in this chapter of the
+history of that game which has become so universally popular
+wherever our countrymen live. On the plains of India, in Australia
+(as some of our English cricketers have learnt to their cost), in
+Egypt, wherever Englishmen go, there cricket finds a home and a
+hearty welcome. But it is not nearly so ancient a game as others
+which I have already mentioned, although it had some fairly old
+parents, simple and humble-minded folk, who would have been greatly
+astonished to see the extraordinary development of their precocious
+offspring.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page062" id="page062"></a>[pg 062]</span>
+<p>Kent and Sussex were the ancestral homes of cricket, which is thus
+described by an old writer&mdash;&quot;A game most usual in Kent, with a
+cricket-ball bowled and struck with two cricket-bats between two
+wickets. The name is derived from the Saxon word <i>cryc</i>, baculus, a
+bat or staff; which also signifies fulcimentum, a support or prop,
+whence a cricket or little stool to sit upon. Cricket play among the
+Saxons was also called <i>stef-plege</i> (staff-play).&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I fear that our old writer must have made a great mistake if he
+imagined that the Saxons ever played cricket, and I believe that the
+word was not known before the sixteenth century. In the records of
+Guildford we find that a dispute arose about the enclosure of a
+piece of land in the time of Elizabeth; and in the suit that arose
+one John Derrick stated in his evidence that he knew the place well
+&quot;for fifty years or more, and that when he was a scholar in the free
+school at Guildford he and several of his companions did run and
+play there at cricket and other plays.&quot; Also in Cotgrave's French
+Dictionary, published in 1611, the word <i>crosse</i> is translated &quot;a
+cricket-staff, or the crooked-staff wherewith boys play at cricket.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the eighteenth century allusions to the game become more
+frequent, although it was still a boy's game. It had its poet, who
+sang&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Hail, cricket, glorious, manly, British game,<br /></span>
+<span>First of all sports, be first alike in fame.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It had its calumniators, who said that it &quot;propagated <span class="pagenum"><a name="page063" id="page063"></a>[pg 063]</span>a spirit of
+idleness&quot; in bad times, when people ought to work and not play, and
+that it encouraged gambling. But the game began to prosper, and
+several noted men, poets and illustrious statesmen, recall the
+pleasurable memories of their prowess with the bat and ball. In a
+book of songs called <i>Pills to purge Melancholy</i>, published in 1719,
+we find the verse&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;He was the prettiest fellow<br /></span>
+<span>At football or at cricket:<br /></span>
+<span>At hunting chase or nimble race<br /></span>
+<span>How featly he could prick it.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In the early part of the eighteenth century the game was in a very
+rudimentary condition, very different from the scientific pastime it
+has since become. There were only two wickets, a foot high and two
+feet apart, with one long bail at the top. Between the wickets there
+was a hole large enough to contain the ball, and when the batsman
+made a run, he had to place the end of his bat in this hole before
+the wicket-keeper could place the ball there, otherwise he would be
+&quot;run out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The bat, too, was a curved, crooked arrangement very different from
+our present weapon. The Hambledon Club, in Hampshire, which has
+produced some famous players, seems to have been mainly instrumental
+in reforming and improving the game. Its members introduced a limit
+to the width of the bat, viz., four and a quarter inches&mdash;the
+standard still in force&mdash;in order to prevent players, such as a hero
+from <span class="pagenum"><a name="page064" id="page064"></a>[pg 064]</span>Reigate, bringing bats as wide as the wicket. In 1775 they
+wisely introduced a middle stump, as they found the best balls
+harmlessly flying between the wide wickets. It was feared lest this
+alteration would shorten the game too much, but it does not seem to
+have had that effect, as in an All England match against the
+Hambledon Club, two years later, one Aylward scored 167 runs, and
+stayed in two whole days. England owes much to the old Club at
+Hambledon for the improvements which it wrought in the game, which
+has become our great national pastime.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Mitford, in her charming book, <i>Our Village</i>, describes the
+rivalry which existed between the village elevens at the beginning
+of the nineteenth century, and gives a sketch of a match between two
+Berkshire village teams, which brought about some very happy results
+of a romantic nature. She tells us, too, of the comments of the
+rustics on the &quot;new-fashioned&quot; style of bowling which one of the
+team had introduced from London, which did not at all commend itself
+to them, but effectually took their wickets. When that celebrated
+company of cricketers, dressed in frock-coats and tall hats, whose
+portraits adorn many a pavilion, competed for the honour of All
+England, they were quite ignorant of &quot;round-arm&quot; bowling, which is,
+of course, an invention of modern times. Only &quot;lobs,&quot; or
+&quot;under-hands,&quot; were the order of the day. It has been stated that we
+are indebted to the ladies for the important discovery of the modern
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page065" id="page065"></a>[pg 065]</span>style of delivering the ball. The story may be legendary, but I have
+read somewhere that the elder Lillywhite used to practise cricket
+all through the winter, and that his daughters used to bowl to him.
+During the bitter cold of a winter's day they wore their shawls, and
+found it more convenient to bowl with extended arms than in the old
+method. Their balls so delivered used to puzzle their father, and
+often take his wicket; so he began to imitate them, and introduced
+his new method into matches, and thus the age of round-arm bowling
+was inaugurated. I cannot vouch for the truth of the story, and only
+tell it as it was told to me.<a name="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> At any rate Lillywhite was the
+father of modern bowling, which would have startled and considerably
+puzzled the veteran cricketers in the early part of the present
+century.</p>
+
+<p>The proper parent of cricket seems to have been club-ball, which is
+a very old game, and of which there is a picture in the Bodleian
+Library at Oxford, dated 1344 A.D. It represents a female throwing a
+ball to a man who is in the act of raising his bat to strike it.
+Behind the woman, at a little distance, appear several other figures
+of men and women waiting attentively to catch or stop the ball when
+hit by the batsman. There is a still more ancient picture of two
+club-ball players, representing the batsman holding the ball also
+and preparing to hit it, while the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page066" id="page066"></a>[pg 066]</span>other player holds his hands in
+readiness to catch the ball. He has the appearance of a very careful
+fielder. Here we have the rudimentary idea of cricket; but how they
+scored their game, what rules they had, we cannot determine.
+Stool-ball claims also to be an ancestor of cricket, and consists in
+one player defending a stool with his hand from being hit by a ball
+bowled by another player. Here is a simple form of the modern game,
+the stool being used as a wicket, and the hand for a bat.</p>
+
+<p>Trap-ball is a much older game than cricket, and can be traced to
+the beginning of the fourteenth century. The modern game differs
+little from that which the old pictures describe, except in the
+shape of the trap which holds the ball. But the most ancient of all
+games of this nature is golf, or goff (as it used to be spelt),
+which was played with a crooked club or staff, sometimes called a
+bandy. Scotsmen are very fond of this game, which has lately
+migrated into England and found many admirers. It was probably
+introduced into Scotland from Holland, and was a popular pastime as
+early as 1457. In spite of proclamations encouraging archery, and
+forbidding golf, it continued to flourish; it has a long list of
+royal patrons; and the Stuart monarchs seem to have been as
+enthusiastic over the game as all true golfers ought to be. Poets
+have sung the praises of golf, and the glory of the heroes who drove
+their balls along St. Andrew's Links, or those of East Neuk. The
+object of the game is to drive the ball into certain holes in the
+fewest number of strokes. James II. was an expert golfer, and had
+only one rival, an Edinburgh shoemaker, named Paterson.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page067" id="page067"></a>[pg 067]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/067.jpg" name="fig067" id="fig067">
+<img  src="images/067-thumb.jpg"
+alt="PALL-MALL." /></a>
+<h5>PALL-MALL.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page068" id="page068"></a>[pg 068]</span>
+<p>If you have visited London you will probably have walked along the
+street called Pall Mall, which name is derived from an old game
+fashionable in the reign of Charles II. The merry monarch and his
+courtiers frequently amused themselves with this game, which
+somewhat resembled golf, and consisted in driving a ball by means of
+a mallet through an iron hoop suspended from the ground in the
+fewest blows. The game was played in St. James's Park, where the
+street which bears its name now runs.</p>
+
+<p>Tennis also has a history. It commenced its career as hand-ball, the
+ball being driven backwards and forwards with the palm of the hand.
+Then the players used gloves, and afterwards bound cords round their
+hands to make the ball rebound more forcibly. Here we have the
+primitive idea of a racket. France seems to have been the original
+home of tennis, which in the thirteenth century was played in
+unenclosed spaces; but in the fourteenth it migrated to the towns,
+and walls enclosed the motions of the ball. In Paris alone there
+were said to be eighteen hundred tennis-courts. In the sixteenth
+century there were several covered tennis-courts in England, and
+some of our English monarchs were very devoted to the game. Henry
+VII. used to play tennis, and there is a record of his having lost
+twelvepence at tennis, and threepence for the loss of balls. Henry
+VIII. was also very fond of the game, and lost much money at wagers
+with certain Frenchmen; but, like a sensible man, &quot;when he perceived
+their craft he eschewed their company, and let them go.&quot; He built
+the famous court at Hampton, which still remains. Charles II. also
+played tennis. The old game is very different from the modern
+lawn-tennis which is now so popular: it was always the game of the
+select few, and not of the many, like its precocious offspring; and
+there are only thirty-one tennis-courts in England at the present
+day. The court attached to the palace of the French King Louis XVI.
+at Versailles was the scene of some very exciting meetings in the
+early days of the French Revolution in 1789.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page069" id="page069"></a>[pg 069]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/069.jpg" name="fig069" id="fig069">
+<img  src="images/069-thumb.jpg"
+alt="PALL-MALL." /></a>
+<h5>PALL-MALL.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page070" id="page070"></a>[pg 070]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/070.jpg" name="fig070" id="fig070">
+<img  src="images/070-thumb.jpg"
+alt="TENNIS." /></a>
+<h5>TENNIS.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page071" id="page071"></a>[pg 071]</span>
+<p>There were some other forms of ball-play, such as balloon-ball,
+stow-ball, &amp;c.; but of these it is hardly needful for me to speak,
+as they are only varieties of those games which I have already
+described. The history of football has been narrated in a preceding
+chapter. You will be able to trace from the descriptions of these
+old sports the ancestors of our noble game of cricket, and wonder at
+the extraordinary development of so scientific a game from such rude
+and simple beginnings.</p>
+
+<p>The floors of the houses and churches of old England consisted
+simply of the hard, dry earth, which the people covered with rushes;
+and once a year there was a great ceremony called &quot;Rush-bearing,&quot;
+when the inhabitants of each village or town went in procession to
+the church to strew the floor with newly-cut rushes. The company
+went to a neighbouring marsh and cut the rushes, binding them in
+long bundles, and decorating them with ribands and flowers. Then a
+procession was formed, every one bearing a bundle of rushes; and
+with <span class="pagenum"><a name="page072" id="page072"></a>[pg 072]</span>music, drums, and ringing of bells they marched to the church,
+and strewed the floor with their honoured burdens. Long after the
+rushes ceased to be used in churches the ceremony was continued,
+and I have witnessed a rush-bearing procession such as I have
+described. There was a rush-cart with a large pile of decorated
+rush-sheaves, and some characters from the May-day games were
+introduced. A queen sat under a canopy of rushes, a few
+morris-dancers performed their antics, and a jester amused the
+spectators with his quaint sayings. A village feast, followed by
+dancing round a May-pole, generally formed the conclusion of the
+day's festivities. In 1884 this pleasant custom was revived at
+Grasmere in the Lake district, when the children of the village
+carried out a &quot;rush-bearing&quot; after the manner of their forefathers,
+and the village green again resounded with songs of joy.</p>
+
+<p>I fear that our ancestors were not always very cleanly people; they
+seldom washed their floors, and therefore they were obliged to adopt
+some device to hide their uncleanliness. The old rushes were not
+taken away before the new ones were brought in; hence the lowest
+layer became filthy, and one writer attributes the frequent
+pestilences which often broke out to the dirtiness of their floors
+and the masses of filthy rushes lying upon them. Perhaps some of the
+wise folks in Lancashire discovered this, for we find the following
+entry in the account books of Kirkham <span class="pagenum"><a name="page073" id="page073"></a>[pg 073]</span>Church, 1631&mdash;&quot;Paid for
+carrying the rushes out of the Church in the sickness time, 5.<i>s</i>.
+0<i>d</i>.&quot; Straw was used in winter: it would seem very strange to us
+to have our floors covered with straw, like a stable!</p>
+
+<p>In this matter of cleanliness we have certainly improved upon the
+habits of our forefathers: dirty cottages are the exception, and not
+the rule, as they were in the days of &quot;good Queen Bess&quot;; and the
+absence of those terrible plagues which used to devastate our land
+in former times is due in a great measure to the improved
+cleanliness and more careful regard for sanitation by the people of
+England.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/073.png" name="fig073" id="fig073">
+<img  src="images/073-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page074" id="page074"></a>[pg 074]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/074.png" name="fig074" id="fig074">
+<img  src="images/074-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h4>AUGUST.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Crowned with the ears of corn, now come,<br /></span>
+<span>And to the pipe sing harvest home.<br /></span>
+<span>Come forth, my lord, and see the cart<br /></span>
+<span>Dressed up with all the country art:<br /></span>
+<span>The horses, mares, and frisking fillies<br /></span>
+<span>Clad all in linen white as lilies.<br /></span>
+<span>The harvest swains and wenches bound<br /></span>
+<span>For joy, to see the hock-cart crowned.&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i9"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Herrick's </span><i>Hesperides</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Lammas Day&mdash;St. Roch's Day&mdash;Harvest-home&mdash;&quot;Ten-pounding&quot;&mdash;
+Sheep-shearing&mdash;&quot;Wakes&quot;&mdash;Fairs.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterT.png" name="fig074t" id="fig074t">
+<img  src="images/LetterT-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter T" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">HE harvest fields have begun to ripen, and the corn will soon be
+ready for the sickle; of this fact our forefathers were reminded by
+the Lammas Festival, which was celebrated on the first of this
+month. <i>Lammas</i> is a shortened form of the word Loaf-mass, or feast
+of the loaf. A loaf of bread was made of the first-ripe corn, and
+used in Holy Communion on this day; so this feast was a preliminary
+harvest thanksgiving festival<span class="pagenum"><a name="page075" id="page075"></a>[pg 075]</span>&mdash;a feast of &quot;first-fruits,&quot; such as
+the Jews were commanded in the old Mosaic law to observe. </p>
+
+<p>When the harvest was gathered in there were great festivities, and
+it has been thought that August 16th, St. Roch's Day, was generally
+observed as the harvest-home. St. Roch, or Roque, was a Frenchman,
+who lived in the early part of the fourteenth century, and was
+supposed to have performed miraculous cures, but August 16th seems
+to have been rather early in the year for a harvest-home. However,
+when the feast of ingathering did take place, there were great
+rejoicings in our English villages, and the mode of its celebration
+helped to knit together the masters and labourers, and to promote
+good feeling between them.</p>
+
+<p>When the fields were almost cleared of the golden grain, the last
+few sheaves were decorated with flowers and ribbons, and brought
+home in a waggon, called the &quot;Hock-cart,&quot; while the labourers, their
+wives and children, carrying green boughs, sheaves of wheat and rude
+flags, formed a glad procession. All the pipes and tabors in the
+village sounded, and shouts of laughter and of song were raised as
+the glad procession marched along. They sang&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Harvest-home, harvest-home,<br /></span>
+<span>We have ploughed, we have sowed,<br /></span>
+<span>We have reaped, we have mowed,<br /></span>
+<span>We have brought home every load.<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Hip, hip, hip, harvest-home!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page076" id="page076"></a>[pg 076]</span>
+<p>or, as they say in Berkshire&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Whoop, whoop, whoop, harvest whoam!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Sometimes the most comely maiden in the village was chosen as
+Harvest Queen, and placed upon her throne at the top of the sheaves
+in the hock-cart as it was drawn homewards to the farm.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/076.jpg" name="fig076" id="fig076">
+<img  src="images/076-thumb.jpg"
+alt="HARVEST-HOME." /></a>
+<h5>HARVEST-HOME.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<p>The rustics receive a hearty welcome at their master's house, where
+they find the fuelled chimney blazing wide, and the strong table
+groaning beneath the smoking sirloin&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i7">&quot;Mutton, veal,<br /></span>
+<span>And bacon, which makes full the meal,<br /></span>
+<span>With several dishes standing by,<br /></span>
+<span>As here a custard, there a pie,<br /></span>
+<span>And here all-tempting frumenty.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page077" id="page077"></a>[pg 077]</span>
+<p>Frumenty, which is made of wheat boiled in milk was a standing dish
+at every harvest supper. And then around the festive board old tales
+are told, well-known jests abound, and thanks given to the good
+farmer and his wife for their hospitality in some such homely rhymes
+as these&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Here's a health to our master,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The lord of the feast;<br /></span>
+<span>God bless his endeavours,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And send him increase.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;May everything prosper<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That he takes in hand,<br /></span>
+<span>For we be his servants,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And do his command.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The youths and maidens dance their country dances, as an old writer,
+who lived in the reign of Charles II., tells us:&mdash;&quot;The lad and the
+lass will have no lead on their heels. O, 'tis the merry time
+wherein honest neighbours make good cheer, and God is glorified in
+His blessings on the earth.&quot; When the feast is over, the company
+retire to some near hillock, and make the welkin ring with their
+shouts, &quot;Holla, holla, holla, largess!&quot;&mdash;largess being the presents
+of money and good things which the farmer had bestowed.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the harvest-home in the good old days&mdash;joy and delight to
+both old and young. The toils of the labourers did not seem so hard
+and wearisome when they knew that the farmers had such a grateful
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page078" id="page078"></a>[pg 078]</span>sense of their good services; and if any one felt aggrieved or
+discontented, the mutual intercourse at the harvest-home, when all
+were equal, when all sat at the same table and conversed freely
+together, soon banished all ill-feeling, and promoted a sense of
+mutual trust, which is essential to the happiness and well-being of
+any community. Shorn of much of its merriment and quaint customs,
+the harvest-home still lingers on in some places; but modern habits
+and notions have deprived it of much of its old spirit and
+light-heartedness. We have our harvest thanksgiving services, which
+(thank God!) are observed in almost every village and hamlet. It is,
+of course, our first duty to thank God for the fruits of His bounty
+and love; but the harvest-home should not be forgotten. When
+labourers simply regard harvest-time as a season when they can earn
+a few shillings more than usual, and take no further interest in
+their work, or in the welfare of their master, all brightness
+vanishes from their industry: their minds become sordid and
+mercenary; and mutual trust, good-feeling, and fellowship cease to
+exist.</p>
+
+<p>Neither did the harvest-men allow drunkenness, laziness, swearing,
+quarrelling, nor lying, to go unpunished. The labourers in Suffolk,
+if they found one of their number guilty, would hold a court-martial
+among themselves, lay the culprit down on his face, and an
+executioner would administer several hard blows with a shoe studded
+with hob-nails. This was called <span class="pagenum"><a name="page079" id="page079"></a>[pg 079]</span>&quot;ten-pounding,&quot; and must have been
+very effectual in checking any of the above delinquencies. </p>
+
+<p>Besides
+the harvest-home there was also observed another feast of a similar
+character in the spring, when the sheep were shorn. A plentiful
+dinner was given by the farmer to the shearers and their friends,
+and a table was often set in the open village for the young people
+and children. Tusser, who wrote a book upon <i>Five Hundred Points of
+Husbandry</i>, did not forget the treats which ought to be given to the
+labourers, and alludes to the sheep-shearing festival in the
+following lines&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Wife, make us a dinner; spare flesh, neither corn,<br /></span>
+<span>Make wafers and cakes, for our sheep must be shorn;<br /></span>
+<span>At sheep-shearing, neighbours none other things crave,<br /></span>
+<span>But good cheer and welcome like neighbours to have.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We have in many villages and towns a feast called &quot;the Wakes,&quot; which
+is one of the oldest of our English festivals. The day of &quot;the
+Wakes&quot; is the festival of the Saint to whom the parish church is
+dedicated, and it is so called because, on the previous night, or
+vigil, the people used to watch, or &quot;wake,&quot; in the church till the
+morning dawned. It was the custom for the inhabitants of the parish
+to keep open house on that day, and to entertain all their relations
+and friends who came to them from a distance. In early times the
+people used to make booths and tents with the boughs of trees near
+to the church, and were directed to celebrate the feast in them with
+thanksgiving <span class="pagenum"><a name="page080" id="page080"></a>[pg 080]</span>and prayer. By degrees they began to forget their
+prayers, and remembered only the feasting, and other abuses crept
+in, so at last the &quot;waking&quot; on the eve of the festival was
+suppressed. But these primitive feasts were the origin of most of
+our fairs, which are generally held on the dedication festival of
+the parish church.<a name="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> The neighbours from the adjoining villages
+used to attend the wakes, so the peddlers and hawkers came to find a
+market for their wares. Their stalls began to multiply, until at
+last an immense fair sprang into existence, which owed its origin
+entirely to the religious festival of &quot;the wakes.&quot; Fairs have
+degenerated like many other good things, and we can hardly realize
+their vastness in the middle ages. The circuit of a fair sometimes
+was very great, and it would have been impossible in those days to
+carry on the trade of the country without them. The great
+Stourbridge Fair, near Cambridge, I have described in my former book
+on <i>English Villages</i>. The booths were planted in a cornfield, and
+the circuit of the fair, which was one of the largest in Europe, was
+over three miles. All kinds of sports were held on these occasions:
+plays, comedies, tragedies, bull-baiting, &amp;c., and King James was
+very wroth with the undergraduates of Cambridge who would insist
+upon frequenting Stourbridge Fair rather than attend to their
+studies.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page081" id="page081"></a>[pg 081]</span>
+<p>The &quot;Wakes,&quot; or village feast, was a great day for all sports and
+pastimes. A writer in the <i>Spectator</i> describes the &quot;country wake&quot;
+which he witnessed at Bath. The green was covered with a crowd of
+all ages and both sexes, decked out in holiday attire, and divided
+into several parties, &quot;all of them endeavouring to show themselves
+in those exercises wherein they excelled.&quot; In one place there was a
+ring of cudgel-players, in another a football match, in another a
+ring of wrestlers. The prize for the men was a hat, and for the
+women, who had their own contests, a smock. Running and leaping also
+found a place in the programme. In Berkshire back-sword play and
+wrestling were the favourite amusements for vigorous youths, and men
+strove hard to win the honour of being champion and the prizes which
+were offered on the occasion. There were &quot;cheap jacks,&quot; and endless
+booths containing all kinds of fairings, ribands, gingerbread cakes,
+and shows, with huge pictures hung outside of giants and wild
+Indians, pink-eyed ladies, live lions, and deformities of all kinds.
+There were minor sports, such as climbing the pole, jumping in
+sacks, rolling wheelbarrows blindfolded, donkey races, muzzling in a
+flour-tub, &amp;c.; but the back-sword play was the chief and most
+serious part of the programme.</p>
+
+<p>A good sound ash-stick with a large basket handle was the weapon
+used, very similar to, but heavier and shorter than an ordinary
+single-stick. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page082" id="page082"></a>[pg 082]</span>object is to &quot;break the head&quot; of the
+opponent&mdash;<i>i.e.</i> to cause blood to flow anywhere above the eyebrow.
+A slight blow will often accomplish this, so the game is not so
+savage as it appears to be. The play took place on a stage of rough
+planks about four feet high. Each player was armed with a stick,
+looping the fingers of his left hand in a handkerchief or strap,
+which he fastened round his left leg, measuring the length, so that
+when he drew it tight with his left elbow up he had a perfect guard
+for the left side of his head.<a name="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> Guarding his head with the stick
+in his right hand, he advanced, and then the fight began; fast and
+furious came the blows, until at last a red streak on the temple of
+one of the combatants declared his defeat. The <i>Reading Mercury</i> of
+May 24, 1819, advertised the rural sports at Peppard, when the not
+very magnificent prize of eighteenpence was offered to every man who
+broke a head at cudgel-play, and a shilling to every one who had his
+head broken.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the sport which our old Berkshire rustics delighted in.
+Back-sword play, wrestling, and other pastimes made them a hardy
+race, full of courage, and developed qualities which it is hoped
+their descendants have not altogether lost. The gallant Berkshire
+Regiment, which fought so bravely <span class="pagenum"><a name="page083" id="page083"></a>[pg 083]</span>at Maiwand, is composed of the
+sons of those who used to wield the back-sword on the Berkshire
+downs, and showed themselves not unworthy of their ancestry,
+although the quarter-staff and ashen-swords are forgotten. The old
+village feasts are forgotten too&mdash;more's the pity. Then old quarrels
+were healed, old bitternesses removed: aged friends met, and became
+young again in heart, as they revived old memories and sweet
+recollections of youthful days. Rich and poor, the squire and the
+farmer, the farmer and his labourers, all mingled together, class
+with class; and good-fellowship, harmony, and mutual confidence were
+promoted by these annual gatherings. It is true that these village
+feasts degenerated, because the well-to-do folk abstained from them;
+but would it not be possible to revive them, to preserve the good
+which they certainly did, and to eliminate the evil which is so
+often mingled with the good? Such a consideration is worthy of the
+attention of all who have the welfare of the people at heart.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/083.png" name="fig083" id="fig083">
+<img  src="images/083-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page084" id="page084"></a>[pg 084]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/084.jpg" name="fig084" id="fig084">
+<img  src="images/084-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a><h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h4>SEPTEMBER.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Nor is there hawk which mantleth her on pearch,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Whether high tow'ring or accoasting low,<br /></span>
+<span>But I the measure of her flight do search,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And all her prey, and all her diet know.&quot;&mdash;<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Spenser</span>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Hawking&mdash;Michaelmas&mdash;Bull and Bear-baiting.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterO.png" name="fig084o" id="fig084o">
+<img  src="images/LetterO-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter O" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">F all old English sports hawking is one of the most ancient and the
+most fashionable. It has almost died out now, but there are one or
+two hawking enthusiasts who have endeavoured to revive this old
+English pastime, and on the Berkshire Downs a hawking party was seen
+a few years ago. Hawking consists in the training and flying of
+hawks for the purpose of catching other birds. Kings and noblemen,
+barons and ladies of feudal times, used to delight in following the
+sport on horseback, and to watch their favourite birds towering high
+to gain the upward flights in order to swoop down upon some heron,
+crane, or wild duck, and bear it to the ground. Persons <span class="pagenum"><a name="page085" id="page085"></a>[pg 085]</span>of high rank
+always carried their hawks with them wherever they went, and in old
+paintings the hawk upon the wrist of a portrait was the sign of
+noble birth. The sport was practised by our Saxon forefathers before
+the Normans came, and the first trained hawk in England is said to
+have been sent by St. Boniface, the &quot;Apostle of the Germans,&quot; as a
+present to Ethelbert, King of Kent, in the eighth century. The
+history of the sport of the kings who loved to take part in it, and
+of their adventures, would require a volume, and my space only
+allows me to give you a brief account of the manner in which the
+sport was conducted.</p>
+
+<p>I may mention that before the reign of King John only kings and
+noblemen were allowed to take part in hawking; but in the forest
+Charter, which that monarch was compelled to sign, every freeman was
+permitted to have his own hawks and falcons. The falconer, who took
+care of the hawks, was a very important person. The chief falconer
+of the King of France received four thousand florins a year, besides
+a tax upon every hawk sold in the kingdom. The Welsh princes
+assigned the fourth place of honour in their courts to this officer;
+but this proud distinction had its responsibilities, and this high
+official was only allowed to take three draughts from his horn, lest
+his brain should not be as clear as it ought to be, and the precious
+birds might be neglected.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes the hawking party went on foot, carrying <span class="pagenum"><a name="page086" id="page086"></a>[pg 086]</span>long poles to
+enable them to jump the ditches and to follow the course. Henry
+VIII. nearly lost his life on one occasion through falling (his
+pole having broken) into a bog, from which he was rescued by one
+John Moody, who happened to see the accident. But mounted on gallant
+steeds the lords and ladies were accustomed to follow their
+favourite pastime, and amid the blowing of horns and laughter and
+shoutings they rode along, galloping up-hill and down-hill, with
+their eyes fixed upon the birds, which were battling or chasing each
+other high overhead. The hawk did not always win the fight:
+sometimes a crafty heron would turn his long bill upwards just as
+the hawk was descending upon him, and pierce his antagonist through
+the body.</p>
+
+<p>Great skill and perseverance were required in training these birds.
+When they were not flying after their prey, they were hoodwinked,
+<i>i.e.</i> their heads were covered with caps, which were often finely
+embroidered. On their legs they had strings of leather, called
+<i>jesses</i>, with rings attached. When a hawk was being trained, a long
+thread was fastened to these rings to draw the bird back again, but
+when it was well educated, it would obey the voice of the falconer
+and return when it had performed its flight. It was necessary for
+the bird to know its master very intimately, so a devoted follower
+of the sport would always carry his hawk about with him, and the two
+were as inseparable as a Highland shepherd and his dog. The
+sportsman would feed his bird and train it daily, and in an old book
+of directions he is advised &quot;at night to go to the mews, and take it
+from its perch, and set it on his fist, and bear it all the night,&quot;
+in order to be ready for the morrow's sport.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page087" id="page087"></a>[pg 087]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/087.jpg" name="fig087" id="fig087">
+<img  src="images/087-thumb.jpg"
+alt="A FALCONER." /></a>
+<h5>A FALCONER.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page088" id="page088"></a>[pg 088]</span>
+<p>The mews were the buildings where the hawks were kept when
+moulting, the word &quot;mew&quot; being a term used by falconers to signify
+to moult, or cast feathers; and the King's Mews, near Charing Cross,
+was the place where the royal hawks were kept. This place was
+afterwards enlarged, and converted into stables for horses; but the
+old name remained, and now most stables in London are called mews,
+although the word is derived from falconry, and the hawks have long
+since flown away.</p>
+
+<p>The sport declined at the end of the seventeenth century, when
+shooting with guns became general, but our language has preserved
+some traces of this ancient pastime. When a person is blinded by
+deceit, he is said to be &quot;hoodwinked,&quot; and this word is derived from
+the custom of placing a hood over the hawk's eyes before it was
+released from restraint.</p>
+
+<p>On the Feast of St. Michael, or Michaelmas, the tenants were in the
+habit of bringing presents of a fat goose to their landlord, in
+order to make him kind and lenient in the matters of rent, repairs,
+and the renewal of leases, and the noble landlords used to entertain
+their tenants right royally in the great halls of their ancestral
+mansions, roast goose forming a <span class="pagenum"><a name="page089" id="page089"></a>[pg 089]</span>standing dish of the repast. This is
+probably the origin of the custom which prevails at the present time
+of eating geese at Michaelmas.</p>
+
+<p>When the harvest was over, and the farmers were not so busy, they
+often amused themselves by the cruel sport of baiting a bull. An old
+gentleman who lived at Wokingham was so fond of this savage pastime
+that he left in his will a sum of money for the purpose of providing
+every year two bulls to be baited for the amusement of the people of
+his native town. The bulls are still bought, but they are put to
+death in a more merciful manner, and the meat given to the poor.
+Amongst the hills in Yorkshire there is a small village, through
+which a brook runs, crossed by two bridges, and having a stone wall
+on each side. Thus, when the bridges were stopped up, there was
+formed a wall-encircled space, into which, once a year, at least, a
+poor bull was placed, to be worried to death by dogs, and within the
+memory of men now living this cruel sport has been carried on.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this only a sport for ignorant rustics; kings and noble
+courtiers, and even ladies, used to frequent the bear-gardens of the
+metropolis, and witness with delight the slaughter of bulls, and
+bears, and dogs. Erasmus tells us that in the reign of Henry VIII.
+&quot;many herds of bears were maintained in this country for the purpose
+of baiting.&quot; Queen Elizabeth commanded bears, bulls, and the ape to
+be baited in her presence, and James I. was not <span class="pagenum"><a name="page090" id="page090"></a>[pg 090]</span>averse to the sight.
+The following is a description of this barbarous
+entertainment&mdash;&quot;There is a place built in the form of a theatre,
+which serves for baiting of bulls and bears. They are fastened
+behind, and then worried by great English bull-dogs; but not without
+risk to the dogs from the horns of the one and the teeth of the
+other.&quot; Even horses were sometimes baited, and sometimes asses.
+Evelyn, in his <i>Diary</i>, thus describes the strange sight&mdash;&quot;June
+16th, 1670. I went with some friends to the bear-garden, where was
+cock-fighting, dog-fighting, bear and bull-baiting, it being a
+famous day for all these butcherly sports, or rather barbarous
+cruelties. The bulls did exceedingly well, but the Irish wolf-dog
+exceeded, which was a tall greyhound, a stately creature indeed, who
+beat a cruel mastiff. One of the bulls tossed a dog full into a
+lady's lap, as she sat in one of the boxes at a considerable height
+from the arena. Two poor dogs were killed, and so all ended with the
+ape on horseback, and I most heartily weary of the rude and dirty
+pastime, which I had not seen, I think, in twenty years before.&quot;
+Foreigners, who have visited England in by-gone times, often allude
+scornfully to our forefathers' barbarous diversions; but on the
+whole they seem rather to have enjoyed the sport. A Spanish nobleman
+was taken to see a poor pony baited with an ape fastened on its
+back; and he wrote&mdash;&quot;to see the animal kicking amongst the dogs,
+with the screams of the ape, beholding the curs hanging from the
+ears and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page091" id="page091"></a>[pg 091]</span>neck of the pony, is very laughable!&quot; But enough has been
+said of these terrible and monstrous cruelties. Happily for us they
+no longer exist, and together with cock-fighting, throwing at cocks
+and hens, and other barbarous amusements, cannot now be reckoned
+among our sports and pastimes. It was a happy thing for us when the
+conscience of the nation was aroused, and the law stepped in to put
+an end to such disgraceful scenes which were witnessed in the Paris
+Garden at Southwark, or in the rude bull-run of a Yorkshire village.
+The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was not known
+in the days of bear-baiting and cock-throwing.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/091.png" name="fig091" id="fig091">
+<img  src="images/091-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page092" id="page092"></a>[pg 092]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/092.jpg" name="fig092" id="fig092">
+<img  src="images/092-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a><h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h4>OCTOBER.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Rivet well each coat of mail;<br /></span>
+<span>Blows shall fall like showers of hail;<br /></span>
+<span>Merrily the harness rings,<br /></span>
+<span>Of tilting lists and tournay sings,<br /></span>
+<span>Honour to the valiant brings.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Clink, clink, clink!&quot;&mdash;<i>Armourers' Chorus</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Tournaments&mdash;<i>Mysteries</i>&mdash;<i>Moralities</i>&mdash;<i>Pageants</i>.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterI.png" name="fig092i" id="fig092i">
+<img  src="images/LetterI-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter I" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">N the days of chivalry, when gallant knights used to ride about in
+search of adventures; and when there were many wars, battles, and
+crusades, martial exercises were the chief amusements of the people
+of England. We have already mentioned some of these sports in which
+the humbler folk used to show their strength and dexterity, and now
+I propose to tell you of those wonderful trials of military skill
+called tournaments, which were the favourite pastimes of the
+noblemen and gentry of England in the middle ages, and afforded much
+amusement to their poorer neighbours <span class="pagenum"><a name="page093" id="page093"></a>[pg 093]</span>who flocked to see these
+gallant feats of arms. Tournaments were fights in miniature, in
+which the combatants fought simply to exhibit their strength and
+prowess. There was a great deal of pomp and ceremony attached to
+them. The lists, as the barriers were called which inclosed the
+scene of combat, were superbly decorated, and surrounded by
+pavilions belonging to the champions, ornamented with their arms and
+banners. The seats reserved for the noble ladies and gentlemen who
+came to see the fight were hung with tapestry embroidered with gold
+and silver. Everyone was dressed in the most sumptuous manner: the
+minstrels and heralds were clothed in the costliest garments; the
+knights who were engaged in the sports and their horses were most
+gorgeously arrayed. The whole scene was one of great splendour and
+magnificence, and, when the fight began, the shouts of the heralds
+who directed the tournament, the clashing of arms, the clang of
+trumpets, the charging of the combatants, and the shouts of the
+spectators, must have produced a wonderfully impressive and exciting
+effect upon all who witnessed the strange spectacle.</p>
+
+<p>The regulations and laws of the tournament were very minute. When
+many preliminary arrangements had been made with regard to the
+examination of arms and helmets and the exhibition of banners, &amp;c.,
+at ten o'clock on the morning of the appointed day the champions and
+their adherents were required to be in their places. Two cords
+divided the combatants, who <span class="pagenum"><a name="page094" id="page094"></a>[pg 094]</span>were each armed with a pointless sword
+and a truncheon hanging from their saddles. When the word was given
+by the lord of the tournament, the cords were removed, and the
+champions charged and fought until the heralds sounded the signal to
+retire. It was considered the greatest disgrace to be unhorsed. A
+French earl once tried to unhorse our King Edward I. when he was
+returning from Palestine, wearied by the journey. The earl threw
+away his sword, cast his arms around the king's neck, and tried to
+pull him from his horse. But Edward put spurs to his horse and drew
+the earl from the saddle, and then shaking him violently, threw him
+to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The joust (or just) differed from tournament, because in the former
+only lances were used, and only two knights could fight at once. It
+was not considered quite so important as the grand feat of arms
+which I have just described, but was often practised when the more
+serious encounter had finished. Lances or spears without heads of
+iron were commonly used, and the object of the sport was to ride
+hard against one's adversary and strike him with the spear upon the
+front of the helmet, so as to beat him backwards from his horse, or
+break the spear. You will gather from these descriptions that this
+kind of sport was somewhat dangerous, and that men sometimes lost
+their lives at these encounters. In order to lessen the risk and
+danger of the two horses running into each other when the knights
+charged, a boarded railing was erected in the midst of the lists,
+about four or five feet high. The combatants rode on separate sides
+of this barrier, and therefore could not encounter each other except
+with their lances.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page095" id="page095"></a>[pg 095]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/095.jpg" name="fig095" id="fig095">
+<img  src="images/095-thumb.jpg"
+alt="A TOURNAMENT." /></a>
+<h5>A TOURNMENT.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page096" id="page096"></a>[pg 096]</span>
+<p>In the days of chivalry ladies were held in high honour and
+respect. It was their privilege to assign the prizes to those who
+had distinguished themselves most in the tournament. They were the
+arbiters of the sport; and, indeed, the jousts were usually held in
+honour of the ladies, who received as their right the respect and
+devotion of all true knights. This respect for women had a softening
+and ennobling influence, which was of great value in times when such
+influences were rare. It was probably derived (according to a French
+writer) from our ancestors, the Germans, &quot;who attributed somewhat of
+divinity to the fair sex.&quot; It is the sign of a corrupt age and
+degraded manners when this respect ceases to be paid.</p>
+
+<p>Only men of noble family, and who owned land, were allowed to take
+part in the jousts or tournament; but the yeomen and young farmers
+used to practise similar kinds of sport, such as tilting at a ring,
+quintain, and boat jousts, which have already been mentioned in a
+preceding chapter. Richard I., the lion-hearted king, was a great
+promoter of these martial sports, and appointed five places for the
+holding of tournaments in England, namely, at some place between
+Salisbury and Wilton, between Warwick <span class="pagenum"><a name="page097" id="page097"></a>[pg 097]</span>and Kenilworth, between
+Stamford and Wallingford, between Brackley and Mixbury, and between
+Blie and Tykehill. But in almost every part of England tournaments
+or jousts have been held, and scenes enacted such as I have
+described. Sometimes two knights would fight in mortal combat. If
+one knight accused the other of crime or dishonour, the latter might
+challenge him to fight with swords or lances, and, according to the
+superstition of the times, the victor was considered to be the one
+who spoke the truth. But this ordeal combat was far removed from the
+domain of sport.</p>
+
+<p>When jousts and tournaments were abandoned, tilting on horseback at
+a ring became a favourite courtly amusement. A ring was suspended on
+a level with the eye of the rider; and the sport consisted in riding
+towards the ring, and sending the point of a lance through it, and
+so bearing it away. Great skill was required to accomplish this
+surely and gracefully. Ascham, a writer in the sixteenth century,
+tells us what accomplishments were required from the complete
+English gentleman of the period. &quot;To ride comely, to run fair at the
+tilt or ring, to play at all weapons, to shoot fair in bow, or
+surely in gun; to vault lustily, to run, to leap, to wrestle, to
+swim, to dance comely, to sing, and play of instruments cunningly;
+to hawk, to hunt, to play at tennis, and all pastimes generally
+which be joined to labour, containing either some fit exercises for
+war, or some <span class="pagenum"><a name="page098" id="page098"></a>[pg 098]</span>pleasant pastime for peace&mdash;these be not only comely
+and decent, but also very necessary for a courtly gentleman to use.&quot;
+The courtly gentleman must have been very industrious to acquire
+all these numerous accomplishments!</p>
+
+<p>There was another form of spectacle which gave great pleasure to our
+ancestors; and often in the market-places of old towns, or in open
+fields, at the bottom of natural amphitheatres near some of the
+ancient monasteries, were Scriptural plays performed, which were
+called <i>Miracles</i>, or <i>Mysteries</i>, because they treated of scenes
+taken from the Old or New Testament, or from the lives of saints and
+martyrs. The performances were very simple and often grotesque, but
+the plays were regarded by the monks, who assisted in these
+representations, as a means of teaching the people sacred truths.
+The miracle play of Norman and medi&aelig;val times was a long,
+disconnected performance, which often lasted many days. In the reign
+of Henry IV. there was a play which lasted eight days, and,
+beginning with the creation of the world, contained the greater part
+of the history of the Old and the New Testament. The words of the
+play seem to us strange, and sometimes profane; but they were not
+thought to be so by those who listened to them. The <i>Mystery</i> play
+only lasted one day, and consisted of one subject, such as <i>The
+Conversion of St. Paul</i>. <i>Noah and the Flood</i> was a very popular
+piece. His wife is represented as being much <span class="pagenum"><a name="page099" id="page099"></a>[pg 099]</span>opposed to the perilous
+voyage in the ark, and abuses Noah very severely for compelling her
+to go. Sometimes the authors thought it necessary to introduce a
+comic character to enliven the dullness of the performance. But, in
+spite of humorous demons, these mysteries ceased to attract, and
+plays called <i>Moralities</i> were introduced, in which the actors
+assumed the parts of personified virtues, &amp;c., and you might have
+heard &quot;Faith&quot; preaching to &quot;Prudence,&quot; or &quot;Death&quot; lecturing &quot;Beauty&quot;
+and &quot;Pride.&quot; The first miracle play performed in England was that of
+<i>St. Catherine</i>, which was acted at Dunstable, 1110 A.D.; and
+another early piece was the play called <i>The Image of St. Nicholas</i>.
+These were of a religious nature and were performed in church during
+Divine service. The following is an outline of the plot of the
+latter: instead of the image of St. Nicholas, which adorned his
+shrine, a man stood in the garb of the saint whom he represented.
+The service is divided into two portions, and the play is produced
+during the interval. A stranger appears at the west door, who is
+evidently a rich heathen, and lays down his treasures before the
+image of the saint and beseeches him to take care of them. A band of
+thieves enter and steal the treasures, and when the heathen returns,
+he is so enraged that he proceeds to chastise the image of the
+saint; when lo! the figure descends, marches out of the church, and
+convinces the thieves of their wickedness. Struck with fear on
+account of the miracle, they restore the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>[pg 100]</span>treasures, the Pagan sings
+a song of joy, and St. Nicholas tells him to worship God, and to
+praise Christ. Then, after an act of adoration to the Almighty, the
+service is resumed.<a name="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15"><sup>[15]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p>There were also strolling companies of minstrels, jugglers, and
+jesters, who went about the country, and acted secular pieces
+composed of comic stories, jokes, and dialogues, interspersed with
+dancing and tumbling. The whole performance was very absurd and
+often indecent, and the clergy did their utmost to suppress these
+strolling companies.</p>
+
+<p>The stage upon which the <i>Mysteries</i> were played was built on
+wheels, in order that it might be drawn to different parts of the
+town. Sometimes religious plays were acted in churches before the
+Reformation; but in Cornwall the people formed an earthen
+amphitheatre in some open field, and as the players did not learn
+their parts very well, a prompter used to follow them about with a
+book and tell them what to say. Coventry, York, Wakefield, Reading,
+Hull, and Leicester were famous for their plays, and in the
+churchwardens' accounts we find many entries referring to the
+performances.</p>
+
+<div class="note">
+1469.&mdash;<i>e.g.</i> Item paid to Noah and his wife ... ... xxi<sup>d</sup>.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">&quot;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  &quot;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  for a rope to hang the ship in the church ... ii<sup>d</sup>.</span><br /></div>
+
+<p>These performances would probably seem very foolish <span class="pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>[pg 101]</span>and childish to
+a modern audience, but they helped to enliven and diversify the
+lives of our more simple-minded forefathers.</p>
+
+<p>The people, too, loved pageants which were performed on great
+occasions, during a Royal progress for instance, or to welcome the
+advent of some mighty personage. Great preparations were made for
+these exhibitions of rustic talent; long verses were committed to
+memory; rehearsals were endless, and the stories of Greek and Roman
+mythology were ransacked to provide scenes and subjects for the
+rural pageant. All this must have afforded immense amusement and
+interest to the country-folk in the neighbourhood of some lord's
+castle, when the king or queen was expected to sojourn there.
+Shepherds and shepherdesses, gods and goddesses, clowns and mummers,
+all took part in the play, and it may interest my readers to give an
+account of one of these pageants, which was performed before Queen
+Elizabeth when she visited the ancient and historic castle of
+Sudeley.<a name="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16"><sup>[16]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p>The play is founded on the old classical story of Apollo and Daphne.
+The sun-god, Apollo, was charmed by the beauty of the fair Daphne,
+the daughter of a river-god, and pursued her with base intent. Just
+as she was about to be overtaken she prayed for aid, and was
+immediately changed into a laurel-tree, which became the favourite
+tree of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page102" id="page102"></a>[pg 102]</span>disappointed lover. The pageant founded on this old
+classical legend commenced with a man, who acted the part of Apollo,
+chasing a woman, who represented Daphne, followed by a young
+shepherd bewailing his hard fate. He, too, loved the fair and
+beautiful Daphne, but Apollo wooed her with fair words, and
+threatened him with diverse penalties, saying he would change him
+into a wolf, or a cockatrice, or blind his eyes. The shepherd in a
+long speech tells how Daphne was changed into a tree, and then
+Apollo is seen at the foot of a laurel-tree weeping, accompanied by
+two minstrels. The repentant god repeats the verse&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Sing you, play you; but sing and play my truth;<br /></span>
+<span>This tree my lute, these sighs my note of ruth:<br /></span>
+<span>The laurel leaf for ever shall be green,<br /></span>
+<span>And Chastity shall be Apollo's Queen.<br /></span>
+<span>If gods may die, here shall my tomb be placed,<br /></span>
+<span>And this engraven, 'Fond Phoebus, Daphne chaste.'&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>A song follows, and then, wonderful to relate, the tree opens, and
+Daphne comes forth. Apollo resigns her to the humble shepherd, and
+then she runs to her Majesty the Queen, and with a great deal of
+flattery wishes her a long and prosperous reign.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the simple play which delighted the minds of our
+forefathers, and helped to raise them from sordid cares and the dull
+monotony of continual toil. In our popular amusements the village
+folk do not take part, except as spectators, and therefore <span class="pagenum"><a name="page103" id="page103"></a>[pg 103]</span>lose half
+the pleasure; whereas in the time of the Virgin Queen the
+rehearsals, the learning the speeches by heart, the dresses, the
+excitement, all contributed to give them fresh ideas and new
+thoughts. The acting may not have been very good; indeed Queen
+Elizabeth did not always think very highly of the performances of
+her subjects at Coventry, and was heard to exclaim, &quot;What fools ye
+Coventry folk are!&quot; but I think her Majesty must have been pleased
+at the concluding address of the players at Sudeley. After the
+shepherds had acted a piece in which the election of the King and
+Queen of the Bean formed a part, they knelt before the real Queen,
+and said, &quot;Pardon, dread Sovereign, poor shepherds' pastimes, and
+bold shepherds' presumptions. We call ourselves kings and queens to
+make mirth; but when we see a king or queen, we stand amazed. At
+chess there are kings and queens, and they of wood. Shepherds are no
+more, nor no less, wooden. In theatres workmen have played emperors;
+yet the next day forgotten neither their duties nor occupation. For
+our boldness in borrowing their names, and in not seeing your
+Majesty for our blindness, we offer these shepherds' weeds: which,
+if your Majesty vouchsafe at any time to wear, it shall bring to our
+hearts comfort, and happiness to our labours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the Queen visited Kenilworth Castle, splendid pageants were
+performed in her honour. As she entered the castle the gigantic
+porter recited verses <span class="pagenum"><a name="page104" id="page104"></a>[pg 104]</span>to greet her Majesty, gods and goddesses
+offered gifts and compliments on bended knee, and the Lady of the
+Lake, surrounded by Tritons and Nereids, came on a floating island
+to do homage to the peerless Elizabeth, and to welcome her to all
+the sport the castle could afford. For an account of the strange
+conduct of Orion and his dolphin upon this occasion, we refer our
+readers to Sir Walter Scott's <i>Kenilworth</i>, and the lover of
+pageants will find much to interest him in Gascoigne's <i>Princely
+Progress</i>. In many of the chief towns of England the members of the
+Guilds were obliged by their ordinances to have a pageant once every
+year, which was of a religious nature. The Guild of St. Mary at
+Beverley made a yearly representation of the Presentation of Christ
+in the Temple, one of their number being dressed as a queen to
+represent the Virgin, &quot;having what may seem a son in her arms,&quot; two
+others representing Joseph and Simeon, and two others going as
+angels carrying lights. The people of England seem always to have
+had a great fondness for shows and pageants.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/104.png" name="fig104" id="fig104">
+<img  src="images/104-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page105" id="page105"></a>[pg 105]</span>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/105.jpg" name="fig105" id="fig105">
+<img  src="images/105-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h4>NOVEMBER.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem" style="margin-left: 10%">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">&quot;The ploughman, though he labour hard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Yet on the holiday<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Heigh trolollie, lollie loe.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">No emperor so merrily<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Doth pass his time away;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Then care away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And wend along with me.&quot;&mdash;<i>Complete Angler</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">&quot;The curious preciseness,<br /></span>
+<span>And all pretended gravity of those<br /></span>
+<span>That seek to banish hence these harmless sports,<br /></span>
+<span>Have thrust away much ancient honesty.&quot;&mdash;<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Irving's</span> <i>Sketch Book</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>All-hallow Eve&mdash;&quot;Soul Cakes&quot;&mdash;Diving for Apples&mdash;The Fifth of
+November&mdash;Martinmas&mdash;<i>Demands Joyous</i>&mdash;Indoor Games.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterT.png" name="fig105t" id="fig105t">
+<img  src="images/LetterT-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter T" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">HE first of November is All Saints' Day, and the eve of that
+day,
+called All-hallow Even, was the occasion of some very ancient and
+curious customs. It seems to have been observed more by the
+descendants of the Celts than by the Saxons; and Wales, Scotland,
+and Ireland were the homes of many of the popular superstitions
+connected with this festival. In Scotland <span class="pagenum"><a name="page106" id="page106"></a>[pg 106]</span>the bonfires were set up
+in every village, and each member of a family would throw in a white
+stone marked with his name; and if that stone could not be found
+next morning, it was supposed that that person would die before the
+following All Saints' Day. This foolish superstition may be classed
+with the other well-known superstition with regard to the sitting of
+thirteen people at one table, in which some are still foolish enough
+to believe.</p>
+
+<p>All-hallow Even was supposed to be a great night for witches:
+possibly it was with the intention of guarding against their spells
+that the farmers used to carry blazing straw around their cornfields
+and stacks. It was the custom for the farmer to regale his men with
+seed cake on this night; and there were cakes called &quot;Soul Mass
+Cakes,&quot; or &quot;Soul Cakes,&quot; which were given to the poor. These were of
+triangular shape, and poor people in Staffordshire used to go
+<i>a-souling</i>, i.e. collecting these soul cakes, or anything else they
+could get.</p>
+
+<p>On this night the fishermen of Scotland signed their boats, that is
+put a cross of tar upon them, in order that their fishing might
+prosper. The church bells were rung all night long for all Christian
+souls, and we find from some old account books that the good folk
+were very careful to have all their bell-ropes and bells in good
+order for All-hallow Even. This ringing was supposed to benefit the
+souls of the dead in Purgatory, and was suppressed after the
+Reformation.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page107" id="page107"></a>[pg 107]</span>
+<p>There were some very homely pastimes for All-hallow Even for the
+young folk in the north of England. Apples were placed in a vessel
+of water and &quot;dived for&quot;; or they were suspended from the roof and
+caught at by several expectant mouths. Sometimes a rod was suspended
+with an apple at one end, and at the other a lighted candle. The
+youths had their hands tied behind their backs, and caught at the
+apple, often causing the candle to swing round and burn their hair.
+The cracking of nuts was an important ceremony among the young men
+and maidens, who threw nuts into the fire, and from the way in which
+they cracked, or burned, foretold all kinds of happiness or misery
+for themselves. The nuts that burned brightly prophesied prosperity
+to their owners, but those that crackled or burned black denoted
+misfortune. In olden times, when people were more superstitious than
+they are now, they attached great importance to these omens and
+customs, but happily the young people of our times have ceased to
+believe in magic and foolish customs, and country girls strive to
+attract their swains by other charms than those of nut-cracking on
+All-hallow Even.</p>
+
+<p>We have still our bonfires on November 5th, but the event which
+happened on that day is very recent as compared with many of the old
+customs of which I have been writing. However, it is nearly three
+hundred years ago since Guy Fawkes and his companions attempted to
+blow up the Houses of Parliament <span class="pagenum"><a name="page108" id="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span>with gunpowder; and yet we still
+light our bonfires and burn Guy Fawkes' effigy, with much
+accompaniment of squibs and crackers, just as if the event which we
+commemorate only occurred last year. Probably very few of our
+rustics think much of the origin of the customs observed on November
+the Fifth, or remember that it was instituted by the House of
+Commons as &quot;a holiday for ever in thankfulness to God for our
+deliverance, and detestation of the Papists;&quot; but this ignorance
+does not prevent them from keeping up the custom and enjoying the
+excitement of the bonfire and fireworks. If you are not acquainted
+with the history of the conspiracy, I would advise you to read it in
+some good history book, and&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Pray to remember<br /></span>
+<span>The fifth of November<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Gunpowder treason and plot,<br /></span>
+<span>When the King and his train<br /></span>
+<span>Had nearly been slain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Therefore it shall not be forgot.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The Berkshire boys, as they carried their Guy and collected wood for
+their bonfires, used to add the words&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Our king's a valiant soldier,<br /></span>
+<span>With his blunderbuss on his shoulder,<br /></span>
+<span>Cocks his pistol, draws his rapier;<br /></span>
+<span>Pray give us something for his sake here.<br /></span>
+<span>A stick and a stake, for our good king's sake:<br /></span>
+<span>If ye won't give one, I'll take two,<br /></span>
+<span>The better for me, and the worse for you.<br /></span>
+</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="page109" id="page109"></a>[pg 109]</span><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i5">CHORUS&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span>&quot;Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, make the bells ring,<br /></span>
+<span>Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, God save the King.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Some of the rhymes tell us about the nefarious deeds of wicked Guy
+Fawkes, who</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">&quot;... with his companions did contrive<br /></span>
+<span>To blow the House of Parliament up alive,<br /></span>
+<span>With three score barrels of powder down below,<br /></span>
+<span>To prove Old England's wicked overthrow;<br /></span>
+<span>But by God's mercy all of them got catched,<br /></span>
+<span>With their dark lantern, and their lighted match.<br /></span>
+<span>Ladies and gentlemen sitting by the fire,<br /></span>
+<span>Please put hands in pockets and give us our desire:<br /></span>
+<span>While you can drink one glass, we can drink two,<br /></span>
+<span>The better for we, and none the worse for you.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>This rhyme was concluded with the following strange jingle&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Rumour, rumour, pump a derry,<br /></span>
+<span>Prick his heart and burn his body,<br /></span>
+<span>And send his soul to Purgatory.&quot;<a name="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17"><sup>[17]</sup></a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The streets of Oxford used to be the scenes of great encounters
+between the townsmen and gownsmen (or college students) on this
+night, who, on any other night in the year, never thought of
+fighting. Happily in recent years these fights have ceased, but even
+now the gownsmen are &quot;gated&quot; on the night of the Fifth of November,
+<i>i.e.</i> are confined to their colleges, lest there should be a
+renewal of these <span class="pagenum"><a name="page110" id="page110"></a>[pg 110]</span>encounters. So severe were the battles in ancient
+times, that the tower of Carfax Church was lowered because the
+townsfolk used to ascend thither and shoot their arrows at the
+undergraduates; and the butchers were obliged to ply their trade
+beyond the city walls, because they had used their knives and
+cleavers in their annual fight.</p>
+
+<p>At Martinmas, or the Feast of St. Martin, it was the custom to lay
+in a stock of winter provisions, and many cows, oxen, and swine were
+killed at this time, their flesh being salted and hung up for the
+winter, when fresh provisions were seldom to be had.</p>
+
+<p>And now the long evenings have set in, and our ancestors in hall or
+cottage assemble round the blazing hearth, and listen to the
+minstrel's lays, and recite their oft-told tales of adventure and
+romance. Sometimes they indulge in asking each other riddles, and
+there exists at the present time an old collection of these early
+efforts of wit and humour which are not of a very high order. The
+book is called <i>Demands Joyous,</i> and was printed in A.D. 1511. I may
+extract the following riddles:&mdash;&quot;What is it that never was and never
+will be? Answer: A mouse's nest in a cat's ear. Why does a cow lie
+down? Because it cannot sit. How many straws go to a goose's nest?
+Not one, for straws, not having feet, cannot go anywhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With such feeble efforts of wit did the country folk try to beguile
+the long evenings. In those days there were no newspapers, very few
+books, even if they <span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" id="page111"></a>[pg 111]</span>could be read, and the only means of gathering
+information from other parts of the country were the peddlers or
+wandering minstrels, who told them the news as they passed from
+place to place. Consequently, the above humble efforts of wit were
+not to be despised, and served to beguile the tediousness of the
+long winter's night. Besides, the villagers had the carols to
+practise for Christmas, many of which were handed down from father
+to son for many generations, and probably both words and music
+received many variations in their course. Old collections of these
+carols still exist, such as the one entitled, &quot;Good and True, Fresh
+and New, Christmas Carols,&quot; which was made in the middle of the
+seventeenth century. As an instance of the way in which the words
+became changed as they were passed on by illiterate singers, I may
+mention a carol of which the refrain is now printed &quot;Now Well, Now
+Well&quot;; originally this must have been &quot;Noel, Noel.&quot; Some of the
+carols degenerated into songs about the wassail bowl, and the
+virtues of strong ale, and our forefathers were not unlike some of
+their children, who forget the Saviour in the enjoyment of His
+gifts. And besides the carols the villagers had the ordinary hymns
+to practise, with grand accompaniment of violins, flutes,
+clarionets, etc., for each village had its own musicians, who took
+great pride and interest in their playing, and used to practise
+together in the evenings. The old instruments have vanished: we have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112" id="page112"></a>[pg 112]</span>
+our organs and harmoniums: our choirs sing better and more
+reverently; but there are no reunions of the village orchestra,
+which used to afford so much pleasure to the rustics of former
+days.</p>
+
+<p>In the lord's hall there were plenty of sedentary games, and amongst
+these pre-eminently stands the noble pastime of chess. It is very
+ancient, and is supposed to have been invented by Xerxes, a
+philosopher in the court of Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon. It was
+well known in England before the Conquest, and Canute was very fond
+of the chessboard. King John was so engrossed in this game that when
+some messengers came to tell him that the French king had besieged
+one of his cities, he would not listen to them until he had finished
+his chess. The complicated movements of the various men seem to show
+that the game was developed and improved, and not the invention of
+one man, but few changes have been made during several centuries.
+Players are checkmated now in very much the same way as they were
+five hundred years ago.</p>
+
+<p>Besides chess they had backgammon, or tables, as the game was
+called, Merelles, or Nine men's Morris (which also found its way to
+the shepherds' cottages), dice, and card games, some of which I have
+described before. Gambling was often carried on to a great extent,
+but evidently our modern people are not wiser than their ancestors
+in this matter; and instead of playing games for recreation, are not
+satisfied until they <span class="pagenum"><a name="page113" id="page113"></a>[pg 113]</span>lose fortunes on the hazard of a dice or a
+card. Let us hope that men will at length become wiser as the world
+grows older. </p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/113.jpg" name="fig113" id="fig113">
+<img  src="images/113-thumb.jpg"
+alt="TWO CHESS PLAYERS." /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>Erasmus, the learned Dutchman, in his <i>Colloquies</i> suggests some
+curious awards for victors. He represents two youths, Adolphus and
+Bernard, who begin <span class="pagenum"><a name="page114" id="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span>to play a game at bowls. Adolphus says, &quot;What
+shall he that beats get, or he that is beaten lose?&quot; Bernard
+replies, &quot;What if he that beats shall have a piece of his ear cut
+off? It is a mean thing to play for money: you are a German, and I a
+Frenchman: we will both play for the honour of his country. If I
+shall beat you, you shall cry out thrice, 'Let France flourish!' if
+I shall be beat (which I hope I shall not), I will in the same words
+celebrate your Germany.&quot; They bowl away: a stone represents the
+Jack: a mischievous bit of brickbat rather interferes with the
+German's accuracy, of aim, but in the end he wins, and the French
+cock has to crow thrice, &quot;Let Germany flourish.&quot; In another game
+between two students who are contending in the play of striking a
+ball through an iron ring, it is arranged that he that is beat shall
+make and repeat extempore some verses in praise of him that beat
+him. This certainly would make many a youth keen to win the contest!</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/114.png" name="fig114" id="fig114">
+<img  src="images/114-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic"/></a>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page115" id="page115"></a>[pg 115]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/115.png" name="fig115" id="fig115">
+<img  src="images/115-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h4>DECEMBER.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;The Darling of the world is come,<br /></span>
+<span>And fit it is we find a room<br /></span>
+<span>To welcome Him. The nobler part<br /></span>
+<span>Of all the house here is the heart,<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Which we will give Him; and bequeath<br /></span>
+<span>This holly and this ivy wreath<br /></span>
+<span>To do Him honour, who's our King,<br /></span>
+<span>And Lord of all this revelling.&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i9"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Herrick</span>, <i>A Christmas Carol</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>St. Nicholas Day&mdash;The Boy Bishop&mdash;Christmas Eve&mdash;Christmas
+Customs&mdash;Mummers&mdash;&quot;Lord of Misrule&quot;&mdash;Conclusion.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterN.png" name="fig115n" id="fig115n">
+<img  src="images/LetterN-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter N" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p class="hang">OW dark and chill December has arrived; and very dark and chill it
+must have seemed to our ancestors. No gaslights illuminated the
+streets, here and there a feeble oil lamp helped to make the
+darkness visible, when the oil was not frozen: the roads were deep
+with mud, and everything outside was cold and cheerless. But within
+the farmer's kitchen the huge logs burned brightly, and the
+Christmas holidays were at hand with the accustomed merrymakings, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page116" id="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span>
+cheer the hearts of all in the depths of the dreary winter. </p>
+
+<p>But before Christmas Day arrived, the children enjoyed a great treat
+on St. Nicholas' Day, December 6th, when it was the custom for
+parents to convey secretly presents of various kinds to their little
+sons and daughters, who were taught to believe that they owed them
+to the kindness of St. Nicholas, who, going up and down among the
+towns and villages, came in at the windows and distributed the
+gifts. St. Nicholas, who died A.D. 343, threw a purse filled with
+money into the bedroom of a poor man for the benefit of his three
+daughters, who were in sore trouble; and this story seems to have
+originated the custom which has been observed in many countries, and
+brought much enjoyment to the young folk who received St. Nicholas'
+bounty.</p>
+
+<p>Before the Reformation there was another very strange custom
+associated with this day; namely, the election of a boy bishop, who
+was dressed in episcopal robes, with a mitre on his head, and who
+actually was allowed to preach in the church. This was done
+regularly at many of our cathedrals and collegiate churches, and we
+find records of the custom amongst the archives of Salisbury and
+many other places; even the service which they used is in existence.
+The youthful bishop was elected by the choir-boys, and exercised his
+functions until Holy Innocents' Day. On that day in great state he<span class="pagenum"><a name="page117" id="page117"></a>[pg 117]</span>
+entered the cathedral surrounded by the other boys, who played the
+part of prebendaries, and attended by the dean and canons, who on
+this occasion yielded up their dignity to the youthful prelate and
+his followers. The collect for Holy Innocents' Day in our
+Prayer-book formed part of the service. It was a strange ceremony,
+not unmixed with irreverence, and happily has long been
+discontinued, being forbidden by Royal proclamation in 1542, and
+finally abolished by Elizabeth.</p>
+
+<p>In the archives of the ancient town of Bristol there is a book of
+directions for the Mayor and his brethren, and on St. Nicholas' Day
+they are ordered to go to the Church of St. Nicholas and join in the
+festival of the boy bishop, to hear his sermon and receive his
+blessing. Then they dined together, and waited for the young bishop
+to come to them, playing the meanwhile at dice, the town clerk being
+ordered to find the dice, and to receive a penny for every raffle.
+The bishop was regaled with bread and wine, and preached again to
+the Mayor and corporation in the evening. I am informed that a
+curious memorial of this custom existed until recent years in one
+village at least. An old lady recollected that when she was a child
+she was allowed to play with her companions in church on St.
+Nicholas' Day.</p>
+
+<p>But Christmas is approaching, and we must hasten to describe that
+bright and happy festival. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page118" id="page118"></a>[pg 118]</span>holiday began on Christmas Eve, and
+perhaps you have wondered why we hang up mistletoe, and decorate our
+churches and houses with holly, why our ancestors brought in the
+Yule-log, and performed many other customs which do not seem to be
+very closely connected with the celebration of the birthday of our
+Lord. But we must remember that our forefathers were originally
+heathen, and at this period of the year they practised several
+strange customs connected with their Druidical worship, and held
+great feasts in honour of their gods. When Christian missionaries
+converted these heathen, they strove to put down some of the old
+idolatrous practices; but their efforts were in vain, for the people
+were warmly attached to these old rights and usages. So a compromise
+was effected: the old Pagan customs were shorn of their idolatry and
+transferred to our Christian festivals. Cutting the mistletoe was
+distinctly a rite practised by the Druids, who cut the sacred plant
+with a golden knife, and sacrificed two white bulls to the sylvan
+deities whom they thus sought to propitiate. We hang up our bunches
+of mistletoe now, but we do not attach any superstitious importance
+to it, nor imagine that any gods of the woods will be influenced by
+our procedure. The bringing in of the Yule-log was a Norse custom
+observed in honour of Thor, from whose name we derive our word
+Thursday or Thor's-day. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page119" id="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span>mighty log was drawn into the baronial
+hall with great pomp, while the bards sang their songs of praise and
+chanted &quot;Welcome Yule.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Welcome be Thou, heavenly King,<br /></span>
+<span>Welcome, born on this morning;<br /></span>
+<span>Welcome for whom we shall sing<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Welcome, Yule.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Herrick, who delighted so much in singing of</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Maypoles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes&mdash;&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>then bursts out in joyous strains:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Come, bring with a noise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">My merry, merry boys,<br /></span>
+<span>The Christmas log to the firing;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While my good dame, she<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Bids ye all be free<br /></span>
+<span>And drink to your heart's desiring.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With the last year's brand<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Light the new block, and<br /></span>
+<span>For good success in his spending,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On your psaltries play,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That sweet luck may<br /></span>
+<span>Come while the log is a-teending.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We can fancy that we see the ceremony, the glad procession of
+retainers and servants, the lights flaring in all directions: we can
+hear the shouts and chorus of many voices, the drums beating and
+flutes and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page120" id="page120"></a>[pg 120]</span>trumpets sounding. The huge hearth receives the mighty
+log, and the flames and sparks shoot up the gaping chimney. </p>
+
+<p>At Court in olden times Christmas was kept right royally, if we may
+judge from the extensive <i>menu</i> of the repasts of King Henry III.
+and his courtiers in the year 1247. He kept his Christmas at
+Winchester Castle, and the neighbourhood must have been ransacked to
+furnish supplies for the royal table. The choice dainties were as
+follows: Boars, with heads entire, well cooked and very succulent,
+48; fowls, 1900; partridges, mostly &quot;put in paste,&quot; 500; swans, 41;
+peacocks, 48; hares, 260; eggs, 24,000; 300 gallons of oysters; 300
+rabbits, and more if possible; birds of various sorts, as many as
+could be had; of whitings, &quot;particularly good and heavy,&quot; and conger
+eels the same; a hundred mullets, &quot;fat and very heavy.&quot; For bread
+the king paid &pound;27 10s., at the price of four loaves to the penny.
+When the king kept his Christmas at York in 1250, the royal treasury
+must have been very full, for he ordered for the royal banquets 7000
+fowls, 1750 partridges, besides immense numbers of boars, swans,
+pheasants, &amp;c. Of course the king had a very large retinue of
+vassals and feudal lords to provide for; but the store seems
+sufficiently vast to supply the wants of an army of faithful, but
+hungry, subjects. Sometimes, when the king was short of money, there
+was a considerable <span class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id="page121"></a>[pg 121]</span>reduction in the amount of good things consumed
+at Christmas. </p>
+
+<p>Our ancestors were very careful to attend the services of the
+church, which their loving hands had adorned with holly, bay,
+rosemary, and laurel. They considered it a day of special
+thanksgiving and rejoicing, as an old poet observed&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;At Christmas be merry and thankful with all,<br /></span>
+<span>And feast thy poor neighbours, the great and the small.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The solemn service of Holy Communion was celebrated on Christmas
+Eve, in medi&aelig;val times&mdash;the only night in all the year when an
+evening celebration was allowed. The halls of the knights and barons
+of ancient days were thrown open to all comers, and open house was
+kept for a fortnight. Rejoicing at Christmas time seems to have been
+universal, and it is not for us to judge whether in their mirth they
+sometimes forgot the reason of true Christmas joy, and thought more
+of their feasting than of Him who was born on Christmas Day. But by
+their hearty manner of keeping this annual festival, by the
+hospitality which the farmers and rich men showed to their labourers
+and poorer neighbours, they promoted, at any rate, &quot;goodwill amongst
+men&quot;&mdash;old animosities, quarrels, and bitternesses were forgotten,
+and the hearts of the poor cheered.</p>
+
+<p>In the North of England every farmer gave two feasts, one called
+&quot;the old folks' night,&quot; and the other <span class="pagenum"><a name="page122" id="page122"></a>[pg 122]</span>&quot;the young folks' night.&quot; The
+old Squire used to receive his tenants and neighbours at daybreak,
+when the black-jacks were passed round, and woe betide the luckless
+cook who had overslept herself, and had not boiled the Hackin, or
+large sausage, ere the day dawned, for then she was seized by the
+arms and made to run round the market-place, or courtyard, until she
+was ashamed of her laziness.</p>
+
+<p>And now let us enter the hall of some great baron and see how our
+ancestors kept a merry Christmas. The panelled walls, and stags'
+horns, and gallery at one end of the great room were hung with holly
+and mistletoe. The Yule-log blazed upon the hearth, and then entered
+the vassals, tenants, and servants of the lord to share in the
+Christmas banquet. Rank and ceremony were laid aside: all were
+deemed equal, whether lords or barons, serfs or peasants&mdash;a custom
+which arose, doubtless, from the remembrance of Him who on the first
+Christmas Day, &quot;although He was rich, yet for our sakes became
+poor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And now on the huge oaken table were placed the various dishes of
+the feast&mdash;a mighty boar's head, decorated with laurel and rosemary,
+whose approach was often heralded with trumpets as the king of the
+feast; then came a peacock, stuffed with spices and sweet herbs, and
+adorned with its gay feathers, and then followed a goodly company of
+geese, capons, sirloins of beef, pheasants, mince-pies, and
+plum-porridge. A carol was often sung when the boar's head was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page123" id="page123"></a>[pg 123]</span>
+brought in; here is one from the collection of Wynkyn de Worde: </p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i3">Caput Apri defero<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Reddens laudes Domino,<br /></span>
+<span>The Boar's Head in hand bring I<br /></span>
+<span>With garlands gay and rosemary;<br /></span>
+<span>I pray you all sing merrily<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Qui estis in convivio.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>The Boar's Head, I understand,<br /></span>
+<span>Is the chief service in this land;<br /></span>
+<span>Look wherever it be fande:<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Servile cum cantico.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>Be glad, lords, both more and lasse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For this hath ordained our stew&aacute;rd<br /></span>
+<span>To cheer you all this Christmasse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">The Boar's Head with must&aacute;rd.<a name="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18"><sup>[18]</sup></a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Neither were the ale and wassail-bowl forgotten, and they circulated
+sometimes too often, I fear, and laid the seeds of gout and other
+evils, from which other generations suffer. But when the prodigious
+appetites of the company had been appeased, the maskers and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page124" id="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span>mummers
+entered the hall and performed strange antics and a curious play,
+fragments of which have come down to our own time. The youths of the
+villages of England still come round at Christmas-time and act
+their mumming-drama, in which &quot;St. George&quot; kills a &quot;Turkish knight,&quot;
+who is raised to life by &quot;Medicine Man,&quot; and performs a very
+important part of the play&mdash;passing round the money-box. This is a
+remnant of the mumming of ancient days, and perhaps of some
+&quot;mystery&quot; play, of which I told you in a previous chapter.</p>
+
+<p>In Berkshire the characters are represented by &quot;Molly,&quot; a stalwart
+man dressed in a woman's gown, shawl, and bonnet, with a besom in
+his hand, who strives in his dialogue to imitate a woman's voice;
+King George, a big burly man dressed as a knight, with a wooden
+sword and a home-made helmet; a French officer, with a cocked hat
+and sword; a Doctor, who wears a pig-tail; Jack Vinny, a jester;
+Happy Jack, a humorous character dressed in tattered garments, and
+Old Beelzebub, who appears as Father Christmas. In some parts of the
+royal county the part of King George is taken by an &quot;Africky king,&quot;
+and a Turkish knight instead of the French officer. Very curious are
+the words of the old play, and very ludicrous the representation
+when the parts are acted by competent players.</p>
+
+<p>There was also in the baron's hall a great person dressed in a very
+fantastic garb, who was here, there, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" id="page125"></a>[pg 125]</span>and everywhere, directing the
+mummers, making jokes to amuse the company, and looking after
+everybody. He was called the &quot;Lord of Misrule.&quot; Sometimes his rule
+was harmless enough, and did good service in directing the revels;
+but often he was more worthy of his name, and was guilty of all
+kinds of absurd and mischievous pranks, which did great harm, and
+were very profane. But these were not part of the Christmas feast,
+where all was happiness and mirth. Sir Walter Scott says, in his
+description of the festival&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;England was merry England when<br /></span>
+<span>Old Christmas brought his sports again;<br /></span>
+<span>A Christmas gambol oft would cheer<br /></span>
+<span>A poor man's heart through all the year.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>All the old poets sing in praise of the great day which, as Herrick
+says, &quot;sees December turned to May,&quot; and which makes the &quot;chilling
+winter's morn smile like a field beset with corn.&quot; Old carols chant
+in reverent strains their homage to the infant Saviour: some reflect
+time-honoured customs and social joys when old age casts aside its
+solemnity and mingles once more in the light-hearted gaiety of
+youth, and all unite in chanting the praises of this happy festival.
+The poet Withers sings&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Lo! now is come our joyful'st feast!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Let every man be jolly;<br /></span>
+<span>Each room with ivy leaves is drest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And every post with holly.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id="page126"></a>[pg 126]</span>
+<span>&quot;Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And Christmas blocks are burning;<br /></span>
+<span>Their ovens they with baked meats choke,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And all their spits are turning.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Without the door let sorrow lie,<br /></span>
+<span>And if, for cold, it has to die,<br /></span>
+<span>We'll bury it in Christmas pie,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And evermore be merry.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Thus the happy night was spent; and if, like grave elders, we look
+down upon these frolics of a younger age, and think ourselves so
+much wiser and better than our forefathers, we should not forget the
+benefits which come from open-handed hospitality, goodwill, and
+simple manners, nor scornfully regard honest merriment and
+light-hearted gaiety. A light heart is generally not far removed
+from a holy heart.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, England was merry England then; and although there were plenty
+of troubles in those days, when plagues decimated whole villages,
+when wars were frequent, food scarce, and oppression common, yet the
+Christmas festivities, the varieties of sports and pastimes which
+each season provided, the homely customs and bonds of union between
+class and class which these observances strengthened, added
+brightness to the lives of our simple forefathers, who might
+otherwise have sunk beneath the burdens of their daily toil. We have
+seen how many customs and sports, which were at first simple and
+harmless, degenerated and were abused: we have noticed some of the
+bad features of these ancient pastimes, such as cruelty to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page127" id="page127"></a>[pg 127]</span>animals
+and intemperance; and are thankful that there is some improvement
+manifest in these respects. But it is interesting to witness again
+in imagination the scenes that once took place in our market-places
+and on our village greens; and, if it be impossible to restore again
+the glories of May Day and the brightness of the Christmas feast, we
+may still find plenty of harmless and innocent recreation, and learn
+to be merry, and at the same time wise.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/127.png" name="fig127" id="fig127">
+<img  src="images/127-thumb.png" alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<a name="FOOTNOTES"></a><h2>FOOTNOTES</h2>
+
+
+<a name="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1">[1]</a><div class="note">
+<p>Although the 1st of January was popularly regarded as
+the beginning of the year from early times, it was not until 1752
+A.D. that the legal commencement of the year was changed from March
+25th to the former date.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2">[2]</a><div class="note"><p> These fires signified our Saviour and the Twelve
+Apostles. One of the fires, which represented Judas, the traitor,
+was extinguished soon after it was lighted, and the materials of the
+fire kicked about.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3">[3]</a><div class="note"><p> The distaff was the staff which held the flax or wool
+in spinning. All maidens were engaged in this occupation, and a
+&quot;spinster&quot; (<i>i.e.</i> one who spins) is still the legal term for an
+unmarried woman.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4">[4]</a><div class="note"><p> St. Blaize (or Blasius) was Bishop of Sebaste in
+Armenia, and was martyred 316 A.D. His flesh was torn with iron
+combs, so the wool-staplers have adopted him as their patron saint.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5">[5]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Shrove-tide</i> and <i>Shrove Tuesday</i> derive their names
+from the ancient practice of confessing one's sins on that day. <i>To
+be shriven,</i> or <i>shrove</i>, means to obtain absolution from one's
+sin.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6">[6]</a><div class="note"><p> It was practised as late as the end of the last
+century.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7">[7]</a><div class="note"><p> So called from the Gospel of the day, which treats of
+the feeding of the five thousand.&mdash;<i>Cf</i>. Wheatley on Prayer-book.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8">[8]</a><div class="note"><p> The caber is a small tree, or beam, heavier at one end
+than the other. The performer holds this perpendicularly, with the
+smaller end downwards, and his object is to toss it so as to make it
+fall on the other end.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9">[9]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>A Pleasant Grove of New Fancies</i>, 1637.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10">[10]</a><div class="note"><p> Sometimes the May Queen did not consort with
+morris-dancers, but sat in solitary state under a canopy of boughs.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11">[11]</a><div class="note"><p> A Correspondence in <i>Athen&aelig;um</i>, Sept. 20, 1890.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12">[12]</a><div class="note"><p> The same story is told of Willes, who is supposed by
+some cricketers to be the inventor of the modern style of delivery.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13">[13]</a><div class="note"><p> The word <i>fair</i> is derived from the ecclesiastical
+term, <i>feria</i>, a holiday.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14">[14]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Cf.</i> Govett's <i>King's Book of Sports</i>, and <i>Tom
+Brown's Schooldays,</i> to which I am indebted for the above accurate
+description of back-sword play.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15">[15]</a><div class="note"><p> I am indebted for this description to Mr. W. Andrews'
+interesting book on the <i>Curiosities of the Church</i>.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16">[16]</a><div class="note"><p> Cf. <i>Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley</i>, by Mrs. Dent.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17">[17]</a><div class="note"><p> Cf. <i>Glossary of Berkshire Words and Phrases</i>, by
+Major B. Lowsley, R.E.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18">[18]</a><div class="note"><p> The custom of bringing in the boar's head is still
+preserved at Queen's College, Oxford. The story is told of a student
+of the college who was attacked by a wild boar while he was
+diligently studying Aristotle during a walk near Shotover Hill. His
+book was his only means of defence, so he thrust the volume down the
+animal's throat, exclaiming, &quot;It is Greek!&quot; The boar found Greek
+very difficult to digest, and died on the spot, and the head was
+brought home in triumph by the student. Ever since that date, for
+five hundred years, a boar's head has graced the college table at
+Christmas.</p></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128" id="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span>
+<a name="INDEX"></a><h2>INDEX.</h2>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id="page129"></a>[pg 129]</span>
+<ul>
+<li> Agape, suggested origin of &quot;Church ales,&quot;
+<a href="#page053">53</a></li>
+<li>Ales, Church,
+<a href="#page052">52</a>,
+<a href="#page053"> 53</a>,
+<a href="#page057"> 57</a></li>
+<li> Alfred, laws relating to holidays, <a href="#page005">5</a></li>
+<li> All-hallow Eve, <a href="#page105">105</a> </li>
+<li> Animals to be hunted, <a href="#page016">16</a></li>
+<li> April, <a href="#page036">36</a></li>
+<li> Archery, <a href="#page025">25-31</a></li>
+<li> Ascension Day, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Ascham's accomplishments of English Gentleman, <a href="#page097">97</a></li>
+<li> Back-sword play, <a href="#page081">81</a></li>
+<li> Baiting bears, bulls, &amp;c., <a href="#page089">89</a></li>
+<li> Bale-fires,<a href="#page025">50</a></li>
+<li> Ball games, <a href="#page020">20</a>,
+<a href="#page021"> 21</a>,
+<a href="#page061"> 61-71</a></li>
+<li> Barley-brake, <a href="#page039">39</a></li>
+<li> Bath, wakes at, <a href="#page081">81</a></li>
+<li> Battledore, <a href="#page023">23</a></li>
+<li> Bean, King of, <a href="#page007">7</a></li>
+<li> Berks&mdash;Old sports, <a href="#page081">81</a></li>
+<li> &quot;Bessy,&quot;<a href="#page009"> 9</a></li>
+<li> Blaize St., <a href="#page018">18</a></li>
+<li> Boar's head at Christmas, <a href="#page123">123</a></li>
+<li> Bonfires, 6, <a href="#page057">57</a>,
+<a href="#page106">106</a>,
+<a href="#page108">108</a></li>
+<li> Book of Sports, <a href="#page048">48</a>,
+<a href="#page050"> 50</a></li>
+<li> Bounds, beating, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Bowl, <a href="#page049">49</a></li>
+<li> Boy bishop, <a href="#page116">116</a></li>
+<li> Bull-baiting, <a href="#page089">89</a></li>
+<li> Burning wheel, <a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Butts, <a href="#page027">27</a></li>
+<li> Caber-tossing, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Candlemas, <a href="#page018">18</a></li>
+<li> Carols, <a href="#page111">111</a></li>
+<li> <i>Catherine, St.</i>, miracle play, <a href="#page099"> 99</a></li>
+<li> Charlemagne, <a href="#page058">58</a></li>
+<li> Chess, 112</li>
+<li> Chester,<a href="#page041"> 41</a>,
+<a href="#page048">48</a></li>
+<li> Choirs, Old, <a href="#page111">111</a></li>
+<li> Christmas holidays,<a href="#page005"> 5</a>
+<ul>
+<li> customs, <a href="#page118">118-126</a></li>
+<li>at Court, <a href="#page120">120</a></li>
+</ul></li>
+<li>Church decoration, <a href="#page037">37</a>,
+<a href="#page049">49</a>,
+<a href="#page121">121</a>,</li>
+<li> Churchwardens' accounts,
+<a href="#page034">34</a>,
+<a href="#page036">36</a>,
+<a href="#page042">42</a>,
+<a href="#page054">54</a>,
+<a href="#page072">72</a>,
+<a href="#page100">100</a></li>
+<li> Church ale, <a href="#page052">52</a>,
+<a href="#page053">53</a>,
+<a href="#page057">57</a></li>
+<li> Church house, <a href="#page053">53</a></li>
+<li> Cloudslee, William of,<a href="#page028"> 28</a></li>
+<li> Club-ball, <a href="#page065">65</a>,
+<a href="#page066">66</a></li>
+<li> Cock-fighting, <a href="#page023">23</a>,
+<a href="#page024"> 24</a></li>
+<li> Cock-throwing, <a href="#page023">23</a></li>
+<li> Collop Monday,<a href="#page019"> 19</a></li>
+<li> <i>Colloquies</i> of Erasmus, <a href="#page113">113</a></li>
+<li> <i>Conversion of St. Paul</i>, mystery play, <a href="#page098">98</a></li>
+<li> Country parson, <a href="#page051">51</a></li>
+<li> Coventry, <a href="#page042">42</a>,
+<a href="#page103">103</a></li>
+<li> <i>Crafte of Hunting</i>, <a href="#page016">16</a></li>
+<li> Cricket, <a href="#page038">38</a>,
+<a href="#page061">61-65</a></li>
+<li> Cross-bow, <a href="#page027">27</a></li>
+<li> Cudgel-play, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Curling, <a href="#page039">39</a></li>
+<li> Customs, local,<a href="#page004"> 4</a>,
+<a href="#page005"> 5</a>,
+<a href="#page006"> 6</a>,
+<a href="#page012"> 12</a>,
+<a href="#page020"> 20</a>,
+<a href="#page024"> 24</a>,
+<a href="#page033"> 33</a>,
+<a href="#page034"> 34</a>,
+<a href="#page037"> 37</a>,
+<a href="#page038"> 38</a>,
+<a href="#page039"> 39</a>,
+<a href="#page040"> 40</a>,
+<a href="#page041"> 41</a>,
+<a href="#page050"> 50</a>,
+<a href="#page054"> 54</a>,
+<a href="#page060"> 60</a>,
+<a href="#page062"> 62</a>,
+<a href="#page078"> 78</a>,
+<a href="#page081"> 81</a>,
+<a href="#page106"> 106</a>,
+<a href="#page108"> 108</a>,
+<a href="#page109"> 109</a>,
+<a href="#page117"> 117</a></li>
+</ul>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page130" id="page130"></a>[pg 130]</span>
+<ul>
+<li>Dances, country, on village green,
+<a href="#page011"> 11</a></li>
+<li> Dancing with swords,
+<a href="#page010"> 10</a></li>
+<li> December, <a href="#page115">115</a></li>
+<li> Dedication festivals,<a href="#page003"> 3</a></li>
+<li> <i>Demands Joyous</i>, <a href="#page110">110</a></li>
+<li> Devonshire custom,
+<a href="#page004"> 4</a> </li>
+<li> Distaff, St.,
+<a href="#page009"> 9</a> </li>
+<li> Dragons, <a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Dues, Cock-fight,
+<a href="#page024"> 24</a> </li>
+<li> Early sport,<a href="#page014"> 14</a>, <a href="#page016">16</a></li>
+<li> Easter, <a href="#page036">36-41</a></li>
+<li> Eighteenth century cricket, <a href="#page063">63</a></li>
+<li> Election of King of Bean,<a href="#page007"> 7</a></li>
+<li> England &quot;Merry,&quot;<a href="#page001"> 1</a>,
+<a href="#page125">125</a>, <a href="#page126">126</a></li>
+<li> <i>English Villages, Our</i>,<a href="#page003"> 3</a>,
+<a href="#page080">80</a></li>
+<li> Epiphany,<a href="#page005"> 5</a></li>
+<li> Erasmus, <i>Colloquies</i> of, <a href="#page113">113</a></li>
+<li> Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, <a href="#page090">90</a></li>
+<li> Fairs, <a href="#page003">3</a>,
+<a href="#page080">80</a>, </li>
+<li> Falconer, <a href="#page087">87</a></li>
+<li> February,<a href="#page013"> 13</a></li>
+<li> Festivals,<a href="#page003"> 3</a>,
+<a href="#page036">36</a>,
+<a href="#page050">50</a>,
+<a href="#page118">118</a></li>
+<li> Finsbury,<a href="#page028"> 28</a> </li>
+<li> Football, <a href="#page020">20</a>,
+<a href="#page021">21</a>,
+<a href="#page041">41</a></li>
+<li> Foot-races,<a href="#page022"> 22</a>,
+<a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Fox-hunting extraordinary,<a href="#page017"> 17</a></li>
+<li> France, home of tennis, <a href="#page039">39</a></li>
+<li> Gambling, <a href="#page112">112</a></li>
+<li> Games, minor ball, <a href="#page071">71</a>
+<ul>
+<li>ball, <a href="#page020">20</a>,
+<a href="#page021">21</a>,
+<a href="#page064"> 64</a>,
+<a href="#page071">71</a></li>
+<li>indoor, <a href="#page021">21</a>,
+<a href="#page112">112</a></li>
+</ul></li>
+<li> George Herbert, <a href="#page051">51</a></li>
+<li> Golf, <a href="#page066">66</a>,
+<a href="#page068">68</a></li>
+<li> Good Friday cake,<a href="#page033"> 33</a></li>
+<li> Gospel trees, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Grasmere, <a href="#page072">72</a></li>
+<li> Guildford, cricket at, <a href="#page062">62</a></li>
+<li> Gunpowder Plot, <a href="#page108">108</a></li>
+<li> Guy Fawkes, <a href="#page107">107</a></li>
+<li> Hambledon Cricket Club, <a href="#page063">63</a>,
+<a href="#page064"> 64</a></li>
+<li> Handball, <a href="#page027">27</a></li>
+<li> Handball in Church, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Harvest home, <a href="#page075">75</a>,
+<a href="#page079">79</a></li>
+<li> Hawking, <a href="#page084">84</a></li>
+<li> Heaving, <a href="#page037">37</a></li>
+<li> Herbert, George, <a href="#page051">51</a></li>
+<li> Herefordshire custom,<a href="#page006"> 6</a></li>
+<li> Herrick,<a href="#page009"> 9</a>,
+<a href="#page031">31</a>,
+<a href="#page074"> 74</a>,
+<a href="#page115">115</a>,
+<a href="#page119"> 119</a>,
+<a href="#page125">125</a></li>
+<li> Hobby-horse,<a href="#page026"> 26</a></li>
+<li> Hock-cart, <a href="#page075">75</a></li>
+<li> Hocking, <a href="#page054">54</a></li>
+<li> Hock-tide, <a href="#page041">41</a>,
+<a href="#page042">42</a></li>
+<li> Holland, golf introduced from, <a href="#page066">66</a></li>
+<li> Horse-collar, grinning through a, <a href="#page054">54</a></li>
+<li> Hot cross buns,<a href="#page033"> 33</a>,
+<a href="#page034">34</a></li>
+<li> Hunting,<a href="#page013"> 13</a>,
+<a href="#page017"> 17</a></li>
+<li> Hurling,<a href="#page022"> 22</a>,
+<a href="#page023">23</a></li>
+<li> Indoor games, <a href="#page021">21</a></li>
+<li> Ireland, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Isaak Walton,<a href="#page017"> 17</a></li>
+<li> January,<a href="#page001"> 1</a></li>
+<li> Jersey, <a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Jingling match, <a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> John's, St., Eve, <a href="#page057">57</a></li>
+<li> Jousts, <a href="#page094">94</a></li>
+<li> July, <a href="#page061">61</a></li>
+<li> June, <a href="#page052">52</a></li>
+<li> Kenilworth Castle, pageants at <a href="#page103">103</a></li>
+<li> Kent and Sussex, first homes of cricket, <a href="#page062">62</a></li>
+<li> King of the Bean,<a href="#page007"> 7</a></li>
+<li> Lammas, <a href="#page074">74</a></li>
+<li> Lancashire, <a href="#page049">49</a></li>
+<li> Lawn-tennis, <a href="#page070">70</a></li>
+<li> Lifting, <a href="#page037">37</a></li>
+<li> Lillywhite, <a href="#page065">65</a></li>
+<li> Local customs,
+<a href="#page004">4</a>,
+<a href="#page005">5</a>,
+<a href="#page012">12</a>,
+<a href="#page019">19</a>,
+<a href="#page024">24</a>,
+<a href="#page033">33</a>,
+<a href="#page034">34</a>,
+<a href="#page037">37</a>,
+<a href="#page038">38</a>,
+<a href="#page039">39</a>,
+<a href="#page040">40</a>,
+<a href="#page041">41</a>,
+<a href="#page050">50</a>,
+<a href="#page054">54</a>,
+<a href="#page060">60</a>,
+<a href="#page062">62</a>,
+<a href="#page078">78</a>,
+<a href="#page081">81</a>,
+<a href="#page107">107</a>,
+<a href="#page108">108</a>,
+<a href="#page109">109</a>,
+<a href="#page117">117</a>,
+<a href="#page123">123</a></li>
+<li>&quot;Lord of Misrule,&quot; <a href="#page125">125</a></li>
+</ul>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" id="page131"></a>[pg 131]</span>
+<ul>
+<li>Magdalen hymn, <a href="#page045">45</a></li>
+<li> Magdalen pulpit, <a href="#page060">60</a></li>
+<li> March, <a href="#page025">25</a></li>
+<li> Martinmas, <a href="#page110">110</a></li>
+<li> Maundy Thursday&mdash;Money,<a href="#page033"> 33</a></li>
+<li> May&mdash;May Day, <a href="#page044">44</a></li>
+<li> May-pole, <a href="#page045">45</a>,
+<a href="#page046">46</a>,
+<a href="#page048">48</a></li>
+<li> May Queen, <a href="#page046">46</a></li>
+<li> &quot;Merry England,&quot;<a href="#page001"> 1</a>,
+<a href="#page125">125</a>,
+<a href="#page126">126</a></li>
+<li> Mews, origin of word, <a href="#page088">88</a></li>
+<li> Michaelmas, <a href="#page088">88</a></li>
+<li> Midsummer Eve, <a href="#page058">58</a></li>
+<li> Minor ball-games, <a href="#page071">71</a></li>
+<li> Miracle plays, <a href="#page036">36</a>,
+<a href="#page057">57</a>,
+<a href="#page098">98</a></li>
+<li> Misrule,&quot; &quot;Lord of, <a href="#page125">125</a></li>
+<li> Mitford, Miss, <i>Our Village</i>,<a href="#page064"> 64</a></li>
+<li> <i>Moralities</i>, <a href="#page099">99</a></li>
+<li> Mothering-Sunday, <a href="#page031">31</a></li>
+<li> Mummers, <a href="#page124">124</a></li>
+<li> <i>Mysteries</i>, <a href="#page057">57</a>,
+<a href="#page098">98</a>,
+<a href="#page100">100</a></li>
+<li> New Year's Day, <a href="#page045">45</a></li>
+<li> <i>Nicholas, St., The Image of</i>, mystery play,
+<a href="#page099">99</a></li>
+<li> Nicholas, Day, St., <a href="#page116">116</a></li>
+<li> <i>Noah and the Flood</i>, mystery play,
+<a href="#page098">98</a></li>
+<li> November, <a href="#page105">105</a></li>
+<li> October, <a href="#page092">92</a></li>
+<li> Old songs,
+<a href="#page004">4</a>,
+<a href="#page006">6</a>,
+<a href="#page008">8</a>,
+<a href="#page013">13</a>,
+<a href="#page014">14</a>,
+<a href="#page023">23</a>,
+<a href="#page036">28</a>,
+<a href="#page036">36</a>,
+<a href="#page046">46</a>,
+<a href="#page063">63</a>,
+<a href="#page075">75</a>,
+<a href="#page076">76</a>,
+<a href="#page077">77</a>,
+<a href="#page109">109</a></li>
+<li> Orchards, wassailing of,
+<a href="#page004">4</a>,
+<a href="#page006">6</a> </li>
+<li> Otter-hunting,
+<a href="#page017">17</a> </li>
+<li> <i>Our English Villages</i>, reference,
+<a href="#page003">3</a>,
+<a href="#page080">80</a></li>
+<li> <i>Our Village</i>, reference,<a href="#page064"> 64</a></li>
+<li> Outdoor winter sports,
+<a href="#page007">7</a> </li>
+<li> Oxford customs, <a href="#page109">109</a>,
+<a href="#page123">123</a></li>
+<li> Pace, <i>Pasche, Paschal</i>, eggs, <a href="#page037">37</a></li>
+<li> Pageants, <a href="#page101">101</a></li>
+<li> Pall Mall, <a href="#page068">68</a></li>
+<li> Palm Sunday,<a href="#page032"> 32</a></li>
+<li> Park, St. James's, <a href="#page068">68</a></li>
+<li> Parson, country, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Pea, Queen of,<a href="#page008"> 8</a></li>
+<li> Pig-catching, <a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> Pigeon-holes, <a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> Plagues, <a href="#page072">72</a></li>
+<li> Plough Monday,<a href="#page009"> 9</a></li>
+<li> Pole-leaping, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Purification, <a href="#page018">18</a></li>
+<li> Puritans, <a href="#page047">47</a></li>
+<li> Quarter-staff, <a href="#page038">38</a>,
+<a href="#page054">54</a>,
+<a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> Queen of the Pea,
+<a href="#page008">8</a> </li>
+<li> Queen of the Play, <a href="#page046">46</a></li>
+<li> Quintain, <a href="#page041">41</a></li>
+<li> Reading town, <a href="#page027">27</a>,
+<a href="#page042">42</a>,
+<a href="#page054">54</a></li>
+<li> Reformation,<a href="#page009"> 9</a>,
+<a href="#page018">18</a>,
+<a href="#page022">22</a> </li>
+<li> Refreshment Sunday, <a href="#page031">31</a></li>
+<li> Relics of Sun-worship, <a href="#page051">51</a>,
+<a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Revival of Bounds-beating, <a href="#page051">51</a></li>
+<li> Robin Hood,<a href="#page028"> 28</a></li>
+<li> Roch's, St., Day, <a href="#page075">75</a></li>
+<li> Rogation Days, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Royal golfers, <a href="#page066">66</a>
+<ul>
+<li>tennis players, <a href="#page069">69</a>,
+<a href="#page070">70</a></li>
+</ul></li>
+<li> Rush-bearing, rushes in Churches, <a href="#page049">49</a>,
+<a href="#page071">71</a>, <a href="#page072">72</a></li>
+<li> Salisbury, boy bishop, <a href="#page116">116</a></li>
+<li> September, <a href="#page084">84</a></li>
+<li> Sepulchres,<a href="#page035"> 35</a></li>
+<li> Sheep-shearing, <a href="#page079">79</a></li>
+<li> Shere Thursday,<a href="#page033"> 33</a></li>
+<li> Shrovetide, 19,<a href="#page024"> 24</a></li>
+<li> Simnell-cakes,<a href="#page032"> 32</a></li>
+<li> Single-stick,<a href="#page035"> 35</a></li>
+<li> Skating,
+<a href="#page010">10</a>,
+<a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> &quot;Spinster,&quot; derivation of,<a href="#page009"> 9</a></li>
+<li> Sports, Book of, <a href="#page048">48</a>,
+<a href="#page049">49</a>,
+<a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Sports, early,<a href="#page014"> 14</a>,
+<a href="#page016">16</a></li>
+<li> Songs, old,
+<a href="#page004"> 4</a>,
+<a href="#page006"> 6</a>,
+<a href="#page008"> 8</a>,
+<a href="#page013"> 13</a>,
+<a href="#page014"> 14</a>,
+<a href="#page023"> 23</a>,
+<a href="#page028"> 28</a>,
+<a href="#page036"> 36</a>,
+<a href="#page046"> 46</a>,
+<a href="#page063"> 63</a>,
+<a href="#page075"> 75</a>,
+<a href="#page076"> 76</a>,
+<a href="#page077"> 77</a>,
+<a href="#page109"> 109</a></li>
+<li> Soul-cakes, <a href="#page106">106</a></li>
+<li> Stool-ball, <a href="#page066">66</a></li>
+<li> Stuarts, <a href="#page021">21</a>,
+<a href="#page048"> 48</a>,
+<a href="#page050"> 50</a>,
+<a href="#page066"> 66</a>,
+<a href="#page068"> 68</a>,
+<a href="#page080"> 80</a></li>
+<li> Sudeley Castle, pageants at, <a href="#page101">101</a></li>
+<li> Sun-worship, relics of, <a href="#page057">57</a>,
+<a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+</ul>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page132" id="page132"></a>[pg 132]</span>
+<ul>
+<li> Superstitions,
+<a href="#page005">5</a>,
+<a href="#page033">33</a>,
+<a href="#page039">39</a>,
+<a href="#page050">50</a>,
+<a href="#page059">59</a>,
+<a href="#page106">106</a>,
+<a href="#page107">107</a></li>
+<li> Sussex custom,<a href="#page004"> 4</a></li>
+<li> Sussex and Kent, first homes of cricket, <a href="#page062">62</a></li>
+<li> Tansy-cake, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Tennis, <a href="#page068">68</a>,
+<a href="#page071">71</a></li>
+<li> Tilting at a ring, <a href="#page097">97</a></li>
+<li> Tipcat called Billet, <a href="#page023">23</a></li>
+<li> Tournaments, <a href="#page092">92</a></li>
+<li> Trap-ball, <a href="#page066">66</a></li>
+<li> Tusser, <i>Five Hundred Points of Husbandry</i>, <a href="#page079">79</a></li>
+<li> Twelfth Day Eve,<a href="#page005"> 5</a>,
+<a href="#page006">6</a></li>
+<li> Twelfth Night, 7</li>
+<li> <i>Undershaft</i>, St. Andrew, <a href="#page048">48</a></li>
+<li> Uncleanliness, <a href="#page072">72</a></li>
+<li> Valentine, St., <a href="#page018">18</a></li>
+<li> Wakes, <a href="#page079">79</a>,
+<a href="#page080">80</a>,
+<a href="#page081">81</a></li>
+<li> Walton, Isaak,<a href="#page017"> 17</a></li>
+<li> &quot;Wassail,&quot;<a href="#page004"> 4</a></li>
+<li> Water tournament, <a href="#page039">39</a>,
+<a href="#page040">40</a></li>
+<li> Whistling match, <a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> White Horse Hill, <a href="#page054">54</a></li>
+<li> Whitsuntide, <a href="#page052">52</a></li>
+<li> Willes, <a href="#page065">65</a></li>
+<li> Winter games, indoor,<a href="#page010"> 10</a></li>
+<li> Wise men from East,<a href="#page007"> 7</a></li>
+<li> Withers, Christmas song, <a href="#page125">125</a></li>
+<li> Wrestling, <a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Year, New, festivities,<a href="#page004"> 4</a>,
+<a href="#page005"> 5</a></li>
+<li> Yule-log, <a href="#page118">118</a></li>
+</ul>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page133" id="page133"></a>[pg 133]</span>
+<hr />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h6><i>Richard Clay &amp; Sons, Limited, London &amp; Bungay</i></h6>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14315 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
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+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #14315 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14315)
diff --git a/old/14315-8.txt b/old/14315-8.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Old English Sports, by Peter Hampson
+Ditchfield
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Old English Sports
+
+Author: Peter Hampson Ditchfield
+
+Release Date: December 10, 2004  [eBook #14315]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD ENGLISH SPORTS***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Richard J. Shiffer, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 14315-h.htm or 14315-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/1/14315/14315-h/14315-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/1/14315/14315-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+OLD ENGLISH SPORTS
+
+Pastimes and Customs
+
+by
+
+P. H. DITCHFIELD, M.A.
+
+Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; Rector of Barkham, Berks
+Hon. Sec. of Berks Arch�ological Society, etc.
+
+First published by Methuen & Co., 1891
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+LADY RUSSEL
+
+THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH THE AUTHOR'S
+KINDEST REGARDS.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Encouraged by the kind reception which his former book, _Our English
+Villages_, met with at the hands of both critics and the public, the
+author has ventured to reproduce in book-form another series of
+articles which have appeared during the past year in the pages of
+_The Parish Magazine_. He desires to express his thanks to Canon
+Erskine Clarke for kindly permitting him to reprint the articles,
+which have been expanded and in part rewritten. The Sports and
+Pastimes of England have had many chroniclers, both ancient and
+modern, amongst whom may be mentioned Strutt, Brand, Hone, Stow, and
+several others, to whose works the writer is indebted for much
+valuable information.
+
+The object of this book is to describe, in simple language, the
+holiday festivals as they occurred in each month of the year; and
+the sports, games, pastimes, and customs associated with these rural
+feasts. It is hoped that such a description may not be without
+interest to our English villagers, and perhaps to others who love
+the study of the past. Possibly it may help forward the revival of
+the best features of old village life, and the restoration of some
+of those pleasing customs which Time has deprived us of. The writer
+is much indebted to Mr. E.R.R. Bindon for his very careful revision
+of the proof-sheets.
+
+BARKHAM RECTORY,
+1891.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+JANUARY.
+
+Dedication Festivals--New Year's Day--"Wassail"--Twelfth
+Night--"King of the Bean"--St. Distaffs Day--Plough
+Monday--Winter Games--Skating--Sword-dancing
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+FEBRUARY.
+
+Hunting--Candlemas Day--St. Blaize's Day--Shrove-tide--
+Football--Battledore and Shuttlecock--Cock-throwing
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MARCH.
+
+Archery--Lent--"Mothering" Sunday--Palm Sunday--
+"Shere" Thursday--Watching the Sepulchre
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+APRIL.
+
+Easter Customs--Pace Eggs--Handball in Churches--Sports confined
+to special localities--Stoolball and Barley-brake--Water
+Tournament:--Quintain--Chester Sports--Hock-tide
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MAY.
+
+May-day Festivities--May-pole--Morris-dancers--The Book of
+Sports--Bowling--Beating the Bounds--George Herbert's description
+of a Country Parson
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JUNE.
+
+Whitsuntide Sports--Church-ales--Church-house--Quarter-staff--
+Whistling and Jingling Matches--St. John's Eve--Wrestling
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+JULY.
+
+Cricket--Club-ball--Trap-ball--Golf--Pall-mall--Tennis--Rush-bearing
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+AUGUST.
+
+Lammas Day--St. Roch's Day--Harvest Home--"Ten-pounding"
+--Sheep-shearing--"Wakes"--Fairs
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+SEPTEMBER.
+
+Hawking--Michaelmas--Bull and Bear-baiting
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+OCTOBER.
+
+Tournaments--"Mysteries"--"Moralities"--Pageants
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NOVEMBER.
+
+All-hallow Eve--"Soul Cakes"--Diving for Apples--The Fifth
+of November--Martinmas--"Demands Joyous "--Indoor Games
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DECEMBER.
+
+St. Nicholas' Day--The Boy Bishop--Christmas Eve--Christmas
+Customs--Mummers--"Lord of Misrule"--Conclusion
+
+INDEX
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+JANUARY.
+
+     "Come then, come then, and let us bring
+      Unto our pretty Twelfth-Tide King,
+      Each one his several offering."
+
+                                 HERRICK'S _Star Song_.
+
+Dedication Festivals--New Year's Day--"Wassail"--Twelfth
+  Night--"King of the Bean"--St. Distaff's Day--Plough
+  Monday--Winter Games--Skating--Sword-dancing.
+
+
+In the old life of rural England few things are more interesting
+than the ancient sports and pastimes, the strange superstitions, and
+curious customs which existed in the times of our forefathers. We
+remember that our land once rejoiced in the name of "Merry England,"
+and perhaps feel some regret that many of the outward signs of
+happiness have passed away from us, and that in striving to become a
+great and prosperous nation, we have ceased to be a genial,
+contented, and happy one. In these days new manners are ever pushing
+out the old. The restlessness of modern life has invaded the
+peaceful retirement of our villages, and railway trains and cheap
+excursions have killed the old games and simple amusements which
+delighted our ancestors in days of yore. The old traditions of the
+country-side are forgotten, and poor imitations of town manners have
+taken their place. Old social customs which added such diversity to
+the lives of the rustics two centuries ago have died out. Very few
+of the old village games and sports have survived. The village
+green, the source of so much innocent happiness, is no more; and
+with it has disappeared much of that innocent and light-hearted
+cheerfulness which brightened the hours of labour, and refreshed the
+spirit of the toiling rustic, when his daily task was done. Times
+have changed, and we have changed with them. We could not now revive
+many of the customs and diversions in which our fathers took
+delight. Serious and grave men no longer take pleasure in the
+playthings which pleased them when they were children; and our
+nation has become grave and serious, and likes not the simple joys
+which diversified the lives of our forefathers, and made England
+"merry."
+
+Is it possible that we cannot restore some of these time-honoured
+customs? The sun shines as brightly now as ever it did on a May-day
+festival; the Christmas fire glows as in olden days. Let us try to
+revive the spirit which animated their festivals. Let us endeavour
+to realize how our village forefathers used to enjoy themselves, how
+they used to spend their holidays, and to picture to ourselves the
+scenes of social intercourse which once took place in our own
+hamlets. Every season of the year had its holiday customs and quaint
+manner of observance, some of them confined to particular counties,
+but many of them universally observed.
+
+In the volume, recently published, which treated of the story and
+the antiquities of "Our English Villages," I pointed out that the
+Church was the centre of the life of the old village--not only of
+its religious life, but also of its secular every-day life. This is
+true also with regard to the amusements of the people. The festival
+of the saint, to whom the parish church was dedicated, was
+celebrated with much rejoicing. The annual fair was held on that
+day, when, after their business was ended, friends and neighbours
+met together and took part in some of the sports and pastimes which
+I shall try to describe. The other holidays of the year were
+generally regulated by the Church's calendar, the great
+festivals--Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday---being all
+duly observed. I propose to record in these pages the principal
+sports, pastimes, and customs which our forefathers delighted in
+during each month of the year, the accounts of which are not only
+amusing, but add to our historical knowledge, and help us to realize
+something of the old village life of rural England.
+
+We will begin with New Year's Day[1]. It was an ancient Saxon custom
+to begin the year by sending presents to each other. On New Year's
+Eve the wassail bowl of spiced ale was carried round from house to
+house by the village maidens, who sang songs and wished every one "A
+Happy New Year." "Wassail" is an old Saxon word, meaning "Be in
+health." Rowena, the daughter of the Saxon king Hengist, offered a
+flowing bowl to the British king Vortigern, welcoming him with the
+words, "Lloured King Wassheil." In Devonshire and Sussex it was the
+custom to wassail the orchards; a troop of boys visited the
+orchards, and, encircling the apple-trees, they sang the words--
+
+     "Stand fast, bear well top,
+      Pray God send us a howling crop;
+      Every twig, apples big;
+      Every bough, apples enow;
+      Hats full, caps full,
+      Full quarter-sacks full."
+
+Then the boys shouted in chorus, and rapped the trees with their
+sticks.
+
+The custom of giving presents on New Year's Day is as old as the
+time of the Romans, who attached superstitious importance to it, and
+thought the gifts brought them a lucky year. Our Christian
+forefathers retained the pleasant custom when its superstitious
+origin was long forgotten. Fathers and mothers used to delight each
+other and their little ones by their mutual gifts; the masters gave
+presents to their servants, and with "march-paynes, tarts, and
+custards great," they celebrated the advent of the new year. Oranges
+stuck with cloves, or a fat capon, were some of the usual forms of
+New Year's gifts.
+
+The "bringing-in" of the new year is a time-honoured custom; which
+duty is performed by the first person who enters the house after the
+old year has expired. In the North of England this important person
+must be a dark man, otherwise superstitious folk believe that
+ill-luck would befall the household. In other parts of England a
+light-complexioned man is considered a more favourable harbinger of
+good fortune.
+
+The Christmas holidays extended over twelve days, which bring us to
+January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. It is stated that "in the
+days of King Alfred a law was made with regard to holidays, by
+virtue of which the twelve days after the Nativity of our Saviour
+were made festivals." Twelfth Day Eve was a great occasion among the
+rustics of England, and many curious customs are connected with it.
+In Herefordshire the farmers and servants used to meet together in
+the evening and walk to a field of wheat. There they lighted twelve
+small fires and one large one[2], and forming a circle round the
+huge bonfire, they raised a shout, which was answered from all the
+neighbouring fields and villages. At home the busy housewife was
+preparing a hearty supper for the men. After supper they adjourned
+to the ox-stalls, and the master stood in front of the finest of the
+oxen and pledged him in a curious toast; the company followed his
+example with all the other oxen, and then they returned to the house
+and found all the doors locked, and admittance sternly refused until
+they had sung some joyous songs.
+
+In the south of Devonshire, on the eve of the Epiphany, the
+best-bearing trees in the orchard were encircled by the farmer and
+his labourers, who sang the following refrain--
+
+              "Here's to thee, old apple-tree,
+     Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blow,
+     And whence thou may'st bear apples enow!
+               Hats full! caps full!
+               Bushel-bushel-sacks full,
+               And my pockets full too! Huzza!"
+
+The returning company were not allowed to enter the house until some
+one guessed what was on the spit, which savoury tit-bit was awarded
+to the man who first named it.
+
+The youths of the village during the holidays had plenty of sport,
+outdoor and indoor, which kept out the cold by wholesome exercise
+and recreative games. Many a hard battle was fought with snowballs,
+or with bat-and-ball on the ice; the barns were the scenes of many a
+wrestling match or exciting game at skittles; and in the evenings
+they played such romping games as blind-man's-buff, hunt the
+slipper, and others of a similar character. While the company sat
+round the yule-log blazing on the hearth, eating mince-pies, or plum
+porridge, and quaffing a bowl of well-spiced elder wine, the mummers
+would enter, decked out in ribands and strange dresses, execute
+their strange antics, and perform their curious play. So the wintry
+days passed until Twelfth Night, with its pleasing associations and
+mirthful customs.
+
+Twelfth Night was a very popular festival, when honour was done to
+the memory of the Three Wise Men from the East, who were called the
+Three Kings. The election of kings and queens by beans was a very
+ancient custom. The farmer invited his friends and labourers to
+supper, and a huge plumcake was brought in, containing a bean and a
+pea. The man who received the piece of cake containing the bean was
+called the King of the Bean, and received the honour of the company;
+and the pea conferred a like privilege on the lady who drew the
+favoured lot. The rest of the visitors assumed the rank of ministers
+of state or maids of honour. The festival was generally held in a
+large barn decorated with evergreens, and a large bough of mistletoe
+was not forgotten, which was often the source of much merriment.
+When the ceremony began, some one repeated the lines--
+
+      "Now, now the mirth comes
+       With the cake full of plums,
+     When Bean is King of the Sport here.
+       Beside, you must know,
+       The Pea also
+     Must revel as Queen of the Court here."
+
+Then the cake was cut and distributed amid much laughter and merry
+shouts. The holders of the bean and pea were hailed as king and
+queen for the night, the band struck up some time-honoured melody,
+and a country dance followed which was ever carried on with much
+spirit. The king exercised his royal prerogative by choosing
+partners for the women, and the queen performed a like office for
+the men; and so they merrily played their parts till the hours grew
+late.
+
+But the holidays were nearly over, and the time for resuming work
+had arrived. However, neither the women nor the men seemed to be in
+any hurry to begin. The day after Twelfth Day was humorously called
+St. Distaft's[3] Day, which was devoted to "partly work and partly
+play." Herrick, the recorder of many social customs, tells us that
+the ploughmen used to set on fire the flax which the maids used for
+spinning, and received pails of water on their heads for their
+mischief. The following Monday was called Plough Monday, when the
+labourers used to draw a plough decked with ribbons round the
+parish, and receive presents of money, favouring the spectators with
+sword-dancing and mumming. The rude procession of men, clad in clean
+smock-frocks, headed by the renowned "Bessy," who sang and rattled
+the money-box, accompanied by a strangely-dressed character called
+the Fool, attired in skins of various animals and having a long
+tail, threw life into the dreary scenery of winter, as the
+gaily-decked plough was drawn along the quiet country lanes from one
+village to another. The origin of Plough Monday dates back to
+pre-Reformation times, when societies of ploughmen called guilds
+used to keep lights burning upon the shrine of some saint, to invoke
+a blessing on their labour. The Reformation put out the lights, but
+it could not extinguish the festival.
+
+In the long winter evenings the country folk amused themselves
+around their winter's fireside by telling old romantic stories of
+errant knights and fairies, goblins, witches, and the rest; or by
+reciting
+
+                      "Some merry fit
+      Of Mayde Marran, or els of Robin Hood."
+
+In the Tudor times there were plenty of winter games for those who
+could play them, amongst which we may mention chess, cards, dice,
+shovel-board, and many others.
+
+And when the ponds and rivers were frozen, as early as the twelfth
+century the merry skaters used to glide over the smooth ice. Their
+skates were of a very primitive construction, and consisted of the
+leg-bones of animals tied under their feet by means of thongs.
+Neither were the skaters quite equal to cutting "threes" and
+"eights" upon the ice; they could only push themselves along by
+means of a pole with an iron spike at the end. But they used to
+charge each other after the manner of knights in a tournament, and
+use their poles for spears. An old writer says that "they pushed
+themselves along with such speed that they seemed to fly like a bird
+in the air, or as darts shot out from the engines of war." Some of
+the less adventurous youths were content with sliding, or driving
+each other forward on great pieces of ice. "Dancing with swords" was
+a favourite form of amusement among the young men of Northern
+nations, and in those parts of England where the Norsemen and Danes
+settled, this graceful gymnastic custom long lingered.
+
+[Illustration: DANCING ON THE VILLAGE GREEN.]
+
+The old country dances which used to delight our fathers seem to be
+vanishing. I have not seen for many years the village rustics
+"crossing hands" and going "down the middle," and tripping merrily
+to the tune of a fiddle; but perhaps they do so still.
+
+In olden days the city maidens of London were often "dancing and
+tripping till moonlight" in the open air; and later on we read that
+on holidays, after evening prayer, while the youths exercised their
+wasters and bucklers, the maidens, "one of them playing on a
+timbrel, in sight of their masters and dames, used to dance for
+garlands hanged athwart the streets." Stow, the recorder of this
+custom, wisely adds, "which open pastimes in my youth, being now
+suppressed, worser practices within doors are to be feared." In some
+parts of England they still trip it gaily in the moonlight. A
+clergyman in Gloucestershire tried to establish a cricket club in
+his parish, but his efforts were all in vain; the young men
+preferred to dance together on the village green, and the more manly
+diversion had no charms for them. Dancing was never absent from our
+ancestors' festivities, and round the merry May-pole
+
+                    "Where the jocund swains
+     Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe strains;"
+
+or in the festal hall, adorned with evergreens and mistletoe, with
+tripping feet they passed the hours "till envious night commands
+them to be gone."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+FEBRUARY.
+
+     "Down with rosemary and bayes,
+        Down with the mistleto,
+      Instead of holly, now up-raise
+        The greener box, for show."
+
+     "The holly hitherto did sway;
+        Let box now domineere,
+      Untill the dancing Easter-day,
+        Or Easter's eve appeare."
+
+Hunting--Candlemas Day--St. Blaize's Day--Shrove-tide--
+  Football--Battledore and Shuttlecock--Cock-throwing.
+
+
+The fox-hounds often meet in our village during this cheerless
+month, and I am reminded by the red coats of the huntsmen, and by
+the sound of the cheerful horn, of the sportsmen of ancient days,
+who chased the wolf, hart, wild boar, and buck among these same
+woods and dales of England. All hearts love to hear the merry sound
+of the huntsman's horn, except perhaps that of the hunted fox or
+stag. The love of hunting seems ingrained in every Englishman, and
+whenever the horsemen appear in sight, or the "music" of the hounds
+is heard in the distance, the spade is laid aside, the ploughman
+leaves his team, the coachman his stables, the gardener his
+greenhouses, books are closed, and every one rushes away to see the
+sport. The squire, the farmers, and every one who by hook or by
+crook can procure a mount, join in the merry chase, for as an old
+poet sings--
+
+     "The hunt is up, the hunt is up,
+      Sing merrily we, the hunt is up;
+      The birds they sing,
+      The deer they fling:
+      Hey, nony, nony-no:
+      The hounds they cry,
+      The hunters they fly,
+      Hey trolilo, trolilo,
+      The hunt is up."
+
+We English folks come of a very sporting family. The ancient Britons
+were expert hunters, and lived chiefly on the prey which they
+killed. Our Saxon forefathers loved the chase, and in some very old
+Saxon pictures illustrating the occupations of each month we see the
+lord, attended by his huntsmen, chasing the wild boars in the woods
+and forests. The Saxon king, Edgar, imposed a tribute of wolves'
+heads, and Athelstan ordered the payment of fines in hawks and
+strong-scented dogs. Edward the Confessor, too, who scorned worldly
+amusements, used to take "delight in following a pack of swift dogs,
+and in cheering them with his voice." The illustration is taken from
+an old illumination which adorned an ancient MS., and represents
+some Saxons engaged in unearthing a fox.
+
+[Illustration: HUNTING IN SAXON TIMES (from an ancient MS.).]
+
+When the Normans came to England great changes were made, and
+hunting--the favourite sport of the Conqueror--was promoted with a
+total disregard of the welfare of the people. Whole villages and
+churches were pulled down in order to enlarge the royal forests, and
+any one who was rash enough to kill the king's deer would lose his
+life or his eyesight. It was not until the reign of Henry III. that
+this law was altered. William the Conqueror, who forbade the killing
+of deer and of boars, and who "loved the tall stags as though he
+were their father," greatly enlarged the New Forest, in Hampshire.
+Henry I. built a huge stone wall, seven miles in circumference,
+round his favourite park of Woodstock, near Oxford; and if any one
+wanted a favour from King John, a grant of privileges, or a new
+charter, he would have to pay for it in horses, hawks, or hounds.
+The Norman lords were as tyrannical in preserving their game as
+their king, and the people suffered greatly through the selfishness
+of their rulers. There is a curious MS. in the British Museum,
+called _The Craft of Hunting_, written by two followers of Edward
+II., which gives instructions with regard to the game to be hunted,
+the rules for blowing the horn, the dogs to be used in the chase,
+and so on. It is too long to quote, but I may mention that the
+animals to be hunted included the hare, hart, wolf, wild boar,
+buck, doe, fox ("which oft hath hard grace"), the martin-cat,
+roebuck, badger, polecat, and otter. Many of these animals have long
+since disappeared through the clearing of the old forests, or been
+exterminated on account of the mischief which they did. Our modern
+hunters do not enjoy quite such a variety of sport.
+
+Otter-hunting, now very rare, was once a favourite sport among
+villagers who dwelt near a river. Isaac Walton, in his book called
+_The Complete Angler_, thus describes the animated scene: "Look!
+down at the bottom of the hill there, in the meadow, checkered with
+water-lilies and lady-smocks; there you may see what work they make;
+look! look! you may see all busy--men and dogs--dogs and men--all
+busy." At last the otter is found. Then barked the dogs, and shouted
+the men! Boatmen pursue the poor animal in the water. Horsemen dash
+into the river. The otter dives, and strives to escape; but all in
+vain her efforts, and she perishes by the teeth of the dogs or the
+huntsmen's spears.
+
+Foreigners are always astonished at our love of sport and hunting,
+and our disregard of all danger in the pursuit of our favourite
+amusement, and one of our visitors tells the following story: "When
+the armies of Henry VIII. and Francis, King of France, were drawn up
+against each other, a fox got up, which was immediately pursued by
+the English. The 'varmint' ran straight for the French lines, but
+the Englishmen would not cease from the chase; the Frenchmen opposed
+them, and killed many of these adventurous gentlemen who for the
+moment forgot their warfare in the charms of the chase."
+
+But I must proceed to mention other February customs and sports.
+Great importance was attached to the Feast of the Purification,
+commonly called Candlemas Day (February 2nd), when consecrated
+candles were distributed and carried about in procession. At the
+Reformation this custom did not entirely disappear, for we find a
+proclamation of Henry VIII., in 1539 A.D., which orders that "on
+Candlemas Day it shall be declared that the bearing of candles is
+done in memory of Christ the spiritual light, whom Simeon did
+prophesy, as it is read in the Church on that day." Christmas
+decorations were removed from the houses; the holly, rosemary, bay,
+and mistletoe disappeared, to make room for sprigs of box, which
+remained until Easter brought in the yew. Our ancestors were very
+fond of bonfires, and on the 3rd of this month, St. Blaize's Day,[4]
+the red flames might be seen darting up from every hilltop. But why
+they should do this on that day is not evident, except that the good
+Bishop's name sounded something like _blaze_, and perhaps that was
+quite a sufficient reason! And why the day of St. Valentine should
+have been selected for the drawing lots for sweethearts, and for the
+sending affectionate greetings, is another mystery. St. Valentine
+was a priest and martyr in Italy in the third century, and had
+nothing to do with the popular commemoration of the day.
+
+Now we come to the diversions of Shrove-tide,[5] which immediately
+precedes the Lenten Fast. The Monday before Ash Wednesday was called
+Collop Monday in the north, because slices of bacon (or collops)
+were the recognized dish for dinner. But on Tuesday the chief
+amusements began; the bells were rung, pancakes tossed with great
+solemnity, and devoured with great satisfaction, as an old writer,
+who did not approve of so much feasting, tells us--
+
+    "In every house are shouts and cries, and mirth and revel rout,
+     And dainty tables spread, and all beset with guests about."
+
+He further describes this old English carnival, which must have
+rivalled any that we read of on the Continent--
+
+    "Some run about the streets attired like monks, and some like
+        kings,
+     Accompanied with pomp, and guard, and other stately things.
+     Some like wild beasts do run abroad in skins that divers be
+     Arrayed, and eke with loathsome shapes, that dreadful are to
+        see,
+     They counterfeit both bears and wolves, and lions fierce in
+        sight,
+     And raging bulls; some play the cranes, with wings and stilts
+        upright."
+
+But the great game for Shrove Tuesday was our time-honoured
+football, which has survived so many of the ancient pastimes of our
+land, and may be considered the oldest of all our English national
+sports. The play might not be quite so scientific as that played by
+our modern athletes, but, from the descriptions that have come down
+to us, it was no less vigorous. "After dinner" (says an old writer)
+"all the youths go into the fields to play at the ball. The ancient
+and worthy men of the city come forth on horseback to see the sport
+of the young men, and to take part of the pleasure in beholding
+their agility." There are some exciting descriptions of old football
+matches; and we read of some very fierce contests at Derby, which
+was renowned for the game. In the seventeenth century it was played
+in the streets of London, much to the annoyance of the inhabitants,
+who had to protect their windows with hurdles and bushes. At
+Bromfield, in Cumberland, the annual contest on Shrove Tuesday was
+keenly fought. Sides having been chosen, the football was thrown
+down in the churchyard, and the house of the captain of each side
+was the goal. Sometimes the distance was two or three miles, and
+each step was keenly disputed. He was a proud man at Bromfield who
+succeeded in reaching the goal with the ball, which he received as
+his guerdon. How the villagers used to talk over the exploits of the
+day, and recount their triumphs of former years with quite as much
+satisfaction as their ancestors enjoyed in relating their feats in
+the border wars!
+
+The Scots were famous formerly, as they now are, for prowess in the
+game, and the account of the Shrove Tuesday match between the
+married and single men at Scone, in Perthshire, reads very like a
+description of a modern Rugby contest. At Inverness the women also
+played, the married against the unmarried, when the former were
+always victorious. King James I., who was a great patron of sports,
+did not approve of his son Henry being a football player. He wrote
+that a young man ought to have a "moderate practice of running,
+leaping, wrestling, fencing, dancing, and playing at the caitch, or
+tennis, bowls, archery, pall-mall, and riding; and in foul or stormy
+weather, cards and backgammon, dice, chess, and billiards," but
+football was too rough a game for his Majesty, and "meeter for
+laming than making able." Stubbs also speaks of it as a "bloody and
+murthering practice, rather than a fellowly sport or pastime." From
+the descriptions of the old games, it seems to have been very
+painful work for the shins, and there were no rules to prevent
+hacking and tripping in those days.
+
+Football has never been the spoilt child of English pastimes, but
+has lived on in spite of royal proclamations and the protests of
+peace-loving citizens who objected to the noise, rough play, and
+other vagaries of the early votaries of the game. Edward II. and
+succeeding monarchs regarded it as a "useless and idle sport," which
+interfered with the practice of archery, and therefore ought to be
+shunned by all loyal subjects. The violence displayed at the matches
+is evident from the records which have come down to us, and from the
+opinions of several writers who condemn it severely. Free fights,
+broken limbs, and deaths often resulted from old football
+encounters; and when the games took place in the streets, lines of
+broken windows marked the progress of the players. "A bloody and
+murdering practice," "a devilish pastime," involving "beastly fury
+and extreme violence," the breaking of necks, arms, legs and
+backs--these were some of the descriptions of the football of olden
+times. The Puritans set their faces against it, and the sport
+languished for a long period as a general pastime. In some places it
+was still practised with unwonted vigour, but it was not until the
+second half of the present century that any revival took place. But
+football players have quickly made up for lost time; few villages do
+not possess their club, and our young men are ready to "Try it out
+at football by the shins," with quite as much readiness as the
+players in the good old days, although the play is generally less
+violent, and more scientific.
+
+Hurling, too, was a fast and furious game, very similar to our game
+of hockey, and played with sticks and a ball. Two neighbouring
+parishes used to compete, and the object was to drive the ball from
+some central spot to one, or other, village. The contest was keen
+and exciting; a ball was driven backwards and forwards, over hills,
+dales, hedges, and ditches, through bushes, briars, mires, plashes,
+and rivers, until at length the wished-for goal was gained.
+Battledore and shuttlecock were favourite games for the girls, which
+they played singing quaint rhymes--
+
+     "Great A, little A;
+      This is pancake day!"
+
+and the men also indulged in tip-cat, or billet.
+
+There is one other custom, of a most barbarous and cruel
+description, which was practised on Shrove Tuesday by our
+forefathers, and which happily has perished,[6] and that was
+throwing at cocks or hens with sticks. The poor bird was tied by the
+leg, and its tormentors stood twenty-two yards distant and had three
+throws each for twopence, winning the bird if they could knock it
+down. The cock was trained beforehand to avoid the sticks, so as to
+win more money for its brutal master. Well might a learned
+foreigner remark, "The English eat a certain cake on Shrove Tuesday,
+upon which they immediately run mad, and kill their poor cocks."
+Cock-fighting was a favourite amusement on Shrove Tuesday, as well
+as at other times. This shameful and barbarous practice was
+continued until the eighteenth century; some of our kings took
+delight in it, and in the old grammar schools in the North of
+England it was sanctioned by the masters, who received from their
+scholars a small tax called "cock-fight dues." Happily, with
+bull-baiting, bear-baiting, dog-fighting, and the like, this cruel
+and brutal pastime has ceased to exist. If we have lost some of the
+simple joys and cheerful light-heartedness of our forefathers, we
+have also happily lost some of their cruel disregard for the
+sufferings of animals, and abandoned such barbarous amusements as I
+have tried to describe. But the old sports of England were not all
+like these; the archery, running, leaping, wrestling, football, and
+other games in which our ancestors delighted, made the young men of
+England a manly and a sturdy race, and our nation mainly owes its
+greatness to the courage, manliness, and daring of her sons.
+
+But Ash Wednesday has dawned, and all is still in town and village.
+The Shrove-tide feast is ended, and the days of fasting and of
+prayer have hushed the sounds of merriment and song.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MARCH.
+
+    "And now a solemn fast we keep,
+     When earth wakes from her winter sleep."
+
+    "And he was clad in cote and hode of grene;
+     A shefe of pecocke arrowes bryght and shene
+     Under his belt he bare ful thriftely,
+     Well could he dresse his tackle yomanly;
+     His arrowes drouped not with fethers lowe,
+     And in hande he bare a myghty bowe."
+
+Archery--Lent--"Mothering" Sunday--Palm Sunday--
+    "Shere" Thursday--Watching the Sepulchre.
+
+
+Of all the sports and pastimes of old England, archery was the most
+renowned, and many a hard-fought victory has been gained through
+the skill which our English archers acquired in the use of their
+famous bows. "Alas, alas for Scotland when English arrows fly!" was
+the sad lament of many a Highland clan, and Frenchmen often learnt
+to their cost the force of our bowmen's arms. The accounts of the
+fights of Cre�y and Poitiers tell of the prowess of our archers; and
+the skill which they acquired by practising at the butts at home has
+gained many a victory. Archery was so useful in war that several
+royal proclamations were issued to encourage the sport, and in many
+parishes there were fields set apart for the men to practise.
+Although the sport has died out as a popular pastime, the old name,
+the butts, remains in many a town and village, recording the spot
+where our forefathers acquired their famous skill. The name is still
+retained in the neighbouring town of Reading, and in some old
+records I find that in 1549 a certain "Will'm Watlynton received
+xxxvi_s_. for making of the butts;" and there are several items of
+charges in other years for repairing and renewing the same.
+
+[Illustration: TWO ARCHERS WEARING ARMOR.]
+
+Edward III. ordered "that every one strong in body, at leisure on
+holidays, should use in their recreation bows and arrows, and learn
+and exercise the art of shooting, forsaking such vain plays as
+throwing stones, handball, football, bandyball, or cock-fighting,
+which have no profit in them." Edward IV. ordered every Englishman,
+of whatever rank, to have a bow his own height always ready for use,
+and to instruct his children in the art. In every township the butts
+were ordered to be set up, and the people were required to shoot
+"up and down" every Sunday and feast-day, under penalty of one
+halfpenny.
+
+The sport began to decline in the sixteenth century, in spite of
+royal proclamations and occasional revivals. Henry VIII. forbade the
+use of the cross-bow, lest it should interfere with the practice of
+the more ancient weapon, and many old writers lament over the decay
+of this famous pastime of old England, which, as Bishop Latimer
+stated in one of his sermons, "is a goodly art, a wholesome kind of
+exercise, and much commended as physic."
+
+The Finsbury archers had, in 1594, no less than one hundred and
+sixty-four targets in Finsbury Fields, set up on pillars with
+curious devices over them; but four years later Stow laments that
+"by reason of closing in of common grounds, our archers, for want of
+room to shoot abroad, creep into ordinary dicing-houses and
+bowling-alleys near home."
+
+The famous Robin Hood, who lived in the reign of Richard I., was the
+king of archers. The exploits of this renowned outlaw and his merry
+men form the subject of many old ballads and romances, and the old
+oaks in Sherwood Forest could tell the tale of many an exciting
+chase after the king's deer, and of many a luckless traveller who
+had to pay dearly for the hospitality of Robin Hood and Little John.
+The ballads narrate that they could shoot an arrow a measured mile,
+but this is a flight of imagination which we can hardly follow!
+
+    "But he was an archer true and good,
+     And people called him Robin Hood;
+     Such archers as he and his men
+     Will England never see again."
+
+Another ballad relates the prowess of William of Cloudslee, who
+scorned to shoot at an ordinary target, and cutting a hazel rod
+from a tree, he shot at it from twenty score paces, cleaving the rod
+in two.
+
+[Illustration: CROSS-BOW SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS (from MS. dated 1496).]
+
+[Illustration: AN ARCHER.]
+
+Like William Tell of great renown, our English archer could split an
+apple placed on his son's head at the distance of six score paces.
+
+In time of war the archers were armed with a body-armour, the arms
+being left free. They had a long bow made of yew, a sheaf of arrows
+winged with gray goose-feathers, a sword, and small shield. Such was
+the appearance of the men who struck such terror among the knights
+and chivalry of France, and won many victories for England before
+the days of muskets and rifles.
+
+We are now in the season of Lent, and our towns and villages were
+very still and quiet during these weeks. But there was an old custom
+on Refreshment[7] or Mid-Lent Sunday for people to visit their
+mother-church and make offerings on the altar. Hence probably arose
+the practice of "mothering," or going to visit parents on that day,
+and taking presents to them. Herrick alludes to this pleasant custom
+in the following lines--
+
+    "I'll to thee a simnell bring,
+     'Gainst thou go'st a mothering;
+     So that when she blesseth thee,
+     Half that blessing thou'lt give me."
+
+Many a mother's heart would rejoice to welcome to the old village
+home once again some fond youth or maiden who had gone to seek their
+fortunes in the town, and many happy recollections would long linger
+of "Mothering" Sunday. The cakes alluded to in the above verse,
+which children presented to their parents on these occasions, were
+called Simnells. In some parts of England--in Lancashire,
+Shropshire, and Herefordshire--these cakes are still eaten on
+Mid-Lent Sunday. Possibly they had some religious signification, for
+the Saxons were in habit of eating consecrated cakes at their
+festivals. The name Simnell is derived from a Latin word signifying
+fine flour, and not from the mythical persons, Simon and Nell, who
+are popularly supposed to have invented the cake. Hot cross buns are
+a relic of an ancient rite of the Saxons, who ate cakes in honour of
+the goddess of spring, and the early Christian missionaries strove
+to banish the heathen ideas associated with the cakes (which latter
+the people would not abandon) by putting a cross upon them.
+
+In memory of our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the
+people took branches of palm-trees and scattered them in the way, on
+Palm Sunday our ancestors went in procession through the town or
+village, bearing branches of willow, yew, or box (as there were no
+palms growing in this country), which were subsequently carried to
+the church and offered at the altar. This custom lingered on after
+the Reformation, and until recent times the practice of going
+a-palming, or gathering branches of willow, on the Saturday before
+Palm Sunday, has continued. Sometimes in medi�val times a wooden
+figure representing our Saviour riding upon an ass was drawn along
+by the crowds in the procession, and the people scattered their
+willow branches before the figure as it passed.
+
+Thursday before Easter Day was called Shere, or Maundy, Thursday.
+The first name is derived from the ancient custom of _shering_ the
+head and clipping the beard on that day; and Maundy is a corruption
+of the Latin word _mandatum_, which means "a command," and refers to
+the command of our Lord to imitate His example in the humility which
+He showed in washing the feet of His disciples. In memory of His
+lowly act the kings and queens of England used to wash the feet of a
+large number of poor men and women, and bestowed upon them gifts and
+money. This practice was continued until the reign of James II., and
+in our own day the Queen presents to a certain number of poor people
+bags of silver pennies, called Maundy money, which is coined for
+that special purpose.
+
+Many of my readers are familiar with the rhyme concerning "Hot cross
+buns," but perhaps they are not acquainted with the superstition
+which our forefathers attached to them. A writer on Cornish customs
+says: "In some of our farmhouses the Good Friday cake may be seen
+hanging to the bacon-rack, slowly but surely diminishing, until the
+return of the season replaces it by a fresh one. It is of sovereign
+good in all manner of diseases that may afflict the family, or
+flocks and herds. I have seen a little of this cake grated into a
+warm mash for a sick cow." Hot cross buns were supposed to have
+great power in preserving friendship. If two friends broke a bun in
+half exactly at the cross, while standing within the church-doors on
+Good Friday morning before service, and saying the words--
+
+    "Half for you, and half for me,
+     Between us two good-will shall be. Amen,"
+
+then, so long as they kept their halves, no quarrel would arise
+between them. In the West of England it was considered very sinful
+to work on Good Friday, and woe betide the luckless housewife who
+did her washing on that day, for one of the family, it was believed,
+would surely die before the end of the year. There are many other
+superstitions attached to the day, such as the preserving of eggs
+laid on Good Friday, which were supposed to have power to extinguish
+fire; the making of cramp-rings out of the handles of coffins, which
+rings were blessed by the King of England as he crept on his knees
+to the cross, and were supposed to be preservatives against cramp.
+
+In old churchwardens' account-books we find such entries as the
+following--
+
+    "To the sextin for watching the sepulture two nyghts viii_d_."
+
+    "Paide to Roger Brock for watching of the sepulchre 8_d_."
+
+And as the nights were cold we find an additional item--
+
+    "Paid more to said Roger Brock for syses and colles, 3_d._"
+
+These entries allude to the ancient custom of erecting on Good
+Friday a small building to represent the Holy Sepulchre, and setting
+a person to watch for two nights in remembrance of the soldiers
+watching the grave in which our Lord's Body was laid. At the dawning
+of the Easter morn the bells rang joyously, and all was life and
+animation. The sun itself was popularly supposed to dance with joy
+on the Feast of the Resurrection. But the manners and customs,
+sports and pastimes, which were associated with Easter, I will
+reserve for my next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+APRIL.
+
+    "The spring clad all in gladness
+     Doth laugh at winter's sadness;
+     And to the bagpipe's sound
+     The nymphs tread out their ground.
+
+    "Fie then, why sit we musing,
+     Youth's sweet delight refusing;
+     Say dainty nymphs, and speak:
+     Shall we play barley-breake?"
+
+                        _Old Ballad_ (A.D. 1603).
+
+Easter Customs--Pace Eggs--Handball in Churches--Sports
+   confined to Special Localities--Stoolball and Barley-brake
+   --Water Tournament--Quintain--Chester Sports--Hock-tide.
+
+
+From the earliest days of Christianity Easter has always been
+celebrated with the greatest joy, and accounted the Queen of
+Festivals. Many curious customs are associated with this feast, some
+of which represented in a rude, primitive way the Resurrection of our
+Lord. There was an old Miracle Play which was performed at Easter;
+for we find in the churchwardens' books at Kingston-upon-Thames, in
+the reign of Henry VIII., certain expenses for "a skin of parchment
+and gunpowder for the play on Easter Day," for a player's coat,
+stage, and "other things belonging to the play."
+
+Then there was the custom in the North of England of "lifting" or
+"heaving," which was originally designed to represent our Saviour's
+Resurrection. On Easter Monday the men used to lift the women, whom
+they met, thrice above their heads into the air, and the women
+responded on Easter Tuesday, and lifted the men. This custom
+prevailed also in North Wales, Warwickshire, and Shropshire.
+
+The Pace Eggs, or _Pasche_, or _Paschal_ Eggs, were originally
+intended to show forth the same truth, as the egg retaining the
+elements of future life was used as an emblem of the Resurrection.
+These Pace eggs were dyed, decorated with pretty devices, and
+presented by friends to each other. In the North of England, the home
+of so many of our old customs, the practice of giving Pace eggs still
+lingers on; and we find amongst the household expenses of King Edward
+I. an item of "four hundred and a half of eggs--eighteenpence," which
+were purchased on Easter Day. The prices current in the thirteenth
+century for eggs would scarcely be deemed sufficient by our modern
+poultry-keepers!
+
+The decoration of churches and houses with flowers just risen from
+their winter sleep, the practice of always wearing some part of the
+dress new on Easter Day, all seem to have had their origin in the
+holy lessons which cluster round the festival of the resurrection.
+An old writer tells us that it was the custom in some churches for
+the clergy to play at handball at this season; even bishops and
+archbishops took part in the pastime; but why they should profane
+God's house in this way we are at a loss to discover. The reward of
+the victors was a tansy-cake, so called from the bitter herb tansy,
+which was supposed to be beneficial after eating so much fish during
+Lent. Of the various kinds of games with balls I propose to treat in
+another chapter.
+
+At Easter there were numerous sports in vogue in different parts of
+the country. In olden times almost every county had its peculiar
+sport, which was regarded as a monopoly of that district. People did
+not work so hard in those days, and seem to have had more time and
+energy for ancient pastimes. Many of these old games have entirely
+vanished; others have left their old neighbourhoods, and received a
+hearty welcome all over the country. Berkshire and Somersetshire
+were the ancestral homes of cudgel-play, quarter-staff, and
+single-stick. Skating and pole-leaping were the characteristic
+sports of the fen country. Kent and Sussex were famous for their
+cricket; the northern counties for their football. Scotland rejoiced
+in golf, curling, and tossing the caber; while Cumberland and
+Westmoreland, Cornwall and Devon, were noted for their vigorous and
+active wrestlers. Curling, tossing the caber[8], and wrestling have
+clung to their old homes; but the other sports have wandered far and
+wide, and are no longer confined to their native counties.
+
+At Easter the local favourite sport was renewed with zest and
+eagerness, and almost everywhere foot-races were run, the prize of
+the conqueror being a tansy-cake. Stoolball and barley-brake were
+also favourite games in this month, as Poor Robin says in his
+_Almanack_ for 1677. Barley-brake seems to have been a very merry
+game, in which the ladies took part, and of which we find some very
+bright descriptions in the writings of some old English poets. The
+only science of the pastime consisted in one couple trying with
+"waiting foot and watchful eye" to catch the others and bear them
+off as captives.
+
+An old writer thus describes a water tournament, which seems to have
+been a popular pastime among the youths of London at Easter--"They
+fight battels on the water. A shield is hanged upon a pole (this is
+a kind of quintain) fixed in the midst of the stream. A boat is
+prepared without oars, to be carried by the violence of the water,
+and in the fore-part thereof standeth a young man ready to give
+charge upon the shield with his lance. If so be he break his lance
+against the shield, and do not fall, he is thought to have performed
+a worthy deed. If so be that, without breaking his lance, he runneth
+strongly against the shield, down he falleth into the water, for the
+boat is violently tossed with the tide; but on each side of the
+shield ride two boats furnished with young men, which recover him
+that falleth as soon as they may. Upon the bridge, wharves, and
+houses by the river-side, stand great numbers to see and laugh
+thereat." Stow thus describes the water tournament--"I have seen
+also in the summer season, upon the river Thames, some rowed in
+wherries, with staves in their hands, flat at the fore-end, running
+one against the other; and for the most part, one or both of them
+were overthrown and well ducked." This sport on the water was a
+variety of the famous quintain, which was itself derived from the
+jousts or tournaments, only, instead of a human adversary, the
+knight or squire, riding on a horse, charged a shield or wooden
+figure attached to a piece of wood, which easily turned round upon
+the top of a post. At the other end of the wood was a heavy bag of
+sand, which, when the rider struck the shield with his lance, swung
+round and struck him with great force on the back if he did not ride
+fast and so escape his ponderous foe. There were other forms of this
+sport, which is so ancient that its origin has been lost in
+antiquity. Queen Elizabeth was very much amused at Kenilworth Castle
+by the hard knocks which the inexpert riders received from the
+rotating sand-bag when they charged "a comely quintane" in her royal
+presence in the year 1575.
+
+A handsome quintain still stands on Offham village green, in Kent,
+although it is no longer used for the skilful practice of former
+days. It is the custom to hoist married men, who are not blest with
+children, on the quintain, which is made to revolve rapidly.
+Sometimes discontented and disobedient wives share the same fate.
+
+Chester was famous for its Easter sports, when the mayor with his
+mace, the corporation with twenty guilds, marched to the Rood-eye,
+to play at football. But "inasmuch as great strife did arise among
+the young persons of the same city" on account of the game, a
+change was made in the reign of Henry VIII., and foot-races and
+horse-races were substituted for the time-honoured football, and an
+arrow of silver was given to the best archer.
+
+But Easter sports are almost finished: however, we have not long to
+wait for another popular anniversary; for the famous Hock-tide
+sports always took place a fortnight after Easter, and much
+amusement, and profit also, were derived from the quaint observances
+of Hock Monday and Tuesday. The meaning of the word and the origin
+of the custom have been the subjects of much conjecture; but the
+festival is supposed to be held in remembrance of the victory of our
+Saxon forefathers over the Danes in the time of Ethelred. The custom
+was that on Hock Monday the men should go out into the streets and
+roads with cords, and stop and bind all the women they met,
+releasing them on payment of a small ransom. On the following day
+the women bound the men, and the proceeds were devoted to charitable
+purposes. It is to be noted that the women always extracted the most
+money, and in the old churchwardens' accounts we find frequent
+records of this strange method of collecting subscriptions--_e.g._,
+St. Lawrence's, Reading, A.D. 1499:--"Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd" (gathered) "of women xx_s_. Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd of men iiij_s_." We also find that the women had a supper
+given to them as a reward for their exertions, for there is the
+"item for wives' supper at Hock-tide xxiij_d_."
+
+The observance of Hock-tide seems to have been particularly popular
+in the ancient town of Reading. At Coventry there was an "old
+Coventry Play of Hock Tuesday," which was performed with great
+delight before Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth: the players divided
+themselves into two companies to represent the Saxons and the Danes:
+a great battle ensued, and by the help of the Saxon women the former
+were victorious, and led the Danes captive. The queen laughed much
+at the pageant, and gave the performers two bucks and five marks in
+money.
+
+So ends the month of sunshine and of shower; but the rustic youths
+are making ready for the morris-dance, and the merry milk-maids are
+preparing their ribbons to adorn themselves for the revels of May
+Day. The May-pole is being erected on the village green, and all is
+in readiness for the rejoicings of to-morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MAY.
+
+    "Colin met Sylvia on the green
+      Once on the charming first of May,
+    And shepherds ne'er tell false, I ween,
+      Yet 'twas by chance, the shepherds say.
+
+    "Colin he bow'd and blush'd, then said,
+      'Will you, sweet maid, this first of May,
+    Begin the dance by Colin led,
+      To make this quite his holiday?'
+
+    "Sylvia replied, 'I ne'er from home
+      Yet ventur'd, till this first of May;
+    It is not fit for maids to roam,
+      And make a shepherd's holiday.'
+
+    "'It is most fit,' replied the youth,
+      'That Sylvia should this first of May
+    By me be taught that love and truth
+      Can make of life a holiday.'"--LADY CRAVEN.
+
+May Day Festivities--May-pole--Morris-dancers--The Book of
+   Sports--Bowling--Beating the Bounds--George Herbert's
+   description of a Country Parson.
+
+
+The spring has dawned with all its brightness and beauty; the
+nightingale's song is heard, and all nature seems to rejoice in the
+sweet spring-time. Our forefathers delighted, too, in the advent of
+the bright month of May, which the old poets used to compare to a
+maiden clothed in sunshine dancing to the music of birds and brooks;
+and May Day was the great rural festival of the year.
+
+Long before the break of day, men and women, old and young, of all
+classes, used to assemble and hurry away to the woods and groves to
+gather the blooming hawthorn and spring flowers, and laden with
+their spoils returned when the sun rose, with merry shouts and
+horn-blowings, and adorned every door and window in the village. The
+poet Herrick sings of this pleasant beginning to the day's
+festivities. Addressing a maiden named Corinna, he says--
+
+    "Come, my Corinna, come, and coming mark
+     How each field turns a street, and each street a park,
+     Made green and trimmed with trees; see how
+     Devotion gives each house a bough
+     Or branch; each porch, each door, ere this
+     An ark, a tabernacle is
+     Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove."
+
+The men blew cow-horns to usher in the spring, and the maids carried
+garlands to hang them in the churches; while at Oxford the
+choristers of Magdalen College assemble at the top of the tower at
+early dawn, and sing hymns of thankfulness because spring has come
+again. This pleasing custom is still observed every year on the
+first of May.
+
+But let us away to the village green, where the May-pole is being
+adorned with a few finishing touches, and is covered with flowers
+and ribbons. It has been carried here by twenty or thirty yoke of
+oxen, their horns decorated with sweet flowers, and then, with
+shouts and laughter, and with song, the young men raise the massive
+pole with handkerchiefs and flags streaming on the top, and the
+rustic feast and dance begin.
+
+           "The May-pole is up,
+            Now give me the cup,
+    I'll drink to the garlands around it;
+            But first unto those
+            Whose hands did compose
+    The glory of flowers that crown'd it."[9]
+
+A company of morris-dancers approach, and a circle is made round the
+May-pole in which they can perform. First comes a man dressed in a
+green tunic, with a bow, arrows, and bugle-horn, who represents
+Robin Hood, and by his side, attended by some maidens, walks Maid
+Marian, the May Queen.[10] Will Stukeley, Little John, and other
+companions of the famous outlaw, are represented; and last, but not
+least, comes the hobby-horse--a man with a light wooden framework
+representing a horse about him, covered with trappings reaching to
+the ground, so as to prevent the man's feet from being seen. The
+hobby-horse careered about, pranced and curveted, to the great
+amusement of the company. The morris-dancers are adorned with bells,
+which jingle merrily as they dance. But a formidable-looking dragon
+approaches, which hisses and flaps his wings, and looks very fierce,
+making the hobby-horse kick and rear frantically. When the animals
+have wearied themselves, the maidens dance again, and the archers
+set up their targets on the lower end of the green, where a close
+contest ensues, and after many shots the victor is crowned with a
+laurel wreath.
+
+Such were some of the sights and sounds of May Day in olden times.
+But the Puritans, who slew their king, Charles I., were very much
+opposed to all joyousness and mirth, and one of their first acts
+when they came into power was to put down the May-pole. They ordered
+that all May-poles (which they called "a heathenish vanity,
+generally abused to superstition and wickedness") shall be taken
+down by the constables and churchwardens, and that the said officers
+be fined five shillings till the said May-poles be taken down. So
+the merry May songs were hushed for many a long year, until Charles
+II. was restored to his throne, and then the stately pole was reared
+once more, and Robin Hood and his merry crew began their sports
+again. But times change, and we change with them: customs pass away,
+and with them have long vanished the May-pole and its bright group
+of light-hearted rustics. An American writer who visited this
+country thus describes his feeling when he saw an old May-pole still
+standing at Chester--"I shall never forget my delight. My fancy
+adorned it with wreaths of flowers, and peopled the green bank with
+all the dancing revelry of May Day. I value every custom that tends
+to infuse poetical feeling into the common people, and to sweeten
+and soften the rudeness of rustic manners without destroying their
+simplicity. Indeed, it is to the decline of this happy simplicity
+that the decline of this custom may be traced, and the rural dance
+on the green, and the homely May-day pageant, have gradually
+disappeared in proportion as the peasantry have become expensive and
+artificial in their pleasures, and too knowing for simple enjoyment.
+Some attempts, indeed, have been made by men of both taste and
+learning to rally back the popular feeling to their standards of
+primitive simplicity; but the time has gone by, the feeling has
+become chilled by habits of gain and traffic, the country apes the
+manners and amusements of the town, and little is heard of May Day
+at present, except from the lamentations of authors, who sigh after
+it from among the brick walls of the city."
+
+The name of the parish of St. Andrew _Undershaft_ records the place
+where the city May-pole, or _shaft,_ was erected, and _Shaft Alley_
+the place where it lay when it was not required for use.
+
+The proclamation of James I., called the "Book of Sports," which was
+renewed by King Charles I., throws some light upon the sports in
+vogue during his reign. It was enacted "for his good people's lawful
+recreation, after the end of Divine service, that his good people be
+not disturbed, or discouraged, from any lawful recreation, such as
+dancing for men and women, archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or
+any such harmless recreations; nor from having May games, Whitsun
+ales, and morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles, and other
+sports therewith used, so as the same be had in due and convenient
+time, without impediment or neglect of Divine service. And that
+women shall have leave to carry rushes to the church for the
+decorating of it, according to their old custom. But withal his
+Majesty doth hereby account still as prohibited all unlawful games
+to be used on Sundays only, as bear and bull-baiting, interludes,
+and at all times in the meaner sort of people by law prohibited,
+bowling."
+
+Why his Majesty should have been so very severe on the game of bowls,
+which is a very ancient pastime, and innocent enough, is not at first
+quite clear; but it appears that the numerous bowling-alleys in
+London were, in the sixteenth century, the resorts of very bad
+company, and the nests of gambling and vice. Hence the severity of
+King James' strictures on bowling.
+
+The people of Lancashire in the time of James I. were as devoted to
+sports and amusement as they are now; and when the king was making a
+progress through Lancashire, "he received a petition from some
+servants, labourers, mechanics, and other vulgar persons,
+complaining that they were debarred from dancing, playing,
+church-ales--in a word, from all recreations on Sundays after Divine
+service." King James hated Puritanism and loved recreation; so he
+readily granted the petition of the Lancashire folk, and issued a
+proclamation encouraging Sunday pastimes, which is known as the
+famous "Book of Sports."
+
+In Ireland on May Day Bale-fires are lighted, and to this day young
+men jump through the flames, and children are passed across the
+embers, in order to secure them good luck during the coming year. On
+this day, too, the Irish kings are supposed to rise from their
+graves and gather together a ghostly army of rude warriors to fight
+for their country. The wild cries of the shadowy host, the clashing
+of shields, and the sound of drums are said to have been heard
+during the period of the last rebellion in Ireland.
+
+On one of the Rogation Days, or on Ascension Day, it was the custom
+to go in procession round the boundaries of the parish to ask God's
+blessing on the fruits of the earth, and as there were few maps and
+divisions of land, to call to mind and pass on to the next
+generation the boundaries of the township or village. The choir sang
+hymns, and under certain trees, which were called Gospel Trees, the
+clergyman read the Gospel for the day, with a litany and prayers.
+Sometimes boys were whipped, or bumped against trees, or thrown into
+a river, in order to impress upon them where the boundaries were.
+But they received a substantial recompense afterwards, and the whole
+company, when the procession was over, sat down to the perambulation
+dinner, and talked about their recollections of former days.
+
+The advantages of this practice are set forth in George Herbert's
+description of a country parson. He says, "The country parson is a
+lover of old customs, if they be good and harmless. Particularly he
+loves procession, and maintains it, because there are contained in
+it four manifest advantages, 1. A blessing of God for the fruits of
+the earth. 2. Justice in the preservation of bounds. 3. Charity, in
+loving, walking, and neighbourly accompanying one another, with
+reconciling of differences at that time, if there be any. 4. Mercy,
+in relieving the poor by a liberal distribution and largess, which
+at that time is, or ought to be, used. Wherefore he exacts of all to
+be present at the perambulation, and those that withdraw and sever
+themselves from it he mislikes, and rebukes as uncharitable and
+unneighbourly; and if they will not reform, presents them" (_i.e._
+to the bishop for censure).
+
+This custom is still preserved, or has been revived, in many
+parishes, and at Oxford the boys may be seen on Ascension Day
+bearing white willow-wands, and beating the bounds of some of the
+old city parishes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JUNE.
+
+            "The woods, or some near town
+    That is a neighbour to the bordering down,
+    Hath drawn them thither, 'bout some lusty sport,
+    Or spiced wassel-bowl, to which resort
+    All the young men and maids of many a cote,
+    Whilst the trim minstrell strikes his merry note."
+
+                           FLETCHER, _The Faithful Shepherdess_.
+
+Whitsuntide Sports--Church-ales--Church-house--Quarter-staff
+--Whistling and Jingling Matches--St. John's Eve--Wrestling.
+
+
+After May Day our villagers had not long to wait until the
+Whitsuntide holiday came round. This holiday was notorious for the
+"Church-ales," which were held at this season. These feasts were a
+means of raising money for charitable purposes. If the church needed
+a new roof, or some poor people were in sad straits, the villagers
+would decide to have a "Church-ale"; generally four times a year the
+feast was given, and always at Whitsuntide. The churchwardens
+bought, and received presents of, a large quantity of malt, which
+they brewed into beer, and sold to the company, and any inhabitant
+of the parish who did not attend had to pay a fine. Every one who
+was able contributed something to the entertainment. The feast was
+held in the church-house, a building which stood near the church.
+This was the scene of many social gatherings, and is thus described
+by an old writer--
+
+     "In every parish was a church-house, to which belonged
+     spits, crocks, and other utensils for dressing provisions.
+     Here the housekeepers met. The young people were there,
+     too, and had dancing, bowling, shooting at butts, &c., the
+     ancients (_i.e._ the old folk) sitting gravely by and
+     looking on. All things were civil, and without scandal.
+     The church-ale is, doubtless, derived from the Agapai or
+     Love Feasts, mentioned in the New Testament."
+
+Whether the learned writer was right in his conjecture we cannot be
+quite certain, but church-ales subsequently degenerated into
+something quite different from New Testament injunctions, and were
+altogether prohibited on account of the excess to which they gave
+rise. Let us hope that all these feasts were not so bad as they were
+represented, and indeed in early times great reverence was attached
+to them, which prevented excess. The neighbours, too, would come in
+from the adjoining parishes and share the feast. An arbour of boughs
+was erected in the churchyard, called Robin Hood's Bower, where the
+maidens collected money for the "ales" in the same way which they
+employed at Hock-tide, and which was called "Hocking." The old books
+of St. Lawrence's Church, Reading (to which I have before referred),
+contain a record of this custom--"1505 A.D. Item. Received of the
+maidens' gathering at Whitsuntide by the tree at the church door,
+ij^s. vi^d." The morris-dancers and minstrels, the ballad-singers
+and players, were in great force on these occasions, and were
+entertained at the cost of the parish. In the churchwardens' account
+of St. Mary's, Reading, we find in the year 1557--
+
+     "Item--paid to Morris-dancers and the Minstrels, meat and
+     drink at Whitsuntide--iii^s. iiii^d."
+
+When the feasting had ended, archery, running races in sacks,
+grinning through a horse-collar (each competitor trying to make the
+most ludicrous grimaces), afforded amusement to the light-hearted
+spectators.
+
+The game of quarter-staff is an old pastime which was a great
+favourite among the rustics of Berkshire. The quarter-staff is a
+tough piece of wood about eight feet long, which the player grasped
+in the middle with one hand, while with the other he kept a loose
+hold midway between the middle and one end. The object of the game
+was, to use the forcible language of the time, to "break the head"
+of the opponent. On the White Horse Hill, where Alfred fought
+against the Danes, and carved out on the hill-side the White Horse
+as a memorial of his victory, many a rural sport has been played,
+and at the periodical "scourings of the Horse" many a Berkshire head
+broken to see who was the noted champion of the game. An old
+parishioner of mine, James of Sandhurst, was once the hero of
+quarter-staff in the early part of the century. The whistling match
+was not so dangerous a contest; the prize was conferred upon the
+whistler who could whistle clearest, and go through his tune while a
+clown, or merry-andrew, made laughable grimaces before him.
+
+[Illustration: QUARTER-STAFF.]
+
+Another diversion common at these country gatherings was the
+jingling match. A large circle was inclosed with ropes, in which the
+players took their place. All were blindfolded with the exception of
+one, who was the jingler, and who carried a bell in each hand, which
+he was obliged to keep ringing. His object was to elude the pursuit
+of his blinded companions, and he won the prize if he was still free
+when the play ceased. It was an amusing sight to see the men trying
+to catch the active jingler, running into each other's arms, and
+catching every one but the right one. When the jingling match was
+over, a pig with a short, well-soaped tail was turned out for the
+people to run after, and he who could hold it by the tail without
+touching any other part obtained it for his pains. There was also a
+game called Pigeon-holes, which appears to have been somewhat
+similar to our present game of bagatelle.
+
+And so with laughter and with song the feast ended, the evening
+shadows fell around, and the happy rustics retired to their humble
+thatched-roofed homes. The proceeds of these church-ales were often
+considerable. "There were no rates for the poor in my grandfather's
+time," says one writer, "the church-ale of Whitsuntide did the
+business"; and whether the parishioners had to pay a tax for the
+support of the King's army, or to repair the church, or to maintain
+some orphan children, it was generally found "that something still
+remained to cover the bottom of the purse."
+
+Of the "mysteries," or miracle plays, as they were called, which
+were performed in towns on Corpus Christi Day and at other times, I
+propose to write in another chapter; and we will now proceed to the
+hillsides near our villages on the eve of St. John's Day, when we
+should witness the lighting of large bonfires, and some curious
+customs connected with that ceremony. Both the old and the young
+people used to sally forth from the village to some neighbouring
+height, and there, amidst much laughter and with many a shout, they
+lighted the large bonfire. Then they danced round the blazing logs,
+and afterwards leaped through the flames, and at the close of the
+ceremony each person brought away with him a burning branch. This
+rite appears to have been a relic of Paganism. Probably the fire was
+originally lighted in honour of the sun, which our forefathers
+worshipped before they became Christians. The leaping through the
+flames had also a superstitious meaning, and the simple people
+thought that in this way they could ward off evil spirits and
+prevent sickness. The Roman shepherds used to leap through the
+Midsummer blaze in honour of Pales. The Scandinavians lit their
+bonfires in honour of their gods Odin and Thor, and the leaping
+through the flames reminds us of the worshippers of Baal and Moloch,
+who, as we read in the Bible, used to "pass their children through
+the fire" in awe of their cruel god. St. John's Day, or Midsummer
+Day (June 24th), was chosen because on that day the sun reaches its
+highest point in the zodiac. There is, however, another
+interpretation of the meaning of the fires on St. John's Day, as
+illustrating the verse which speaks of him "as a burning and a
+shining light" (St. John v. 35); but this interpretation was
+probably invented by some pious divine who endeavoured to attach a
+Christian meaning to an ancient heathen custom. The connection of
+the ceremony with the old worship of the sun is indisputable. Its
+practice was very general in nearly all European nations, and in not
+very remote times from Norway to the shores of the Mediterranean the
+glow of St. John's fires might have been seen. The Emperor
+Charlemagne in the ninth century forbade the custom as a heathen
+rite, but the Church endeavoured to win over the custom from its
+Pagan associations and to attach to it a Christian signification. In
+the island of Jersey the older inhabitants used to light fires under
+large iron pots full of water, in which they placed silver
+articles--as spoons, mugs, &c., and then knocked the silver against
+the iron with the idea of scaring away all evil spirits.[11]
+Sometimes bones were burnt in the fire, for we are told in a quaint
+homily on the Feast of St. John Baptist, that bones scared away the
+evil spirits in the air, since "wise clerks know well that dragons
+hate nothing more than the stink of burning bones, and therefore the
+country folk gather as many as they might find, and burned them; and
+so with the stench thereof they drove away the dragons, and so they
+were brought out of great disease."
+
+In some most remote northern parts of England the farmer lights a
+wisp of straw, which he carries round his fields to protect them
+from the tare and darnel, the devil and witches. In some places they
+used to cover a wheel with straw, set it on fire, and roll it down a
+hill. A learned writer on antiquities tells us that the people
+imagined that all their ill-luck rolled away from them together with
+this burning wheel. All these customs are relics of the old fire and
+sun worship, to which our forefathers were addicted. Wrestling,
+running races, and dancing were afterwards practised by the
+villagers. Wrestling is a very ancient sport, and the men of
+Cornwall and Devon, of Westmoreland and Cumberland, were famous for
+their skill. A "Cornish hug" is by no means a tender embrace.
+Sometimes the people bore back to their homes boughs of trees, with
+which they adorned their doors and windows. At Oxford the
+quadrangle of Magdalen College was decorated with boughs on St.
+John's Day, and a sermon preached from the stone pulpit in the
+corner of the quadrangle; this was meant to represent the preaching
+of St. John the Baptist in the wilderness.
+
+At length the villagers, wearied with their exertions, retire to
+their cottage homes, marching in procession from the scene of their
+observances; and silence reigns o'er the village for a few short
+hours, till the sunlight summons them to their daily toil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+JULY.
+
+    "Swift o'er the mead with lightning speed
+      The bounding ball flies on;
+    And hark! the cries of victory rise
+      For the gallant team that's won."
+
+
+Cricket--Club-ball--Trap-ball--Golf--Pall-mall--Tennis--
+                      Rush-bearing.
+
+
+At this time of the year all the cricket-clubs in town and village
+are very busy, and matches are being played everywhere. It may not
+therefore be inappropriate if I tell you in this chapter of the
+history of that game which has become so universally popular
+wherever our countrymen live. On the plains of India, in Australia
+(as some of our English cricketers have learnt to their cost), in
+Egypt, wherever Englishmen go, there cricket finds a home and a
+hearty welcome. But it is not nearly so ancient a game as others
+which I have already mentioned, although it had some fairly old
+parents, simple and humble-minded folk, who would have been greatly
+astonished to see the extraordinary development of their precocious
+offspring.
+
+Kent and Sussex were the ancestral homes of cricket, which is thus
+described by an old writer--"A game most usual in Kent, with a
+cricket-ball bowled and struck with two cricket-bats between two
+wickets. The name is derived from the Saxon word _cryc_, baculus, a
+bat or staff; which also signifies fulcimentum, a support or prop,
+whence a cricket or little stool to sit upon. Cricket play among the
+Saxons was also called _stef-plege_ (staff-play)."
+
+I fear that our old writer must have made a great mistake if he
+imagined that the Saxons ever played cricket, and I believe that the
+word was not known before the sixteenth century. In the records of
+Guildford we find that a dispute arose about the enclosure of a
+piece of land in the time of Elizabeth; and in the suit that arose
+one John Derrick stated in his evidence that he knew the place well
+"for fifty years or more, and that when he was a scholar in the free
+school at Guildford he and several of his companions did run and
+play there at cricket and other plays." Also in Cotgrave's French
+Dictionary, published in 1611, the word _crosse_ is translated "a
+cricket-staff, or the crooked-staff wherewith boys play at cricket."
+
+In the eighteenth century allusions to the game become more
+frequent, although it was still a boy's game. It had its poet, who
+sang--
+
+    "Hail, cricket, glorious, manly, British game,
+     First of all sports, be first alike in fame."
+
+It had its calumniators, who said that it "propagated a spirit of
+idleness" in bad times, when people ought to work and not play, and
+that it encouraged gambling. But the game began to prosper, and
+several noted men, poets and illustrious statesmen, recall the
+pleasurable memories of their prowess with the bat and ball. In a
+book of songs called _Pills to purge Melancholy_, published in 1719,
+we find the verse--
+
+    "He was the prettiest fellow
+     At football or at cricket:
+     At hunting chase or nimble race
+     How featly he could prick it."
+
+In the early part of the eighteenth century the game was in a very
+rudimentary condition, very different from the scientific pastime it
+has since become. There were only two wickets, a foot high and two
+feet apart, with one long bail at the top. Between the wickets there
+was a hole large enough to contain the ball, and when the batsman
+made a run, he had to place the end of his bat in this hole before
+the wicket-keeper could place the ball there, otherwise he would be
+"run out."
+
+The bat, too, was a curved, crooked arrangement very different from
+our present weapon. The Hambledon Club, in Hampshire, which has
+produced some famous players, seems to have been mainly instrumental
+in reforming and improving the game. Its members introduced a limit
+to the width of the bat, viz., four and a quarter inches--the
+standard still in force--in order to prevent players, such as a hero
+from Reigate, bringing bats as wide as the wicket. In 1775 they
+wisely introduced a middle stump, as they found the best balls
+harmlessly flying between the wide wickets. It was feared lest this
+alteration would shorten the game too much, but it does not seem to
+have had that effect, as in an All England match against the
+Hambledon Club, two years later, one Aylward scored 167 runs, and
+stayed in two whole days. England owes much to the old Club at
+Hambledon for the improvements which it wrought in the game, which
+has become our great national pastime.
+
+Miss Mitford, in her charming book, _Our Village_, describes the
+rivalry which existed between the village elevens at the beginning
+of the nineteenth century, and gives a sketch of a match between two
+Berkshire village teams, which brought about some very happy results
+of a romantic nature. She tells us, too, of the comments of the
+rustics on the "new-fashioned" style of bowling which one of the
+team had introduced from London, which did not at all commend itself
+to them, but effectually took their wickets. When that celebrated
+company of cricketers, dressed in frock-coats and tall hats, whose
+portraits adorn many a pavilion, competed for the honour of All
+England, they were quite ignorant of "round-arm" bowling, which is,
+of course, an invention of modern times. Only "lobs," or
+"under-hands," were the order of the day. It has been stated that we
+are indebted to the ladies for the important discovery of the modern
+style of delivering the ball. The story may be legendary, but I have
+read somewhere that the elder Lillywhite used to practise cricket
+all through the winter, and that his daughters used to bowl to him.
+During the bitter cold of a winter's day they wore their shawls, and
+found it more convenient to bowl with extended arms than in the old
+method. Their balls so delivered used to puzzle their father, and
+often take his wicket; so he began to imitate them, and introduced
+his new method into matches, and thus the age of round-arm bowling
+was inaugurated. I cannot vouch for the truth of the story, and only
+tell it as it was told to me.[12] At any rate Lillywhite was the
+father of modern bowling, which would have startled and considerably
+puzzled the veteran cricketers in the early part of the present
+century.
+
+The proper parent of cricket seems to have been club-ball, which is
+a very old game, and of which there is a picture in the Bodleian
+Library at Oxford, dated 1344 A.D. It represents a female throwing a
+ball to a man who is in the act of raising his bat to strike it.
+Behind the woman, at a little distance, appear several other figures
+of men and women waiting attentively to catch or stop the ball when
+hit by the batsman. There is a still more ancient picture of two
+club-ball players, representing the batsman holding the ball also
+and preparing to hit it, while the other player holds his hands in
+readiness to catch the ball. He has the appearance of a very careful
+fielder. Here we have the rudimentary idea of cricket; but how they
+scored their game, what rules they had, we cannot determine.
+Stool-ball claims also to be an ancestor of cricket, and consists in
+one player defending a stool with his hand from being hit by a ball
+bowled by another player. Here is a simple form of the modern game,
+the stool being used as a wicket, and the hand for a bat.
+
+Trap-ball is a much older game than cricket, and can be traced to
+the beginning of the fourteenth century. The modern game differs
+little from that which the old pictures describe, except in the
+shape of the trap which holds the ball. But the most ancient of all
+games of this nature is golf, or goff (as it used to be spelt),
+which was played with a crooked club or staff, sometimes called a
+bandy. Scotsmen are very fond of this game, which has lately
+migrated into England and found many admirers. It was probably
+introduced into Scotland from Holland, and was a popular pastime as
+early as 1457. In spite of proclamations encouraging archery, and
+forbidding golf, it continued to flourish; it has a long list of
+royal patrons; and the Stuart monarchs seem to have been as
+enthusiastic over the game as all true golfers ought to be. Poets
+have sung the praises of golf, and the glory of the heroes who drove
+their balls along St. Andrew's Links, or those of East Neuk. The
+object of the game is to drive the ball into certain holes in the
+fewest number of strokes. James II. was an expert golfer, and had
+only one rival, an Edinburgh shoemaker, named Paterson.
+
+[Illustration: PALL-MALL.]
+
+If you have visited London you will probably have walked along the
+street called Pall Mall, which name is derived from an old game
+fashionable in the reign of Charles II. The merry monarch and his
+courtiers frequently amused themselves with this game, which
+somewhat resembled golf, and consisted in driving a ball by means of
+a mallet through an iron hoop suspended from the ground in the
+fewest blows. The game was played in St. James's Park, where the
+street which bears its name now runs.
+
+Tennis also has a history. It commenced its career as hand-ball, the
+ball being driven backwards and forwards with the palm of the hand.
+Then the players used gloves, and afterwards bound cords round their
+hands to make the ball rebound more forcibly. Here we have the
+primitive idea of a racket. France seems to have been the original
+home of tennis, which in the thirteenth century was played in
+unenclosed spaces; but in the fourteenth it migrated to the towns,
+and walls enclosed the motions of the ball. In Paris alone there
+were said to be eighteen hundred tennis-courts. In the sixteenth
+century there were several covered tennis-courts in England, and
+some of our English monarchs were very devoted to the game. Henry
+VII. used to play tennis, and there is a record of his having lost
+twelvepence at tennis, and threepence for the loss of balls. Henry
+VIII. was also very fond of the game, and lost much money at wagers
+with certain Frenchmen; but, like a sensible man, "when he perceived
+their craft he eschewed their company, and let them go." He built
+the famous court at Hampton, which still remains. Charles II. also
+played tennis. The old game is very different from the modern
+lawn-tennis which is now so popular: it was always the game of the
+select few, and not of the many, like its precocious offspring; and
+there are only thirty-one tennis-courts in England at the present
+day. The court attached to the palace of the French King Louis XVI.
+at Versailles was the scene of some very exciting meetings in the
+early days of the French Revolution in 1789.
+
+[Illustration: PALL-MALL.]
+
+[Illustration: TENNIS.]
+
+There were some other forms of ball-play, such as balloon-ball,
+stow-ball, &c.; but of these it is hardly needful for me to speak,
+as they are only varieties of those games which I have already
+described. The history of football has been narrated in a preceding
+chapter. You will be able to trace from the descriptions of these
+old sports the ancestors of our noble game of cricket, and wonder at
+the extraordinary development of so scientific a game from such rude
+and simple beginnings.
+
+The floors of the houses and churches of old England consisted
+simply of the hard, dry earth, which the people covered with rushes;
+and once a year there was a great ceremony called "Rush-bearing,"
+when the inhabitants of each village or town went in procession to
+the church to strew the floor with newly-cut rushes. The company
+went to a neighbouring marsh and cut the rushes, binding them in
+long bundles, and decorating them with ribands and flowers. Then a
+procession was formed, every one bearing a bundle of rushes; and
+with music, drums, and ringing of bells they marched to the church,
+and strewed the floor with their honoured burdens. Long after the
+rushes ceased to be used in churches the ceremony was continued, and
+I have witnessed a rush-bearing procession such as I have described.
+There was a rush-cart with a large pile of decorated rush-sheaves,
+and some characters from the May-day games were introduced. A queen
+sat under a canopy of rushes, a few morris-dancers performed their
+antics, and a jester amused the spectators with his quaint sayings.
+A village feast, followed by dancing round a May-pole, generally
+formed the conclusion of the day's festivities. In 1884 this
+pleasant custom was revived at Grasmere in the Lake district, when
+the children of the village carried out a "rush-bearing" after the
+manner of their forefathers, and the village green again resounded
+with songs of joy.
+
+I fear that our ancestors were not always very cleanly people; they
+seldom washed their floors, and therefore they were obliged to adopt
+some device to hide their uncleanliness. The old rushes were not
+taken away before the new ones were brought in; hence the lowest
+layer became filthy, and one writer attributes the frequent
+pestilences which often broke out to the dirtiness of their floors
+and the masses of filthy rushes lying upon them. Perhaps some of the
+wise folks in Lancashire discovered this, for we find the following
+entry in the account books of Kirkham Church, 1631--"Paid for
+carrying the rushes out of the Church in the sickness time, 5._s_.
+0_d_." Straw was used in winter: it would seem very strange to us to
+have our floors covered with straw, like a stable!
+
+In this matter of cleanliness we have certainly improved upon the
+habits of our forefathers: dirty cottages are the exception, and not
+the rule, as they were in the days of "good Queen Bess"; and the
+absence of those terrible plagues which used to devastate our land
+in former times is due in a great measure to the improved
+cleanliness and more careful regard for sanitation by the people of
+England.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+AUGUST.
+
+    "Crowned with the ears of corn, now come,
+     And to the pipe sing harvest home.
+     Come forth, my lord, and see the cart
+     Dressed up with all the country art:
+     The horses, mares, and frisking fillies
+     Clad all in linen white as lilies.
+     The harvest swains and wenches bound
+     For joy, to see the hock-cart crowned."
+
+                             HERRICK'S _Hesperides_.
+
+Lammas Day--St. Roch's Day--Harvest-home--"Ten-pounding"--
+     Sheep-shearing--"Wakes"--Fairs.
+
+
+The harvest fields have begun to ripen, and the corn will soon be
+ready for the sickle; of this fact our forefathers were reminded by
+the Lammas Festival, which was celebrated on the first of this
+month. _Lammas_ is a shortened form of the word Loaf-mass, or feast
+of the loaf. A loaf of bread was made of the first-ripe corn, and
+used in Holy Communion on this day; so this feast was a preliminary
+harvest thanksgiving festival--a feast of "first-fruits," such as
+the Jews were commanded in the old Mosaic law to observe.
+
+When the harvest was gathered in there were great festivities, and
+it has been thought that August 16th, St. Roch's Day, was generally
+observed as the harvest-home. St. Roch, or Roque, was a Frenchman,
+who lived in the early part of the fourteenth century, and was
+supposed to have performed miraculous cures, but August 16th seems
+to have been rather early in the year for a harvest-home. However,
+when the feast of ingathering did take place, there were great
+rejoicings in our English villages, and the mode of its celebration
+helped to knit together the masters and labourers, and to promote
+good feeling between them.
+
+When the fields were almost cleared of the golden grain, the last
+few sheaves were decorated with flowers and ribbons, and brought
+home in a waggon, called the "Hock-cart," while the labourers, their
+wives and children, carrying green boughs, sheaves of wheat and rude
+flags, formed a glad procession. All the pipes and tabors in the
+village sounded, and shouts of laughter and of song were raised as
+the glad procession marched along. They sang--
+
+    "Harvest-home, harvest-home,
+     We have ploughed, we have sowed,
+     We have reaped, we have mowed,
+     We have brought home every load.
+         Hip, hip, hip, harvest-home!"
+
+or, as they say in Berkshire--
+
+    "Whoop, whoop, whoop, harvest whoam!"
+
+Sometimes the most comely maiden in the village was chosen as
+Harvest Queen, and placed upon her throne at the top of the sheaves
+in the hock-cart as it was drawn homewards to the farm.
+
+[Illustration: HARVEST-HOME.]
+
+The rustics receive a hearty welcome at their master's house, where
+they find the fuelled chimney blazing wide, and the strong table
+groaning beneath the smoking sirloin--
+
+                  "Mutton, veal,
+    And bacon, which makes full the meal,
+    With several dishes standing by,
+    As here a custard, there a pie,
+    And here all-tempting frumenty."
+
+Frumenty, which is made of wheat boiled in milk was a standing dish
+at every harvest supper. And then around the festive board old tales
+are told, well-known jests abound, and thanks given to the good
+farmer and his wife for their hospitality in some such homely rhymes
+as these--
+
+        "Here's a health to our master,
+           The lord of the feast;
+         God bless his endeavours,
+           And send him increase.
+
+        "May everything prosper
+           That he takes in hand,
+         For we be his servants,
+           And do his command."
+
+The youths and maidens dance their country dances, as an old writer,
+who lived in the reign of Charles II., tells us:--"The lad and the
+lass will have no lead on their heels. O, 'tis the merry time
+wherein honest neighbours make good cheer, and God is glorified in
+His blessings on the earth." When the feast is over, the company
+retire to some near hillock, and make the welkin ring with their
+shouts, "Holla, holla, holla, largess!"--largess being the presents
+of money and good things which the farmer had bestowed.
+
+Such was the harvest-home in the good old days--joy and delight to
+both old and young. The toils of the labourers did not seem so hard
+and wearisome when they knew that the farmers had such a grateful
+sense of their good services; and if any one felt aggrieved or
+discontented, the mutual intercourse at the harvest-home, when all
+were equal, when all sat at the same table and conversed freely
+together, soon banished all ill-feeling, and promoted a sense of
+mutual trust, which is essential to the happiness and well-being of
+any community. Shorn of much of its merriment and quaint customs,
+the harvest-home still lingers on in some places; but modern habits
+and notions have deprived it of much of its old spirit and
+light-heartedness. We have our harvest thanksgiving services, which
+(thank God!) are observed in almost every village and hamlet. It is,
+of course, our first duty to thank God for the fruits of His bounty
+and love; but the harvest-home should not be forgotten. When
+labourers simply regard harvest-time as a season when they can earn
+a few shillings more than usual, and take no further interest in
+their work, or in the welfare of their master, all brightness
+vanishes from their industry: their minds become sordid and
+mercenary; and mutual trust, good-feeling, and fellowship cease to
+exist.
+
+Neither did the harvest-men allow drunkenness, laziness, swearing,
+quarrelling, nor lying, to go unpunished. The labourers in Suffolk,
+if they found one of their number guilty, would hold a court-martial
+among themselves, lay the culprit down on his face, and an
+executioner would administer several hard blows with a shoe studded
+with hob-nails. This was called "ten-pounding," and must have been
+very effectual in checking any of the above delinquencies.
+
+Besides the harvest-home there was also observed another feast of a
+similar character in the spring, when the sheep were shorn. A
+plentiful dinner was given by the farmer to the shearers and their
+friends, and a table was often set in the open village for the young
+people and children. Tusser, who wrote a book upon _Five Hundred
+Points of Husbandry_, did not forget the treats which ought to be
+given to the labourers, and alludes to the sheep-shearing festival
+in the following lines--
+
+    "Wife, make us a dinner; spare flesh, neither corn,
+     Make wafers and cakes, for our sheep must be shorn;
+     At sheep-shearing, neighbours none other things crave,
+     But good cheer and welcome like neighbours to have."
+
+We have in many villages and towns a feast called "the Wakes," which
+is one of the oldest of our English festivals. The day of "the
+Wakes" is the festival of the Saint to whom the parish church is
+dedicated, and it is so called because, on the previous night, or
+vigil, the people used to watch, or "wake," in the church till the
+morning dawned. It was the custom for the inhabitants of the parish
+to keep open house on that day, and to entertain all their relations
+and friends who came to them from a distance. In early times the
+people used to make booths and tents with the boughs of trees near
+to the church, and were directed to celebrate the feast in them with
+thanksgiving and prayer. By degrees they began to forget their
+prayers, and remembered only the feasting, and other abuses crept
+in, so at last the "waking" on the eve of the festival was
+suppressed. But these primitive feasts were the origin of most of
+our fairs, which are generally held on the dedication festival of
+the parish church.[13] The neighbours from the adjoining villages
+used to attend the wakes, so the peddlers and hawkers came to find a
+market for their wares. Their stalls began to multiply, until at
+last an immense fair sprang into existence, which owed its origin
+entirely to the religious festival of "the wakes." Fairs have
+degenerated like many other good things, and we can hardly realize
+their vastness in the middle ages. The circuit of a fair sometimes
+was very great, and it would have been impossible in those days to
+carry on the trade of the country without them. The great
+Stourbridge Fair, near Cambridge, I have described in my former book
+on _English Villages_. The booths were planted in a cornfield, and
+the circuit of the fair, which was one of the largest in Europe, was
+over three miles. All kinds of sports were held on these occasions:
+plays, comedies, tragedies, bull-baiting, &c., and King James was
+very wroth with the undergraduates of Cambridge who would insist
+upon frequenting Stourbridge Fair rather than attend to their
+studies.
+
+The "Wakes," or village feast, was a great day for all sports and
+pastimes. A writer in the _Spectator_ describes the "country wake"
+which he witnessed at Bath. The green was covered with a crowd of
+all ages and both sexes, decked out in holiday attire, and divided
+into several parties, "all of them endeavouring to show themselves
+in those exercises wherein they excelled." In one place there was a
+ring of cudgel-players, in another a football match, in another a
+ring of wrestlers. The prize for the men was a hat, and for the
+women, who had their own contests, a smock. Running and leaping also
+found a place in the programme. In Berkshire back-sword play and
+wrestling were the favourite amusements for vigorous youths, and men
+strove hard to win the honour of being champion and the prizes which
+were offered on the occasion. There were "cheap jacks," and endless
+booths containing all kinds of fairings, ribands, gingerbread cakes,
+and shows, with huge pictures hung outside of giants and wild
+Indians, pink-eyed ladies, live lions, and deformities of all kinds.
+There were minor sports, such as climbing the pole, jumping in
+sacks, rolling wheelbarrows blindfolded, donkey races, muzzling in a
+flour-tub, &c.; but the back-sword play was the chief and most
+serious part of the programme.
+
+A good sound ash-stick with a large basket handle was the weapon
+used, very similar to, but heavier and shorter than an ordinary
+single-stick. The object is to "break the head" of the opponent--
+_i.e._ to cause blood to flow anywhere above the eyebrow. A slight
+blow will often accomplish this, so the game is not so savage
+as it appears to be. The play took place on a stage of rough planks
+about four feet high. Each player was armed with a stick, looping the
+fingers of his left hand in a handkerchief or strap, which he
+fastened round his left leg, measuring the length, so that when he
+drew it tight with his left elbow up he had a perfect guard for the
+left side of his head.[14] Guarding his head with the stick in his
+right hand, he advanced, and then the fight began; fast and furious
+came the blows, until at last a red streak on the temple of one of
+the combatants declared his defeat. The _Reading Mercury_ of May 24,
+1819, advertised the rural sports at Peppard, when the not very
+magnificent prize of eighteenpence was offered to every man who broke
+a head at cudgel-play, and a shilling to every one who had his head
+broken.
+
+Such was the sport which our old Berkshire rustics delighted in.
+Back-sword play, wrestling, and other pastimes made them a hardy
+race, full of courage, and developed qualities which it is hoped
+their descendants have not altogether lost. The gallant Berkshire
+Regiment, which fought so bravely at Maiwand, is composed of the
+sons of those who used to wield the back-sword on the Berkshire
+downs, and showed themselves not unworthy of their ancestry,
+although the quarter-staff and ashen-swords are forgotten. The old
+village feasts are forgotten too--more's the pity. Then old quarrels
+were healed, old bitternesses removed: aged friends met, and became
+young again in heart, as they revived old memories and sweet
+recollections of youthful days. Rich and poor, the squire and the
+farmer, the farmer and his labourers, all mingled together, class
+with class; and good-fellowship, harmony, and mutual confidence were
+promoted by these annual gatherings. It is true that these village
+feasts degenerated, because the well-to-do folk abstained from them;
+but would it not be possible to revive them, to preserve the good
+which they certainly did, and to eliminate the evil which is so
+often mingled with the good? Such a consideration is worthy of the
+attention of all who have the welfare of the people at heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+SEPTEMBER.
+
+    "Nor is there hawk which mantleth her on pearch,
+       Whether high tow'ring or accoasting low,
+     But I the measure of her flight do search,
+       And all her prey, and all her diet know."--SPENSER.
+
+Hawking--Michaelmas--Bull and Bear-baiting.
+
+
+Of all old English sports hawking is one of the most ancient and the
+most fashionable. It has almost died out now, but there are one or
+two hawking enthusiasts who have endeavoured to revive this old
+English pastime, and on the Berkshire Downs a hawking party was seen
+a few years ago. Hawking consists in the training and flying of
+hawks for the purpose of catching other birds. Kings and noblemen,
+barons and ladies of feudal times, used to delight in following the
+sport on horseback, and to watch their favourite birds towering high
+to gain the upward flights in order to swoop down upon some heron,
+crane, or wild duck, and bear it to the ground. Persons of high rank
+always carried their hawks with them wherever they went, and in old
+paintings the hawk upon the wrist of a portrait was the sign of
+noble birth. The sport was practised by our Saxon forefathers before
+the Normans came, and the first trained hawk in England is said to
+have been sent by St. Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans," as a
+present to Ethelbert, King of Kent, in the eighth century. The
+history of the sport of the kings who loved to take part in it, and
+of their adventures, would require a volume, and my space only
+allows me to give you a brief account of the manner in which the
+sport was conducted.
+
+I may mention that before the reign of King John only kings and
+noblemen were allowed to take part in hawking; but in the forest
+Charter, which that monarch was compelled to sign, every freeman was
+permitted to have his own hawks and falcons. The falconer, who took
+care of the hawks, was a very important person. The chief falconer
+of the King of France received four thousand florins a year, besides
+a tax upon every hawk sold in the kingdom. The Welsh princes
+assigned the fourth place of honour in their courts to this officer;
+but this proud distinction had its responsibilities, and this high
+official was only allowed to take three draughts from his horn, lest
+his brain should not be as clear as it ought to be, and the precious
+birds might be neglected.
+
+Sometimes the hawking party went on foot, carrying long poles to
+enable them to jump the ditches and to follow the course. Henry
+VIII. nearly lost his life on one occasion through falling (his pole
+having broken) into a bog, from which he was rescued by one John
+Moody, who happened to see the accident. But mounted on gallant
+steeds the lords and ladies were accustomed to follow their
+favourite pastime, and amid the blowing of horns and laughter and
+shoutings they rode along, galloping up-hill and down-hill, with
+their eyes fixed upon the birds, which were battling or chasing each
+other high overhead. The hawk did not always win the fight:
+sometimes a crafty heron would turn his long bill upwards just as
+the hawk was descending upon him, and pierce his antagonist through
+the body.
+
+Great skill and perseverance were required in training these birds.
+When they were not flying after their prey, they were hoodwinked,
+_i.e._ their heads were covered with caps, which were often finely
+embroidered. On their legs they had strings of leather, called
+_jesses_, with rings attached. When a hawk was being trained, a long
+thread was fastened to these rings to draw the bird back again, but
+when it was well educated, it would obey the voice of the falconer
+and return when it had performed its flight. It was necessary for
+the bird to know its master very intimately, so a devoted follower
+of the sport would always carry his hawk about with him, and the two
+were as inseparable as a Highland shepherd and his dog. The
+sportsman would feed his bird and train it daily, and in an old book
+of directions he is advised "at night to go to the mews, and take it
+from its perch, and set it on his fist, and bear it all the night,"
+in order to be ready for the morrow's sport.
+
+[Illustration: A FALCONER.]
+
+The mews were the buildings where the hawks were kept when moulting,
+the word "mew" being a term used by falconers to signify to moult,
+or cast feathers; and the King's Mews, near Charing Cross, was the
+place where the royal hawks were kept. This place was afterwards
+enlarged, and converted into stables for horses; but the old name
+remained, and now most stables in London are called mews, although
+the word is derived from falconry, and the hawks have long since
+flown away.
+
+The sport declined at the end of the seventeenth century, when
+shooting with guns became general, but our language has preserved
+some traces of this ancient pastime. When a person is blinded by
+deceit, he is said to be "hoodwinked," and this word is derived from
+the custom of placing a hood over the hawk's eyes before it was
+released from restraint.
+
+On the Feast of St. Michael, or Michaelmas, the tenants were in the
+habit of bringing presents of a fat goose to their landlord, in
+order to make him kind and lenient in the matters of rent, repairs,
+and the renewal of leases, and the noble landlords used to entertain
+their tenants right royally in the great halls of their ancestral
+mansions, roast goose forming a standing dish of the repast. This is
+probably the origin of the custom which prevails at the present time
+of eating geese at Michaelmas.
+
+When the harvest was over, and the farmers were not so busy, they
+often amused themselves by the cruel sport of baiting a bull. An old
+gentleman who lived at Wokingham was so fond of this savage pastime
+that he left in his will a sum of money for the purpose of providing
+every year two bulls to be baited for the amusement of the people of
+his native town. The bulls are still bought, but they are put to
+death in a more merciful manner, and the meat given to the poor.
+Amongst the hills in Yorkshire there is a small village, through
+which a brook runs, crossed by two bridges, and having a stone wall
+on each side. Thus, when the bridges were stopped up, there was
+formed a wall-encircled space, into which, once a year, at least, a
+poor bull was placed, to be worried to death by dogs, and within the
+memory of men now living this cruel sport has been carried on.
+
+Nor was this only a sport for ignorant rustics; kings and noble
+courtiers, and even ladies, used to frequent the bear-gardens of the
+metropolis, and witness with delight the slaughter of bulls, and
+bears, and dogs. Erasmus tells us that in the reign of Henry VIII.
+"many herds of bears were maintained in this country for the purpose
+of baiting." Queen Elizabeth commanded bears, bulls, and the
+ape to be baited in her presence, and James I. was not averse
+to the sight. The following is a description of this barbarous
+entertainment--"There is a place built in the form of a theatre,
+which serves for baiting of bulls and bears. They are fastened
+behind, and then worried by great English bull-dogs; but not without
+risk to the dogs from the horns of the one and the teeth of the
+other." Even horses were sometimes baited, and sometimes asses.
+Evelyn, in his _Diary_, thus describes the strange sight--"June
+16th, 1670. I went with some friends to the bear-garden, where was
+cock-fighting, dog-fighting, bear and bull-baiting, it being a
+famous day for all these butcherly sports, or rather barbarous
+cruelties. The bulls did exceedingly well, but the Irish wolf-dog
+exceeded, which was a tall greyhound, a stately creature indeed, who
+beat a cruel mastiff. One of the bulls tossed a dog full into a
+lady's lap, as she sat in one of the boxes at a considerable height
+from the arena. Two poor dogs were killed, and so all ended with the
+ape on horseback, and I most heartily weary of the rude and dirty
+pastime, which I had not seen, I think, in twenty years before."
+Foreigners, who have visited England in by-gone times, often allude
+scornfully to our forefathers' barbarous diversions; but on the
+whole they seem rather to have enjoyed the sport. A Spanish nobleman
+was taken to see a poor pony baited with an ape fastened on its
+back; and he wrote--"to see the animal kicking amongst the dogs,
+with the screams of the ape, beholding the curs hanging from the
+ears and neck of the pony, is very laughable!" But enough has been
+said of these terrible and monstrous cruelties. Happily for us they
+no longer exist, and together with cock-fighting, throwing at cocks
+and hens, and other barbarous amusements, cannot now be reckoned
+among our sports and pastimes. It was a happy thing for us when the
+conscience of the nation was aroused, and the law stepped in to put
+an end to such disgraceful scenes which were witnessed in the Paris
+Garden at Southwark, or in the rude bull-run of a Yorkshire village.
+The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was not known
+in the days of bear-baiting and cock-throwing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+OCTOBER.
+
+    "Rivet well each coat of mail;
+     Blows shall fall like showers of hail;
+     Merrily the harness rings,
+     Of tilting lists and tournay sings,
+     Honour to the valiant brings.
+        Clink, clink, clink!"--_Armourers' Chorus_.
+
+Tournaments--_Mysteries_--_Moralities_--_Pageants_.
+
+
+In the days of chivalry, when gallant knights used to ride about in
+search of adventures; and when there were many wars, battles, and
+crusades, martial exercises were the chief amusements of the people
+of England. We have already mentioned some of these sports in which
+the humbler folk used to show their strength and dexterity, and now
+I propose to tell you of those wonderful trials of military skill
+called tournaments, which were the favourite pastimes of the
+noblemen and gentry of England in the middle ages, and afforded much
+amusement to their poorer neighbours who flocked to see these
+gallant feats of arms. Tournaments were fights in miniature, in
+which the combatants fought simply to exhibit their strength and
+prowess. There was a great deal of pomp and ceremony attached to
+them. The lists, as the barriers were called which inclosed the
+scene of combat, were superbly decorated, and surrounded by
+pavilions belonging to the champions, ornamented with their arms and
+banners. The seats reserved for the noble ladies and gentlemen who
+came to see the fight were hung with tapestry embroidered with gold
+and silver. Everyone was dressed in the most sumptuous manner: the
+minstrels and heralds were clothed in the costliest garments; the
+knights who were engaged in the sports and their horses were most
+gorgeously arrayed. The whole scene was one of great splendour and
+magnificence, and, when the fight began, the shouts of the heralds
+who directed the tournament, the clashing of arms, the clang of
+trumpets, the charging of the combatants, and the shouts of the
+spectators, must have produced a wonderfully impressive and exciting
+effect upon all who witnessed the strange spectacle.
+
+The regulations and laws of the tournament were very minute. When
+many preliminary arrangements had been made with regard to the
+examination of arms and helmets and the exhibition of banners, &c.,
+at ten o'clock on the morning of the appointed day the champions and
+their adherents were required to be in their places. Two cords
+divided the combatants, who were each armed with a pointless sword
+and a truncheon hanging from their saddles. When the word was given
+by the lord of the tournament, the cords were removed, and the
+champions charged and fought until the heralds sounded the signal to
+retire. It was considered the greatest disgrace to be unhorsed. A
+French earl once tried to unhorse our King Edward I. when he was
+returning from Palestine, wearied by the journey. The earl threw
+away his sword, cast his arms around the king's neck, and tried to
+pull him from his horse. But Edward put spurs to his horse and drew
+the earl from the saddle, and then shaking him violently, threw him
+to the ground.
+
+The joust (or just) differed from tournament, because in the former
+only lances were used, and only two knights could fight at once. It
+was not considered quite so important as the grand feat of arms
+which I have just described, but was often practised when the more
+serious encounter had finished. Lances or spears without heads of
+iron were commonly used, and the object of the sport was to ride
+hard against one's adversary and strike him with the spear upon the
+front of the helmet, so as to beat him backwards from his horse, or
+break the spear. You will gather from these descriptions that this
+kind of sport was somewhat dangerous, and that men sometimes lost
+their lives at these encounters. In order to lessen the risk and
+danger of the two horses running into each other when the knights
+charged, a boarded railing was erected in the midst of the lists,
+about four or five feet high. The combatants rode on separate sides
+of this barrier, and therefore could not encounter each other except
+with their lances.
+
+[Illustration: A TOURNAMENT.]
+
+In the days of chivalry ladies were held in high honour and
+respect. It was their privilege to assign the prizes to those who
+had distinguished themselves most in the tournament. They were the
+arbiters of the sport; and, indeed, the jousts were usually held in
+honour of the ladies, who received as their right the respect and
+devotion of all true knights. This respect for women had a softening
+and ennobling influence, which was of great value in times when such
+influences were rare. It was probably derived (according to a French
+writer) from our ancestors, the Germans, "who attributed somewhat of
+divinity to the fair sex." It is the sign of a corrupt age and
+degraded manners when this respect ceases to be paid.
+
+Only men of noble family, and who owned land, were allowed to take
+part in the jousts or tournament; but the yeomen and young farmers
+used to practise similar kinds of sport, such as tilting at a ring,
+quintain, and boat jousts, which have already been mentioned in a
+preceding chapter. Richard I., the lion-hearted king, was a great
+promoter of these martial sports, and appointed five places for the
+holding of tournaments in England, namely, at some place between
+Salisbury and Wilton, between Warwick and Kenilworth, between
+Stamford and Wallingford, between Brackley and Mixbury, and between
+Blie and Tykehill. But in almost every part of England tournaments
+or jousts have been held, and scenes enacted such as I have
+described. Sometimes two knights would fight in mortal combat. If
+one knight accused the other of crime or dishonour, the latter
+might challenge him to fight with swords or lances, and, according
+to the superstition of the times, the victor was considered to be
+the one who spoke the truth. But this ordeal combat was far removed
+from the domain of sport.
+
+When jousts and tournaments were abandoned, tilting on horseback at
+a ring became a favourite courtly amusement. A ring was suspended on
+a level with the eye of the rider; and the sport consisted in riding
+towards the ring, and sending the point of a lance through it, and
+so bearing it away. Great skill was required to accomplish this
+surely and gracefully. Ascham, a writer in the sixteenth century,
+tells us what accomplishments were required from the complete
+English gentleman of the period. "To ride comely, to run fair at the
+tilt or ring, to play at all weapons, to shoot fair in bow, or
+surely in gun; to vault lustily, to run, to leap, to wrestle, to
+swim, to dance comely, to sing, and play of instruments cunningly;
+to hawk, to hunt, to play at tennis, and all pastimes generally
+which be joined to labour, containing either some fit exercises for
+war, or some pleasant pastime for peace--these be not only comely
+and decent, but also very necessary for a courtly gentleman to use."
+The courtly gentleman must have been very industrious to acquire all
+these numerous accomplishments!
+
+There was another form of spectacle which gave great pleasure to our
+ancestors; and often in the market-places of old towns, or in open
+fields, at the bottom of natural amphitheatres near some of the
+ancient monasteries, were Scriptural plays performed, which were
+called _Miracles_, or _Mysteries_, because they treated of scenes
+taken from the Old or New Testament, or from the lives of saints and
+martyrs. The performances were very simple and often grotesque, but
+the plays were regarded by the monks, who assisted in these
+representations, as a means of teaching the people sacred truths.
+The miracle play of Norman and medi�val times was a long,
+disconnected performance, which often lasted many days. In the reign
+of Henry IV. there was a play which lasted eight days, and,
+beginning with the creation of the world, contained the greater part
+of the history of the Old and the New Testament. The words of the
+play seem to us strange, and sometimes profane; but they were not
+thought to be so by those who listened to them. The _Mystery_ play
+only lasted one day, and consisted of one subject, such as _The
+Conversion of St. Paul_. _Noah and the Flood_ was a very popular
+piece. His wife is represented as being much opposed to the perilous
+voyage in the ark, and abuses Noah very severely for compelling her
+to go. Sometimes the authors thought it necessary to introduce a
+comic character to enliven the dullness of the performance. But, in
+spite of humorous demons, these mysteries ceased to attract, and
+plays called _Moralities_ were introduced, in which the actors
+assumed the parts of personified virtues, &c., and you might have
+heard "Faith" preaching to "Prudence," or "Death" lecturing "Beauty"
+and "Pride." The first miracle play performed in England was that of
+_St. Catherine_, which was acted at Dunstable, 1110 A.D.; and
+another early piece was the play called _The Image of St. Nicholas_.
+These were of a religious nature and were performed in church during
+Divine service. The following is an outline of the plot of the
+latter: instead of the image of St. Nicholas, which adorned his
+shrine, a man stood in the garb of the saint whom he represented.
+The service is divided into two portions, and the play is produced
+during the interval. A stranger appears at the west door, who is
+evidently a rich heathen, and lays down his treasures before the
+image of the saint and beseeches him to take care of them. A band of
+thieves enter and steal the treasures, and when the heathen returns,
+he is so enraged that he proceeds to chastise the image of the
+saint; when lo! the figure descends, marches out of the church, and
+convinces the thieves of their wickedness. Struck with fear on
+account of the miracle, they restore the treasures, the Pagan sings
+a song of joy, and St. Nicholas tells him to worship God, and to
+praise Christ. Then, after an act of adoration to the Almighty, the
+service is resumed.[15]
+
+There were also strolling companies of minstrels, jugglers, and
+jesters, who went about the country, and acted secular pieces
+composed of comic stories, jokes, and dialogues, interspersed with
+dancing and tumbling. The whole performance was very absurd and
+often indecent, and the clergy did their utmost to suppress these
+strolling companies.
+
+The stage upon which the _Mysteries_ were played was built on
+wheels, in order that it might be drawn to different parts of the
+town. Sometimes religious plays were acted in churches before the
+Reformation; but in Cornwall the people formed an earthen
+amphitheatre in some open field, and as the players did not learn
+their parts very well, a prompter used to follow them about with a
+book and tell them what to say. Coventry, York, Wakefield, Reading,
+Hull, and Leicester were famous for their plays, and in the
+churchwardens' accounts we find many entries referring to the
+performances.
+
+1469.--_e.g._ Item paid to Noah and his wife ... ... xxi^d.
+  "          "    for a rope to hang the ship in the church ... ii^d.
+
+These performances would probably seem very foolish and childish to
+a modern audience, but they helped to enliven and diversify the
+lives of our more simple-minded forefathers.
+
+The people, too, loved pageants which were performed on great
+occasions, during a Royal progress for instance, or to welcome the
+advent of some mighty personage. Great preparations were made for
+these exhibitions of rustic talent; long verses were committed to
+memory; rehearsals were endless, and the stories of Greek and Roman
+mythology were ransacked to provide scenes and subjects for the
+rural pageant. All this must have afforded immense amusement and
+interest to the country-folk in the neighbourhood of some lord's
+castle, when the king or queen was expected to sojourn there.
+Shepherds and shepherdesses, gods and goddesses, clowns and mummers,
+all took part in the play, and it may interest my readers to give an
+account of one of these pageants, which was performed before Queen
+Elizabeth when she visited the ancient and historic castle of
+Sudeley.[16]
+
+The play is founded on the old classical story of Apollo and Daphne.
+The sun-god, Apollo, was charmed by the beauty of the fair Daphne,
+the daughter of a river-god, and pursued her with base intent. Just
+as she was about to be overtaken she prayed for aid, and was
+immediately changed into a laurel-tree, which became the favourite
+tree of the disappointed lover. The pageant founded on this old
+classical legend commenced with a man, who acted the part of Apollo,
+chasing a woman, who represented Daphne, followed by a young
+shepherd bewailing his hard fate. He, too, loved the fair and
+beautiful Daphne, but Apollo wooed her with fair words, and
+threatened him with diverse penalties, saying he would change him
+into a wolf, or a cockatrice, or blind his eyes. The shepherd in a
+long speech tells how Daphne was changed into a tree, and then
+Apollo is seen at the foot of a laurel-tree weeping, accompanied by
+two minstrels. The repentant god repeats the verse--
+
+    "Sing you, play you; but sing and play my truth;
+     This tree my lute, these sighs my note of ruth:
+     The laurel leaf for ever shall be green,
+     And Chastity shall be Apollo's Queen.
+     If gods may die, here shall my tomb be placed,
+     And this engraven, 'Fond Phoebus, Daphne chaste.'"
+
+A song follows, and then, wonderful to relate, the tree opens, and
+Daphne comes forth. Apollo resigns her to the humble shepherd, and
+then she runs to her Majesty the Queen, and with a great deal of
+flattery wishes her a long and prosperous reign.
+
+Such was the simple play which delighted the minds of our
+forefathers, and helped to raise them from sordid cares and the dull
+monotony of continual toil. In our popular amusements the village
+folk do not take part, except as spectators, and therefore lose half
+the pleasure; whereas in the time of the Virgin Queen the
+rehearsals, the learning the speeches by heart, the dresses, the
+excitement, all contributed to give them fresh ideas and new
+thoughts. The acting may not have been very good; indeed Queen
+Elizabeth did not always think very highly of the performances of
+her subjects at Coventry, and was heard to exclaim, "What fools ye
+Coventry folk are!" but I think her Majesty must have been pleased
+at the concluding address of the players at Sudeley. After the
+shepherds had acted a piece in which the election of the King and
+Queen of the Bean formed a part, they knelt before the real Queen,
+and said, "Pardon, dread Sovereign, poor shepherds' pastimes, and
+bold shepherds' presumptions. We call ourselves kings and queens to
+make mirth; but when we see a king or queen, we stand amazed. At
+chess there are kings and queens, and they of wood. Shepherds are no
+more, nor no less, wooden. In theatres workmen have played emperors;
+yet the next day forgotten neither their duties nor occupation. For
+our boldness in borrowing their names, and in not seeing your
+Majesty for our blindness, we offer these shepherds' weeds: which,
+if your Majesty vouchsafe at any time to wear, it shall bring to our
+hearts comfort, and happiness to our labours."
+
+When the Queen visited Kenilworth Castle, splendid pageants were
+performed in her honour. As she entered the castle the gigantic
+porter recited verses to greet her Majesty, gods and goddesses
+offered gifts and compliments on bended knee, and the Lady of the
+Lake, surrounded by Tritons and Nereids, came on a floating island
+to do homage to the peerless Elizabeth, and to welcome her to all
+the sport the castle could afford. For an account of the strange
+conduct of Orion and his dolphin upon this occasion, we refer our
+readers to Sir Walter Scott's _Kenilworth_, and the lover of
+pageants will find much to interest him in Gascoigne's _Princely
+Progress_. In many of the chief towns of England the members of the
+Guilds were obliged by their ordinances to have a pageant once every
+year, which was of a religious nature. The Guild of St. Mary at
+Beverley made a yearly representation of the Presentation of Christ
+in the Temple, one of their number being dressed as a queen to
+represent the Virgin, "having what may seem a son in her arms," two
+others representing Joseph and Simeon, and two others going as
+angels carrying lights. The people of England seem always to have
+had a great fondness for shows and pageants.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NOVEMBER.
+
+    "The ploughman, though he labour hard,
+     Yet on the holiday
+       Heigh trolollie, lollie loe.
+     No emperor so merrily
+     Doth pass his time away;
+       Then care away,
+       And wend along with me."--_Complete Angler_.
+
+              "The curious preciseness,
+    And all pretended gravity of those
+    That seek to banish hence these harmless sports,
+    Have thrust away much ancient honesty."--IRVING'S _Sketch Book_.
+
+All-hallow Eve--"Soul Cakes"--Diving for Apples--The Fifth of
+November--Martinmas--_Demands Joyous_--Indoor Games.
+
+
+The first of November is All Saints' Day, and the eve of that day,
+called All-hallow Even, was the occasion of some very ancient and
+curious customs. It seems to have been observed more by the
+descendants of the Celts than by the Saxons; and Wales, Scotland,
+and Ireland were the homes of many of the popular superstitions
+connected with this festival. In Scotland the bonfires were set up
+in every village, and each member of a family would throw in a white
+stone marked with his name; and if that stone could not be found
+next morning, it was supposed that that person would die before the
+following All Saints' Day. This foolish superstition may be classed
+with the other well-known superstition with regard to the sitting of
+thirteen people at one table, in which some are still foolish enough
+to believe.
+
+All-hallow Even was supposed to be a great night for witches:
+possibly it was with the intention of guarding against their spells
+that the farmers used to carry blazing straw around their cornfields
+and stacks. It was the custom for the farmer to regale his men with
+seed cake on this night; and there were cakes called "Soul Mass
+Cakes," or "Soul Cakes," which were given to the poor. These were of
+triangular shape, and poor people in Staffordshire used to go
+_a-souling_, i.e. collecting these soul cakes, or anything else they
+could get.
+
+On this night the fishermen of Scotland signed their boats, that is
+put a cross of tar upon them, in order that their fishing might
+prosper. The church bells were rung all night long for all Christian
+souls, and we find from some old account books that the good folk
+were very careful to have all their bell-ropes and bells in good
+order for All-hallow Even. This ringing was supposed to benefit the
+souls of the dead in Purgatory, and was suppressed after the
+Reformation.
+
+There were some very homely pastimes for All-hallow Even for the
+young folk in the north of England. Apples were placed in a vessel
+of water and "dived for"; or they were suspended from the roof and
+caught at by several expectant mouths. Sometimes a rod was suspended
+with an apple at one end, and at the other a lighted candle. The
+youths had their hands tied behind their backs, and caught at the
+apple, often causing the candle to swing round and burn their hair.
+The cracking of nuts was an important ceremony among the young men
+and maidens, who threw nuts into the fire, and from the way in which
+they cracked, or burned, foretold all kinds of happiness or misery
+for themselves. The nuts that burned brightly prophesied prosperity
+to their owners, but those that crackled or burned black denoted
+misfortune. In olden times, when people were more superstitious than
+they are now, they attached great importance to these omens and
+customs, but happily the young people of our times have ceased to
+believe in magic and foolish customs, and country girls strive to
+attract their swains by other charms than those of nut-cracking on
+All-hallow Even.
+
+We have still our bonfires on November 5th, but the event which
+happened on that day is very recent as compared with many of the old
+customs of which I have been writing. However, it is nearly three
+hundred years ago since Guy Fawkes and his companions attempted to
+blow up the Houses of Parliament with gunpowder; and yet we still
+light our bonfires and burn Guy Fawkes' effigy, with much
+accompaniment of squibs and crackers, just as if the event which we
+commemorate only occurred last year. Probably very few of our
+rustics think much of the origin of the customs observed on November
+the Fifth, or remember that it was instituted by the House of
+Commons as "a holiday for ever in thankfulness to God for our
+deliverance, and detestation of the Papists;" but this ignorance
+does not prevent them from keeping up the custom and enjoying the
+excitement of the bonfire and fireworks. If you are not acquainted
+with the history of the conspiracy, I would advise you to read it in
+some good history book, and--
+
+    "Pray to remember
+     The fifth of November
+       Gunpowder treason and plot,
+     When the King and his train
+     Had nearly been slain,
+       Therefore it shall not be forgot."
+
+The Berkshire boys, as they carried their Guy and collected wood for
+their bonfires, used to add the words--
+
+    "Our king's a valiant soldier,
+     With his blunderbuss on his shoulder,
+     Cocks his pistol, draws his rapier;
+     Pray give us something for his sake here.
+     A stick and a stake, for our good king's sake:
+     If ye won't give one, I'll take two,
+     The better for me, and the worse for you.
+
+     CHORUS--
+       "Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, make the bells ring,
+        Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, God save the King."
+
+Some of the rhymes tell us about the nefarious deeds of wicked Guy
+Fawkes, who
+
+      "... with his companions did contrive
+    To blow the House of Parliament up alive,
+    With three score barrels of powder down below,
+    To prove Old England's wicked overthrow;
+    But by God's mercy all of them got catched,
+    With their dark lantern, and their lighted match.
+    Ladies and gentlemen sitting by the fire,
+    Please put hands in pockets and give us our desire:
+    While you can drink one glass, we can drink two,
+    The better for we, and none the worse for you."
+
+This rhyme was concluded with the following strange jingle--
+
+    "Rumour, rumour, pump a derry,
+     Prick his heart and burn his body,
+     And send his soul to Purgatory."[17]
+
+The streets of Oxford used to be the scenes of great encounters
+between the townsmen and gownsmen (or college students) on this
+night, who, on any other night in the year, never thought of
+fighting. Happily in recent years these fights have ceased, but even
+now the gownsmen are "gated" on the night of the Fifth of November,
+_i.e._ are confined to their colleges, lest there should be a
+renewal of these encounters. So severe were the battles in ancient
+times, that the tower of Carfax Church was lowered because the
+townsfolk used to ascend thither and shoot their arrows at the
+undergraduates; and the butchers were obliged to ply their trade
+beyond the city walls, because they had used their knives and
+cleavers in their annual fight.
+
+At Martinmas, or the Feast of St. Martin, it was the custom to lay
+in a stock of winter provisions, and many cows, oxen, and swine were
+killed at this time, their flesh being salted and hung up for the
+winter, when fresh provisions were seldom to be had.
+
+And now the long evenings have set in, and our ancestors in hall or
+cottage assemble round the blazing hearth, and listen to the
+minstrel's lays, and recite their oft-told tales of adventure and
+romance. Sometimes they indulge in asking each other riddles, and
+there exists at the present time an old collection of these early
+efforts of wit and humour which are not of a very high order. The
+book is called _Demands Joyous,_ and was printed in A.D. 1511. I may
+extract the following riddles:--"What is it that never was and never
+will be? Answer: A mouse's nest in a cat's ear. Why does a cow lie
+down? Because it cannot sit. How many straws go to a goose's nest?
+Not one, for straws, not having feet, cannot go anywhere."
+
+With such feeble efforts of wit did the country folk try to beguile
+the long evenings. In those days there were no newspapers, very few
+books, even if they could be read, and the only means of gathering
+information from other parts of the country were the peddlers or
+wandering minstrels, who told them the news as they passed from
+place to place. Consequently, the above humble efforts of wit were
+not to be despised, and served to beguile the tediousness of the
+long winter's night. Besides, the villagers had the carols to
+practise for Christmas, many of which were handed down from father
+to son for many generations, and probably both words and music
+received many variations in their course. Old collections of these
+carols still exist, such as the one entitled, "Good and True, Fresh
+and New, Christmas Carols," which was made in the middle of the
+seventeenth century. As an instance of the way in which the words
+became changed as they were passed on by illiterate singers, I may
+mention a carol of which the refrain is now printed "Now Well, Now
+Well"; originally this must have been "Noel, Noel." Some of the
+carols degenerated into songs about the wassail bowl, and the
+virtues of strong ale, and our forefathers were not unlike some of
+their children, who forget the Saviour in the enjoyment of His
+gifts. And besides the carols the villagers had the ordinary hymns
+to practise, with grand accompaniment of violins, flutes,
+clarionets, etc., for each village had its own musicians, who took
+great pride and interest in their playing, and used to practise
+together in the evenings. The old instruments have vanished: we have
+our organs and harmoniums: our choirs sing better and more
+reverently; but there are no reunions of the village orchestra,
+which used to afford so much pleasure to the rustics of former days.
+
+In the lord's hall there were plenty of sedentary games, and amongst
+these pre-eminently stands the noble pastime of chess. It is very
+ancient, and is supposed to have been invented by Xerxes, a
+philosopher in the court of Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon. It was
+well known in England before the Conquest, and Canute was very fond
+of the chessboard. King John was so engrossed in this game that when
+some messengers came to tell him that the French king had besieged
+one of his cities, he would not listen to them until he had finished
+his chess. The complicated movements of the various men seem to show
+that the game was developed and improved, and not the invention of
+one man, but few changes have been made during several centuries.
+Players are checkmated now in very much the same way as they were
+five hundred years ago.
+
+Besides chess they had backgammon, or tables, as the game was
+called, Merelles, or Nine men's Morris (which also found its way to
+the shepherds' cottages), dice, and card games, some of which I have
+described before. Gambling was often carried on to a great extent,
+but evidently our modern people are not wiser than their ancestors
+in this matter; and instead of playing games for recreation, are not
+satisfied until they lose fortunes on the hazard of a dice or a
+card. Let us hope that men will at length become wiser as the world
+grows older.
+
+[Illustration: TWO INDIVIDUALS PLAYING CHESS AS TWO OTHERS LOOK ON.]
+
+Erasmus, the learned Dutchman, in his _Colloquies_ suggests some
+curious awards for victors. He represents two youths, Adolphus and
+Bernard, who begin to play a game at bowls. Adolphus says, "What
+shall he that beats get, or he that is beaten lose?" Bernard
+replies, "What if he that beats shall have a piece of his ear cut
+off? It is a mean thing to play for money: you are a German, and I a
+Frenchman: we will both play for the honour of his country. If I
+shall beat you, you shall cry out thrice, 'Let France flourish!' if
+I shall be beat (which I hope I shall not), I will in the same words
+celebrate your Germany." They bowl away: a stone represents the
+Jack: a mischievous bit of brickbat rather interferes with the
+German's accuracy, of aim, but in the end he wins, and the French
+cock has to crow thrice, "Let Germany flourish." In another game
+between two students who are contending in the play of striking a
+ball through an iron ring, it is arranged that he that is beat shall
+make and repeat extempore some verses in praise of him that beat
+him. This certainly would make many a youth keen to win the contest!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DECEMBER.
+
+    "The Darling of the world is come,
+     And fit it is we find a room
+     To welcome Him. The nobler part
+     Of all the house here is the heart,
+
+    "Which we will give Him; and bequeath
+     This holly and this ivy wreath
+     To do Him honour, who's our King,
+     And Lord of all this revelling."
+
+                       HERRICK, _A Christmas Carol_.
+
+St. Nicholas Day--The Boy Bishop--Christmas Eve--Christmas
+Customs--Mummers--"Lord of Misrule"--Conclusion.
+
+
+Now dark and chill December has arrived; and very dark and chill it
+must have seemed to our ancestors. No gaslights illuminated the
+streets, here and there a feeble oil lamp helped to make the
+darkness visible, when the oil was not frozen: the roads were deep
+with mud, and everything outside was cold and cheerless. But within
+the farmer's kitchen the huge logs burned brightly, and the
+Christmas holidays were at hand with the accustomed merrymakings, to
+cheer the hearts of all in the depths of the dreary winter.
+
+But before Christmas Day arrived, the children enjoyed a great treat
+on St. Nicholas' Day, December 6th, when it was the custom for
+parents to convey secretly presents of various kinds to their little
+sons and daughters, who were taught to believe that they owed them
+to the kindness of St. Nicholas, who, going up and down among the
+towns and villages, came in at the windows and distributed the
+gifts. St. Nicholas, who died A.D. 343, threw a purse filled with
+money into the bedroom of a poor man for the benefit of his three
+daughters, who were in sore trouble; and this story seems to have
+originated the custom which has been observed in many countries, and
+brought much enjoyment to the young folk who received St. Nicholas'
+bounty.
+
+Before the Reformation there was another very strange custom
+associated with this day; namely, the election of a boy bishop, who
+was dressed in episcopal robes, with a mitre on his head, and who
+actually was allowed to preach in the church. This was done
+regularly at many of our cathedrals and collegiate churches, and we
+find records of the custom amongst the archives of Salisbury and
+many other places; even the service which they used is in existence.
+The youthful bishop was elected by the choir-boys, and exercised his
+functions until Holy Innocents' Day. On that day in great state he
+entered the cathedral surrounded by the other boys, who played the
+part of prebendaries, and attended by the dean and canons, who on
+this occasion yielded up their dignity to the youthful prelate and
+his followers. The collect for Holy Innocents' Day in our
+Prayer-book formed part of the service. It was a strange ceremony,
+not unmixed with irreverence, and happily has long been
+discontinued, being forbidden by Royal proclamation in 1542, and
+finally abolished by Elizabeth.
+
+In the archives of the ancient town of Bristol there is a book of
+directions for the Mayor and his brethren, and on St. Nicholas' Day
+they are ordered to go to the Church of St. Nicholas and join in the
+festival of the boy bishop, to hear his sermon and receive his
+blessing. Then they dined together, and waited for the young bishop
+to come to them, playing the meanwhile at dice, the town clerk being
+ordered to find the dice, and to receive a penny for every raffle.
+The bishop was regaled with bread and wine, and preached again to
+the Mayor and corporation in the evening. I am informed that a
+curious memorial of this custom existed until recent years in one
+village at least. An old lady recollected that when she was a child
+she was allowed to play with her companions in church on St.
+Nicholas' Day.
+
+But Christmas is approaching, and we must hasten to describe that
+bright and happy festival. The holiday began on Christmas Eve, and
+perhaps you have wondered why we hang up mistletoe, and decorate our
+churches and houses with holly, why our ancestors brought in the
+Yule-log, and performed many other customs which do not seem to be
+very closely connected with the celebration of the birthday of our
+Lord. But we must remember that our forefathers were originally
+heathen, and at this period of the year they practised several
+strange customs connected with their Druidical worship, and held
+great feasts in honour of their gods. When Christian missionaries
+converted these heathen, they strove to put down some of the old
+idolatrous practices; but their efforts were in vain, for the people
+were warmly attached to these old rights and usages. So a compromise
+was effected: the old Pagan customs were shorn of their idolatry and
+transferred to our Christian festivals. Cutting the mistletoe was
+distinctly a rite practised by the Druids, who cut the sacred plant
+with a golden knife, and sacrificed two white bulls to the sylvan
+deities whom they thus sought to propitiate. We hang up our bunches
+of mistletoe now, but we do not attach any superstitious importance
+to it, nor imagine that any gods of the woods will be influenced by
+our procedure. The bringing in of the Yule-log was a Norse custom
+observed in honour of Thor, from whose name we derive our word
+Thursday or Thor's-day. The mighty log was drawn into the baronial
+hall with great pomp, while the bards sang their songs of praise and
+chanted "Welcome Yule."
+
+    "Welcome be Thou, heavenly King,
+     Welcome, born on this morning;
+     Welcome for whom we shall sing
+          Welcome, Yule."
+
+Herrick, who delighted so much in singing of
+
+    "Maypoles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes--"
+
+then bursts out in joyous strains:
+
+    "Come, bring with a noise,
+       My merry, merry boys,
+     The Christmas log to the firing;
+       While my good dame, she
+       Bids ye all be free
+     And drink to your heart's desiring.
+       With the last year's brand
+       Light the new block, and
+     For good success in his spending,
+       On your psaltries play,
+       That sweet luck may
+     Come while the log is a-teending."
+
+We can fancy that we see the ceremony, the glad procession of
+retainers and servants, the lights flaring in all directions: we can
+hear the shouts and chorus of many voices, the drums beating and
+flutes and trumpets sounding. The huge hearth receives the mighty
+log, and the flames and sparks shoot up the gaping chimney.
+
+At Court in olden times Christmas was kept right royally, if we may
+judge from the extensive _menu_ of the repasts of King Henry III.
+and his courtiers in the year 1247. He kept his Christmas at
+Winchester Castle, and the neighbourhood must have been ransacked to
+furnish supplies for the royal table. The choice dainties were as
+follows: Boars, with heads entire, well cooked and very succulent,
+48; fowls, 1900; partridges, mostly "put in paste," 500; swans, 41;
+peacocks, 48; hares, 260; eggs, 24,000; 300 gallons of oysters; 300
+rabbits, and more if possible; birds of various sorts, as many as
+could be had; of whitings, "particularly good and heavy," and conger
+eels the same; a hundred mullets, "fat and very heavy." For bread
+the king paid �27 10s., at the price of four loaves to the penny.
+When the king kept his Christmas at York in 1250, the royal treasury
+must have been very full, for he ordered for the royal banquets 7000
+fowls, 1750 partridges, besides immense numbers of boars, swans,
+pheasants, &c. Of course the king had a very large retinue of
+vassals and feudal lords to provide for; but the store seems
+sufficiently vast to supply the wants of an army of faithful, but
+hungry, subjects. Sometimes, when the king was short of money, there
+was a considerable reduction in the amount of good things consumed
+at Christmas.
+
+Our ancestors were very careful to attend the services of the
+church, which their loving hands had adorned with holly, bay,
+rosemary, and laurel. They considered it a day of special
+thanksgiving and rejoicing, as an old poet observed--
+
+    "At Christmas be merry and thankful with all,
+     And feast thy poor neighbours, the great and the small."
+
+The solemn service of Holy Communion was celebrated on Christmas
+Eve, in medi�val times--the only night in all the year when an
+evening celebration was allowed. The halls of the knights and barons
+of ancient days were thrown open to all comers, and open house was
+kept for a fortnight. Rejoicing at Christmas time seems to have been
+universal, and it is not for us to judge whether in their mirth they
+sometimes forgot the reason of true Christmas joy, and thought more
+of their feasting than of Him who was born on Christmas Day. But by
+their hearty manner of keeping this annual festival, by the
+hospitality which the farmers and rich men showed to their labourers
+and poorer neighbours, they promoted, at any rate, "goodwill amongst
+men"--old animosities, quarrels, and bitternesses were forgotten,
+and the hearts of the poor cheered.
+
+In the North of England every farmer gave two feasts, one called
+"the old folks' night," and the other "the young folks' night." The
+old Squire used to receive his tenants and neighbours at daybreak,
+when the black-jacks were passed round, and woe betide the luckless
+cook who had overslept herself, and had not boiled the Hackin, or
+large sausage, ere the day dawned, for then she was seized by the
+arms and made to run round the market-place, or courtyard, until
+she was ashamed of her laziness.
+
+And now let us enter the hall of some great baron and see how our
+ancestors kept a merry Christmas. The panelled walls, and stags'
+horns, and gallery at one end of the great room were hung with holly
+and mistletoe. The Yule-log blazed upon the hearth, and then entered
+the vassals, tenants, and servants of the lord to share in the
+Christmas banquet. Rank and ceremony were laid aside: all were
+deemed equal, whether lords or barons, serfs or peasants--a custom
+which arose, doubtless, from the remembrance of Him who on the first
+Christmas Day, "although He was rich, yet for our sakes became
+poor."
+
+And now on the huge oaken table were placed the various dishes of
+the feast--a mighty boar's head, decorated with laurel and rosemary,
+whose approach was often heralded with trumpets as the king of the
+feast; then came a peacock, stuffed with spices and sweet herbs, and
+adorned with its gay feathers, and then followed a goodly company of
+geese, capons, sirloins of beef, pheasants, mince-pies, and
+plum-porridge. A carol was often sung when the boar's head was
+brought in; here is one from the collection of Wynkyn de Worde:
+
+            Caput Apri defero
+            Reddens laudes Domino,
+        The Boar's Head in hand bring I
+        With garlands gay and rosemary;
+        I pray you all sing merrily
+            Qui estis in convivio.
+
+        The Boar's Head, I understand,
+        Is the chief service in this land;
+        Look wherever it be fande:
+            Servile cum cantico.
+
+        Be glad, lords, both more and lasse,
+          For this hath ordained our stew�rd
+        To cheer you all this Christmasse,
+            The Boar's Head with must�rd.[18]
+
+Neither were the ale and wassail-bowl forgotten, and they circulated
+sometimes too often, I fear, and laid the seeds of gout and other
+evils, from which other generations suffer. But when the prodigious
+appetites of the company had been appeased, the maskers and mummers
+entered the hall and performed strange antics and a curious play,
+fragments of which have come down to our own time. The youths of the
+villages of England still come round at Christmas-time and act their
+mumming-drama, in which "St. George" kills a "Turkish knight," who
+is raised to life by "Medicine Man," and performs a very important
+part of the play--passing round the money-box. This is a remnant of
+the mumming of ancient days, and perhaps of some "mystery" play, of
+which I told you in a previous chapter.
+
+In Berkshire the characters are represented by "Molly," a stalwart
+man dressed in a woman's gown, shawl, and bonnet, with a besom in
+his hand, who strives in his dialogue to imitate a woman's voice;
+King George, a big burly man dressed as a knight, with a wooden
+sword and a home-made helmet; a French officer, with a cocked hat
+and sword; a Doctor, who wears a pig-tail; Jack Vinny, a jester;
+Happy Jack, a humorous character dressed in tattered garments, and
+Old Beelzebub, who appears as Father Christmas. In some parts of the
+royal county the part of King George is taken by an "Africky king,"
+and a Turkish knight instead of the French officer. Very curious are
+the words of the old play, and very ludicrous the representation
+when the parts are acted by competent players.
+
+There was also in the baron's hall a great person dressed in a very
+fantastic garb, who was here, there, and everywhere, directing the
+mummers, making jokes to amuse the company, and looking after
+everybody. He was called the "Lord of Misrule." Sometimes his rule
+was harmless enough, and did good service in directing the revels;
+but often he was more worthy of his name, and was guilty of all
+kinds of absurd and mischievous pranks, which did great harm, and
+were very profane. But these were not part of the Christmas feast,
+where all was happiness and mirth. Sir Walter Scott says, in his
+description of the festival--
+
+    "England was merry England when
+     Old Christmas brought his sports again;
+     A Christmas gambol oft would cheer
+     A poor man's heart through all the year."
+
+All the old poets sing in praise of the great day which, as Herrick
+says, "sees December turned to May," and which makes the "chilling
+winter's morn smile like a field beset with corn." Old carols chant
+in reverent strains their homage to the infant Saviour: some reflect
+time-honoured customs and social joys when old age casts aside its
+solemnity and mingles once more in the light-hearted gaiety of
+youth, and all unite in chanting the praises of this happy festival.
+The poet Withers sings--
+
+    "Lo! now is come our joyful'st feast!
+       Let every man be jolly;
+     Each room with ivy leaves is drest,
+       And every post with holly.
+
+    "Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke,
+       And Christmas blocks are burning;
+     Their ovens they with baked meats choke,
+       And all their spits are turning.
+
+    "Without the door let sorrow lie,
+     And if, for cold, it has to die,
+     We'll bury it in Christmas pie,
+       And evermore be merry."
+
+Thus the happy night was spent; and if, like grave elders, we look
+down upon these frolics of a younger age, and think ourselves so
+much wiser and better than our forefathers, we should not forget the
+benefits which come from open-handed hospitality, goodwill, and
+simple manners, nor scornfully regard honest merriment and
+light-hearted gaiety. A light heart is generally not far removed
+from a holy heart.
+
+Yes, England was merry England then; and although there were plenty
+of troubles in those days, when plagues decimated whole villages,
+when wars were frequent, food scarce, and oppression common, yet the
+Christmas festivities, the varieties of sports and pastimes which
+each season provided, the homely customs and bonds of union between
+class and class which these observances strengthened, added
+brightness to the lives of our simple forefathers, who might
+otherwise have sunk beneath the burdens of their daily toil. We have
+seen how many customs and sports, which were at first simple and
+harmless, degenerated and were abused: we have noticed some of the
+bad features of these ancient pastimes, such as cruelty to animals
+and intemperance; and are thankful that there is some improvement
+manifest in these respects. But it is interesting to witness again
+in imagination the scenes that once took place in our market-places
+and on our village greens; and, if it be impossible to restore again
+the glories of May Day and the brightness of the Christmas feast, we
+may still find plenty of harmless and innocent recreation, and learn
+to be merry, and at the same time wise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[Footnote 1: Although the 1st of January was popularly regarded as
+the beginning of the year from early times, it was not until 1752
+A.D. that the legal commencement of the year was changed from March
+25th to the former date.]
+
+[Footnote 2: These fires signified our Saviour and the Twelve
+Apostles. One of the fires, which represented Judas, the traitor,
+was extinguished soon after it was lighted, and the materials of the
+fire kicked about.]
+
+[Footnote 3: The distaff was the staff which held the flax or wool
+in spinning. All maidens were engaged in this occupation, and a
+"spinster" (_i.e._ one who spins) is still the legal term for an
+unmarried woman.]
+
+[Footnote 4: St. Blaize (or Blasius) was Bishop of Sebaste in
+Armenia, and was martyred 316 A.D. His flesh was torn with iron
+combs, so the wool-staplers have adopted him as their patron saint.]
+
+[Footnote 5: _Shrove-tide_ and _Shrove Tuesday_ derive their names
+from the ancient practice of confessing one's sins on that day. _To
+be shriven,_ or _shrove_, means to obtain absolution from one's
+sin.]
+
+[Footnote 6: It was practised as late as the end of the last
+century.]
+
+[Footnote 7: So called from the Gospel of the day, which treats of
+the feeding of the five thousand.--_Cf_. Wheatley on Prayer-book.]
+
+[Footnote 8: The caber is a small tree, or beam, heavier at one end
+than the other. The performer holds this perpendicularly, with the
+smaller end downwards, and his object is to toss it so as to make it
+fall on the other end.]
+
+[Footnote 9: _A Pleasant Grove of New Fancies_, 1637.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Sometimes the May Queen did not consort with
+morris-dancers, but sat in solitary state under a canopy of boughs.]
+
+[Footnote 11: A Correspondence in _Athen�um_, Sept. 20, 1890.]
+
+[Footnote 12: The same story is told of Willes, who is supposed by
+some cricketers to be the inventor of the modern style of delivery.]
+
+[Footnote 13: The word _fair_ is derived from the ecclesiastical
+term, _feria_, a holiday.]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Cf._ Govett's _King's Book of Sports_, and _Tom
+Brown's Schooldays,_ to which I am indebted for the above accurate
+description of back-sword play.]
+
+[Footnote 15: I am indebted for this description to Mr. W. Andrews'
+interesting book on the _Curiosities of the Church_.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Cf. _Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley_, by Mrs.
+Dent.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Cf. _Glossary of Berkshire Words and Phrases_, by
+Major B. Lowsley, R.E.]
+
+[Footnote 18: The custom of bringing in the boar's head is still
+preserved at Queen's College, Oxford. The story is told of a student
+of the college who was attacked by a wild boar while he was
+diligently studying Aristotle during a walk near Shotover Hill. His
+book was his only means of defence, so he thrust the volume down the
+animal's throat, exclaiming, "It is Greek!" The boar found Greek
+very difficult to digest, and died on the spot, and the head was
+brought home in triumph by the student. Ever since that date, for
+five hundred years, a boar's head has graced the college table at
+Christmas.]
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+Agape, suggested origin of "Church ales," 53
+
+Ales, Church, 52, 53, 57
+
+Alfred, laws relating to holidays, 5
+
+All-hallow Eve, 105
+
+Animals to be hunted, 16
+
+April, 36
+
+Archery, 25--31
+
+Ascension Day, 50
+
+Ascham's accomplishments of English Gentleman, 97
+
+
+Back-sword play, 81
+
+Baiting bears, bulls, &c., 89
+
+Bale-fires, 50
+
+Ball games, 20, 21, 61--71
+
+Barley-brake, 39
+
+Bath, wakes at, 81
+
+Battledore, 23
+
+Bean, King of, 7
+
+Berks--Old sports, 81
+
+"Bessy," 9
+
+Blaize St., 18
+
+Boar's head at Christmas, 123
+
+Bonfires, 6, 57, 106, 108
+
+Book of Sports, 48, 50
+
+Bounds, beating, 50
+
+Bowl, 49
+
+Boy bishop, 116
+
+Bull-baiting, 89
+
+Burning wheel, 59
+
+Butts, 27
+
+
+Caber-tossing, 38
+
+Candlemas, 18
+
+Carols, 111
+
+_Catherine, St._, miracle play, 99
+
+Charlemagne, 58
+
+Chess, 112
+
+Chester, 41, 48
+
+Choirs, Old, 111
+
+Christmas holidays, 5
+  customs, 118-126
+  at Court, 120
+
+Church decoration, 37, 49, 121
+
+Churchwardens' accounts, 34, 36, 42, 54, 72, 100
+
+Church ale, 52, 53, 57
+
+Church house, 53
+
+Cloudslee, William of, 28
+
+Club-ball, 65, 66
+
+Cock-fighting, 23, 24
+
+Cock-throwing, 23
+
+Collop Monday, 19
+
+_Colloquies_ of Erasmus, 113
+
+_Conversion of St. Paul_, mystery play, 98
+
+Country parson, 51
+
+Coventry, 42, 103
+
+_Crafte of Hunting_, 16
+
+Cricket, 38, 61-65
+
+Cross-bow, 27
+
+Cudgel-play, 38
+
+Curling, 39
+
+Customs, local, 4, 5, 6, 12, 20, 24, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 50,
+  54, 60, 62, 78, 81, 106, 108, 109, 117
+
+
+Dances, country, on village green, 11
+
+Dancing with swords, 10
+
+December, 115
+
+Dedication festivals, 3
+
+_Demands Joyous_, 110
+
+Devonshire custom, 4
+
+Distaff, St., 9
+
+Dragons, 59
+
+Dues, Cock-fight, 24
+
+
+Early sport, 14, 16
+
+Easter, 36--41
+
+Eighteenth century cricket, 63
+
+Election of King of Bean, 7
+
+England "Merry," 1, 125, 126
+
+_English Villages, Our_, 3, 80
+
+Epiphany, 5
+
+Erasmus, _Colloquies_ of, 113
+
+Evelyn's _Diary_, 90
+
+
+Fairs, 3, 80
+
+Falconer, 87
+
+February, 13
+
+Festivals, 3, 36, 50, 118
+
+Finsbury, 28
+
+Football, 20, 21, 41
+
+Foot-races, 22, 38
+
+Fox-hunting extraordinary, 17
+
+France, home of tennis, 39
+
+
+Gambling, 112
+
+Games, minor ball, 71
+  "  ball, 20, 21, 64, 71
+  "  indoor, 21, 112
+
+George Herbert, 51
+
+Golf, 66, 68
+
+Good Friday cake, 33
+
+Gospel trees, 50
+
+Grasmere, 72
+
+Guildford, cricket at, 62
+
+Gunpowder Plot, 108
+
+Guy Fawkes, 107
+
+
+Hambledon Cricket Club, 63, 64
+
+Handball, 27
+
+Handball in Church, 38
+
+Harvest home, 75, 79
+
+Hawking, 84
+
+Heaving, 37
+
+Herbert, George, 51
+
+Herefordshire custom, 6
+
+Herrick, 9, 31, 74, 115, 119, 125
+
+Hobby-horse, 26
+
+Hock-cart, 75
+
+Hocking, 54
+
+Hock-tide, 41, 42
+
+Holland, golf introduced from, 66
+
+Horse-collar, grinning through a, 54
+
+Hot cross buns, 33, 34
+
+Hunting, 13, 17
+
+Hurling, 22, 23
+
+
+Indoor games, 21
+
+Ireland, 50
+
+Isaak Walton, 17
+
+
+January, 1
+
+Jersey, 59
+
+Jingling match, 56
+
+John's, St., Eve, 57
+
+Jousts, 94
+
+July, 61
+
+June, 52
+
+
+Kenilworth Castle, pageants at 103
+
+Kent and Sussex, first homes of cricket, 62
+
+King of the Bean, 7
+
+
+Lammas, 74
+
+Lancashire, 49
+
+Lawn-tennis, 70
+
+Lifting, 37
+
+Lillywhite, 65
+
+Local customs, 4, 5, 6, 12, 19, 20, 24, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41,
+  50, 54, 60, 62, 78, 81, 107, 108, 109, 117, 123
+
+"Lord of Misrule," 125
+
+
+Magdalen hymn, 45
+
+Magdalen pulpit, 60
+
+March, 25
+
+Martinmas, 110
+
+Maundy Thursday--Money, 33
+
+May--May Day, 44
+
+May-pole, 45, 46, 48
+
+May Queen, 46
+
+"Merry England," 1, 125, 126
+
+Mews, origin of word, 88
+
+Michaelmas, 88
+
+Midsummer Eve, 58
+
+Minor ball-games, 71
+
+Miracle plays, 36, 57, 98
+
+Misrule," "Lord of, 125
+
+Mitford, Miss, _Our Village_, 64
+
+_Moralities_, 99
+
+Mothering-Sunday, 31
+
+Mummers, 124
+
+_Mysteries_, 57, 98, 100
+
+
+New Year's Day, 45
+
+_Nicholas, St., The Image of_, mystery play, 99
+
+Nicholas, Day, St., 116
+
+_Noah and the Flood_, mystery play, 98
+
+November, 105
+
+
+October, 92
+
+Old songs, 4, 6, 8, 13, 14, 23, 28, 36, 46, 63, 75, 76, 77, 109
+
+Orchards, wassailing of, 4, 6
+
+Otter-hunting, 17
+
+_Our English Villages_, reference, 3, 80
+
+_Our Village_, reference, 64
+
+Outdoor winter sports, 7
+
+Oxford customs, 109, 123
+
+
+Pace, _Pasche, Paschal_, eggs, 37
+
+Pageants, 101
+
+Pall Mall, 68
+
+Palm Sunday, 32
+
+Park, St. James's, 68
+
+Parson, country, 50
+
+Pea, Queen of, 8
+
+Pig-catching, 56
+
+Pigeon-holes, 56
+
+Plagues, 72
+
+Plough Monday, 9
+
+Pole-leaping, 38
+
+Purification, 18
+
+Puritans, 47
+
+
+Quarter-staff, 38, 54, 56
+
+Queen of the Pea, 8
+
+Queen of the Play, 46
+
+Quintain, 41
+
+
+Reading town, 27, 42, 54
+
+Reformation, 9, 18, 22
+
+Refreshment Sunday, 31
+
+Relics of Sun-worship, 51, 59
+
+Revival of Bounds-beating, 51
+
+Robin Hood, 28
+
+Roch's, St., Day, 75
+
+Rogation Days, 50
+
+Royal golfers, 66
+  " tennis players, 69, 70
+
+Rush-bearing, rushes in Churches, 49, 71, 72
+
+
+Salisbury, boy bishop, 116
+
+September, 84
+
+Sepulchres, 35
+
+Sheep-shearing, 79
+
+Shere Thursday, 33
+
+Shrovetide, 19, 24
+
+Simnell-cakes, 32
+
+Single-stick, 35
+
+Skating, 10, 38
+
+"Spinster," derivation of, 9
+
+Sports, Book of, 48, 49, 50
+
+Sports, early, 14, 16
+
+Songs, old, 4, 6, 8, 13, 14, 23, 28, 36, 46, 63, 75, 76, 77, 109
+
+Soul-cakes, 106
+
+Stool-ball, 66
+
+Stuarts, 21, 48, 50, 66, 68, 80
+
+Sudeley Castle, pageants at, 101
+
+Sun-worship, relics of, 57, 59
+
+Superstitions, 5, 33, 39, 50, 59, 106, 107
+
+Sussex custom, 4
+
+Sussex and Kent, first homes of cricket, 62
+
+
+Tansy-cake, 38
+
+Tennis, 68, 71
+
+Tilting at a ring, 97
+
+Tipcat called Billet, 23
+
+Tournaments, 92
+
+Trap-ball, 66
+
+Tusser, _Five Hundred Points of Husbandry_, 79
+
+Twelfth Day Eve, 5, 6
+
+Twelfth Night, 7
+
+
+_Undershaft_, St. Andrew, 48
+
+Uncleanliness, 72
+
+
+Valentine, St., 18
+
+
+Wakes, 79, 80, 81
+
+Walton, Isaak, 17
+
+"Wassail," 4
+
+Water tournament, 39, 40
+
+Whistling match, 56
+
+White Horse Hill, 54
+
+Whitsuntide, 52
+
+Willes, 65
+
+Winter games, indoor, 10
+
+Wise men from East, 7
+
+Withers, Christmas song, 125
+
+Wrestling, 59
+
+
+Year, New, festivities, 4, 5
+
+Yule-log, 118
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay
+
+
+
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+<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Old English Sports, by Peter Hampson
+Ditchfield</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Old English Sports</p>
+<p>Author: Peter Hampson Ditchfield</p>
+<p>Release Date: December 10, 2004  [eBook #14315]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD ENGLISH SPORTS***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4 class="pg">E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Richard J. Shiffer,<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>OLD ENGLISH SPORTS</h2>
+
+<h3><span style="font-family: 'excalibur SF'; font-size: 24px">Pastimes and Customs</span></h3>
+
+<h4>BY</h4>
+
+<h3>P.H. DITCHFIELD, M.A.</h3>
+
+<p class="frontPage">FELLOW OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY; RECTOR OF BARKHAM, BERKS
+HON. SEC. OF BERKS ARCH&AElig;OLOGICAL SOCIETY
+ETC.
+</p>
+
+<h6>First published by Methuen &amp; Co., 1891</h6>
+
+<hr />
+<p class="frontPage">
+TO
+
+<span style="font-family: 'excalibur SF'; font-size: 24px">Lady Russell</span>
+
+THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH THE AUTHOR'S
+
+KINDEST REGARDS.
+
+</p>
+<hr />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/Preface.jpg" name="figPreface" id="figPreface">
+<img  src="images/Preface-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Preface Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="PREFACE"></a><h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Encouraged by the kind reception which his former book, <i>Our English
+Villages</i>, met with at the hands of both critics and the public, the
+author has ventured to reproduce in book-form another series of
+articles which have appeared during the past year in the pages of
+<i>The Parish Magazine</i>. He desires to express his thanks to Canon
+Erskine Clarke for kindly permitting him to reprint the articles,
+which have been expanded and in part rewritten. The Sports and
+Pastimes of England have had many chroniclers, both ancient and
+modern, amongst whom may be mentioned Strutt, Brand, Hone, Stow, and
+several others, to whose works the writer is indebted for much
+valuable information.</p>
+
+<p>The object of this book is to describe, in simple language, the
+holiday festivals as they occurred in each month of the year; and
+the sports, games, pastimes, and customs associated with these rural
+feasts. It is hoped that such a description may not be without
+interest to our English villagers, and perhaps to others who love
+the study of the past. Possibly it may help forward the revival of
+the best features of old village life, and the restoration of some
+of those pleasing customs which Time has deprived us of. The writer
+is much indebted to Mr. E.R.R. Bindon for his very careful revision
+of the proof-sheets.</p>
+
+BARKHAM RECTORY,<br />
+1891.<br />
+
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/Preface2.png" name="fig002" id="fig002">
+<img  src="images/Preface2-thumb.png"
+alt="Preface End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr  /><br />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/Contents.jpg" name="fig003" id="fig003">
+<img  src="images/Contents-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Contents Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></p>
+<p class="center">JANUARY </p>
+<p class="toc">
+Dedication Festivals&mdash;New Year's Day&mdash;&quot;Wassail&quot;&mdash;Twelfth
+Night&mdash;&quot;King of the Bean&quot;&mdash;St. Distaffs Day&mdash;Plough
+Monday&mdash;Winter Games&mdash;Skating&mdash;Sword-dancing
+</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page001" id="toc001">1</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></p>
+<p class="center">FEBRUARY.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Hunting&mdash;Candlemas Day&mdash;St. Blaize's Day&mdash;Shrove-tide&mdash;
+Football&mdash;Battledore and Shuttlecock&mdash;Cock-throwing
+</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page013" id="toc013">13</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></p>
+<p class="center">MARCH.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Archery&mdash;Lent&mdash;&quot;Mothering&quot; Sunday&mdash;Palm Sunday&mdash;
+&quot;Shere&quot; Thursday&mdash;Watching the Sepulchre</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page025" id="toc025">25</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></p>
+<p class="center">APRIL.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Easter Customs&mdash;Pace Eggs&mdash;Handball in Churches&mdash;Sports confined
+to special localities&mdash;Stoolball and Barley-brake&mdash;Water
+Tournament:&mdash;Quintain&mdash;Chester Sports&mdash;Hock-tide</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page036" id="toc036">36</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></p>
+<p class="center">MAY.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+May-day Festivities&mdash;May-pole&mdash;Morris-dancers&mdash;The Book of
+Sports&mdash;Bowling&mdash;Beating the Bounds&mdash;George
+Herbert's description of a Country Parson</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page044" id="toc044">44</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></p>
+<p class="center">JUNE.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Whitsuntide Sports&mdash;Church-ales&mdash;Church-house&mdash;Quarter-staff&mdash;
+Whistling and Jingling Matches&mdash;St. John's Eve&mdash;Wrestling</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page052" id="toc052">52</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">JULY.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Cricket&mdash;Club-ball&mdash;Trap-ball&mdash;Golf&mdash;Pall-mall&mdash;Tennis&mdash;
+Rush-bearing</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page061" id="toc061">61</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">AUGUST.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Lammas Day&mdash;St. Roch's Day&mdash;Harvest Home&mdash;&quot;Ten-pounding&quot;&mdash;Sheep-shearing&mdash; &quot;Wakes&quot;&mdash;Fairs</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page074" id="toc074">74</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></p>
+<p class="center">SEPTEMBER.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Hawking&mdash;Michaelmas&mdash;Bull and Bear-baiting</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page084" id="toc084">84</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></p>
+<p class="center">OCTOBER.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Tournaments&mdash;&quot;Mysteries&quot;&mdash;&quot;Moralities&quot;&mdash;Pageants</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page092" id="toc092">92</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></p>
+<p class="center">NOVEMBER.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+All-hallow Eve&mdash;&quot;Soul Cakes&quot;&mdash;Diving for Apples&mdash;The Fifth of November&mdash;Martinmas&mdash;&quot;Demands Joyous &quot;&mdash;Indoor
+Games</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page105" id="toc105">105</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">DECEMBER.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+St. Nicholas' Day&mdash;The Boy Bishop&mdash;Christmas Eve&mdash;Christmas
+Customs&mdash;Mummers&mdash;&quot;Lord of Misrule&quot;&mdash;Conclusion</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page115" id="toc115">115</a></p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="toc">INDEX</p>
+<p class="tocpage"><a href="#page129" id="toc129">129</a></p>
+<br />
+<br />
+
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page001" id="page001"></a>[pg 001]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/001.jpg" name="fig001" id="fig001">
+<img  src="images/001-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<h2>OLD ENGLISH SPORTS.</h2>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>JANUARY.</h3>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Come then, come then, and let us bring<br /></span>
+<span>Unto our pretty Twelfth-Tide King,<br /></span>
+<span>Each one his several offering.&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i9"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Herrick's</span> <i>Star Song</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<h4>
+Dedication Festivals&mdash;New Year's Day&mdash;&quot;Wassail&quot;&mdash;Twelfth
+Night&mdash;&quot;King of the Bean&quot;&mdash;St. Distaff's Day&mdash;Plough
+Monday&mdash;Winter Games&mdash;Skating&mdash;Sword-dancing.
+</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterI.png" name="fig001i" id="fig001i"><img  src="images/LetterI-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter I" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">N the old life of rural England few things are more interesting
+than the ancient sports and pastimes, the strange superstitions, and
+curious customs which existed in the times of our forefathers. We
+remember that our land once rejoiced in the name of &quot;Merry England,&quot;
+and perhaps feel some regret that many of the outward signs of
+happiness have passed away from us, and that in striving to become a
+great an<span class="pagenum"><a name="page002" id="page002"></a>[pg 002]</span>d prosperous nation, we have ceased to be a genial,
+contented, and happy one. In these days new manners are ever pushing
+out the old. The restlessness of modern life has invaded the
+peaceful retirement of our villages, and railway trains and cheap
+excursions have killed the old games and simple amusements which
+delighted our ancestors in days of yore. The old traditions of the
+country-side are forgotten, and poor imitations of town manners have
+taken their place. Old social customs which added such diversity to
+the lives of the rustics two centuries ago have died out. Very few
+of the old village games and sports have survived. The village
+green, the source of so much innocent happiness, is no more; and
+with it has disappeared much of that innocent and light-hearted
+cheerfulness which brightened the hours of labour, and refreshed the
+spirit of the toiling rustic, when his daily task was done. Times
+have changed, and we have changed with them. We could not now revive
+many of the customs and diversions in which our fathers took
+delight. Serious and grave men no longer take pleasure in the
+playthings which pleased them when they were children; and our
+nation has become grave and serious, and likes not the simple joys
+which diversified the lives of our forefathers, and made England
+&quot;merry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Is it possible that we cannot restore some of these time-honoured
+customs? The sun shines as brightly now as ever it did on a May-day
+festival; the Christma<span class="pagenum"><a name="page003" id="page003"></a>[pg 003]</span>s fire glows as in olden days. Let us try to
+revive the spirit which animated their festivals. Let us endeavour
+to realize how our village forefathers used to enjoy themselves,
+how they used to spend their holidays, and to picture to ourselves
+the scenes of social intercourse which once took place in our own
+hamlets. Every season of the year had its holiday customs and quaint
+manner of observance, some of them confined to particular counties,
+but many of them universally observed.</p>
+
+<p>In the volume, recently published, which treated of the story and
+the antiquities of &quot;Our English Villages,&quot; I pointed out that the
+Church was the centre of the life of the old village&mdash;not only of
+its religious life, but also of its secular every-day life. This is
+true also with regard to the amusements of the people. The festival
+of the saint, to whom the parish church was dedicated, was
+celebrated with much rejoicing. The annual fair was held on that
+day, when, after their business was ended, friends and neighbours
+met together and took part in some of the sports and pastimes which
+I shall try to describe. The other holidays of the year were
+generally regulated by the Church's calendar, the great
+festivals&mdash;Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday&mdash;-being all
+duly observed. I propose to record in these pages the principal
+sports, pastimes, and customs which our forefathers delighted in
+during each month of the year, the accounts of which are not only
+amusing, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="page004" id="page004"></a>[pg 004]</span> add to our historical knowledge, and help us to realize
+something of the old village life of rural England. </p>
+
+<p>We will begin with New Year's Day<a name="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>. It was an ancient Saxon custom
+to begin the year by sending presents to each other. On New Year's
+Eve the wassail bowl of spiced ale was carried round from house to
+house by the village maidens, who sang songs and wished every one &quot;A
+Happy New Year.&quot; &quot;Wassail&quot; is an old Saxon word, meaning &quot;Be in
+health.&quot; Rowena, the daughter of the Saxon king Hengist, offered a
+flowing bowl to the British king Vortigern, welcoming him with the
+words, &quot;Lloured King Wassheil.&quot; In Devonshire and Sussex it was the
+custom to wassail the orchards; a troop of boys visited the
+orchards, and, encircling the apple-trees, they sang the words&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Stand fast, bear well top,<br /></span>
+<span>Pray God send us a howling crop;<br /></span>
+<span>Every twig, apples big;<br /></span>
+<span>Every bough, apples enow;<br /></span>
+<span>Hats full, caps full,<br /></span>
+<span>Full quarter-sacks full.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Then the boys shouted in chorus, and rapped the trees with their
+sticks.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page005" id="page005"></a>[pg 005]</span>
+<p>The custom of giving presents on New Year's Day is as old as the
+time of the Romans, who attached superstitious importance to it, and
+thought the gifts brought them a lucky year. Our Christian
+forefathers retained the pleasant custom when its superstitious
+origin was long forgotten. Fathers and mothers used to delight each
+other and their little ones by their mutual gifts; the masters gave
+presents to their servants, and with &quot;march-paynes, tarts, and
+custards great,&quot; they celebrated the advent of the new year. Oranges
+stuck with cloves, or a fat capon, were some of the usual forms of
+New Year's gifts.</p>
+
+<p>The &quot;bringing-in&quot; of the new year is a time-honoured custom; which
+duty is performed by the first person who enters the house after the
+old year has expired. In the North of England this important person
+must be a dark man, otherwise superstitious folk believe that
+ill-luck would befall the household. In other parts of England a
+light-complexioned man is considered a more favourable harbinger of
+good fortune.</p>
+
+<p>The Christmas holidays extended over twelve days, which bring us to
+January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. It is stated that &quot;in the
+days of King Alfred a law was made with regard to holidays, by
+virtue of which the twelve days after the Nativity of our Saviour
+were made festivals.&quot; Twelfth Day Eve was a great occasion among the
+rustics of England, and many curious customs are connected with it.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page006" id="page006"></a>[pg 006]</span>
+In Herefordshire the farmers and servants used to meet together in
+the evening and walk to a field of wheat. There they lighted twelve
+small fires and one large one<a name="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2"><sup>[2]</sup></a>, and forming a circle round the
+huge bonfire, they raised a shout, which was answered from all the
+neighbouring fields and villages. At home the busy housewife was
+preparing a hearty supper for the men. After supper they adjourned
+to the ox-stalls, and the master stood in front of the finest of the
+oxen and pledged him in a curious toast; the company followed his
+example with all the other oxen, and then they returned to the house
+and found all the doors locked, and admittance sternly refused until
+they had sung some joyous songs.</p>
+
+<p>In the south of Devonshire, on the eve of the Epiphany, the
+best-bearing trees in the orchard were encircled by the farmer and
+his labourers, who sang the following refrain&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">&quot;Here's to thee, old apple-tree,<br /></span>
+<span>Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blow,<br /></span>
+<span>And whence thou may'st bear apples enow!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Hats full! caps full!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Bushel-bushel-sacks full,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And my pockets full too! Huzza!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The returning company were not allowed to enter<span class="pagenum"><a name="page007" id="page007"></a>[pg 007]</span> the house until
+some one guessed what was on the spit, which savoury tit-bit was
+awarded to the man who first named it.</p>
+
+<p>The youths of the village during the holidays had plenty of sport,
+outdoor and indoor, which kept out the cold by wholesome exercise
+and recreative games. Many a hard battle was fought with snowballs,
+or with bat-and-ball on the ice; the barns were the scenes of many a
+wrestling match or exciting game at skittles; and in the evenings
+they played such romping games as blind-man's-buff, hunt the
+slipper, and others of a similar character. While the company sat
+round the yule-log blazing on the hearth, eating mince-pies, or plum
+porridge, and quaffing a bowl of well-spiced elder wine, the mummers
+would enter, decked out in ribands and strange dresses, execute
+their strange antics, and perform their curious play. So the wintry
+days passed until Twelfth Night, with its pleasing associations and
+mirthful customs.</p>
+
+<p>Twelfth Night was a very popular festival, when honour was done to
+the memory of the Three Wise Men from the East, who were called the
+Three Kings. The election of kings and queens by beans was a very
+ancient custom. The farmer invited his friends and labourers to
+supper, and a huge plumcake was brought in, containing a bean and a
+pea. The man who received the piece of cake containing the bean was
+called the King of the Bean, and received<span class="pagenum"><a name="page008" id="page008"></a>[pg 008]</span> the honour of the company;
+and the pea conferred a like privilege on the lady who drew the
+favoured lot. The rest of the visitors assumed the rank of
+ministers of state or maids of honour. The festival was generally
+held in a large barn decorated with evergreens, and a large bough of
+mistletoe was not forgotten, which was often the source of much
+merriment. When the ceremony began, some one repeated the lines&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">&quot;Now, now the mirth comes<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With the cake full of plums,<br /></span>
+<span>When Bean is King of the Sport here.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Beside, you must know,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The Pea also<br /></span>
+<span>Must revel as Queen of the Court here.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Then the cake was cut and distributed amid much laughter and merry
+shouts. The holders of the bean and pea were hailed as king and
+queen for the night, the band struck up some time-honoured melody,
+and a country dance followed which was ever carried on with much
+spirit. The king exercised his royal prerogative by choosing
+partners for the women, and the queen performed a like office for
+the men; and so they merrily played their parts till the hours grew
+late.</p>
+
+<p>But the holidays were nearly over, and the time for resuming work
+had arrived. However, neither the women nor the men seemed to be in
+any hurry to begin. The day after Twelfth Day was humorously<span class="pagenum"><a name="page009" id="page009"></a>[pg 009]</span> called
+St. Distaft's<a name="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> Day, which was devoted to &quot;partly work and partly
+play.&quot; Herrick, the recorder of many social customs, tells us that
+the ploughmen used to set on fire the flax which the maids used for
+spinning, and received pails of water on their heads for their
+mischief. The following Monday was called Plough Monday, when the
+labourers used to draw a plough decked with ribbons round the
+parish, and receive presents of money, favouring the spectators with
+sword-dancing and mumming. The rude procession of men, clad in clean
+smock-frocks, headed by the renowned &quot;Bessy,&quot; who sang and rattled
+the money-box, accompanied by a strangely-dressed character called
+the Fool, attired in skins of various animals and having a long
+tail, threw life into the dreary scenery of winter, as the
+gaily-decked plough was drawn along the quiet country lanes from one
+village to another. The origin of Plough Monday dates back to
+pre-Reformation times, when societies of ploughmen called guilds
+used to keep lights burning upon the shrine of some saint, to invoke
+a blessing on their labour. The Reformation put out the lights, but
+it could not extinguish the festival.</p>
+
+<p>In the long winter evenings the country folk amused themselves
+around their winter's fireside<span class="pagenum"><a name="page010" id="page010"></a>[pg 010]</span> by telling old romantic stories of
+errant knights and fairies, goblins, witches, and the rest; or by
+reciting </p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i7">&quot;Some merry fit<br /></span>
+<span>Of Mayde Marran, or els of Robin Hood.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In the Tudor times there were plenty of winter games for those who
+could play them, amongst which we may mention chess, cards, dice,
+shovel-board, and many others.</p>
+
+<p>And when the ponds and rivers were frozen, as early as the twelfth
+century the merry skaters used to glide over the smooth ice. Their
+skates were of a very primitive construction, and consisted of the
+leg-bones of animals tied under their feet by means of thongs.
+Neither were the skaters quite equal to cutting &quot;threes&quot; and
+&quot;eights&quot; upon the ice; they could only push themselves along by
+means of a pole with an iron spike at the end. But they used to
+charge each other after the manner of knights in a tournament, and
+use their poles for spears. An old writer says that &quot;they pushed
+themselves along with such speed that they seemed to fly like a bird
+in the air, or as darts shot out from the engines of war.&quot; Some of
+the less adventurous youths were content with sliding, or driving
+each other forward on great pieces of ice. &quot;Dancing with swords&quot; was
+a favourite form of amusement among the young men of Northern
+nations, and in those parts of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page011" id="page011"></a>[pg 011]</span> England where the Norsemen and Danes
+settled, this graceful gymnastic custom long lingered. </p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/011.jpg" name="fig011" id="fig011">
+<img  src="images/011-thumb.png"
+alt="DANCING ON THE VILLAGE GREEN." /></a>
+<h5>DANCING ON THE VILLAGE GREEN.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<p>The old country dances which used to delight our fathers seem to be
+vanishing. I have not seen for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page012" id="page012"></a>[pg 012]</span> many years the village rustics
+&quot;crossing hands&quot; and going &quot;down the middle,&quot; and tripping merrily
+to the tune of a fiddle; but perhaps they do so still.</p>
+
+<p>In olden days the city maidens of London were often &quot;dancing and
+tripping till moonlight&quot; in the open air; and later on we read that
+on holidays, after evening prayer, while the youths exercised their
+wasters and bucklers, the maidens, &quot;one of them playing on a
+timbrel, in sight of their masters and dames, used to dance for
+garlands hanged athwart the streets.&quot; Stow, the recorder of this
+custom, wisely adds, &quot;which open pastimes in my youth, being now
+suppressed, worser practices within doors are to be feared.&quot; In some
+parts of England they still trip it gaily in the moonlight. A
+clergyman in Gloucestershire tried to establish a cricket club in
+his parish, but his efforts were all in vain; the young men
+preferred to dance together on the village green, and the more manly
+diversion had no charms for them. Dancing was never absent from our
+ancestors' festivities, and round the merry May-pole</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i7">&quot;Where the jocund swains<br /></span>
+<span>Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe strains;&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>or in the festal hall, adorned with evergreens and mistletoe, with
+tripping feet they passed the hours &quot;till envious night commands
+them to be gone.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page013" id="page013"></a>[pg 013]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/013.jpg" name="fig013" id="fig013">
+<img  src="images/013-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>FEBRUARY.</h3>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Down with rosemary and bayes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Down with the mistleto,<br /></span>
+<span>Instead of holly, now up-raise<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The greener box, for show.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;The holly hitherto did sway;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Let box now domineere,<br /></span>
+<span>Untill the dancing Easter-day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or Easter's eve appeare.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Hunting&mdash;Candlemas Day&mdash;St. Blaize's Day&mdash;Shrove-tide&mdash;
+Football&mdash;Battledore and Shuttlecock&mdash;Cock-throwing.
+</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterT.png" name="fig013t" id="fig013t">
+<img  src="images/LetterT-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter T" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">HE fox-hounds often meet in our village during this cheerless
+month, and I am reminded by the red coats of the huntsmen, and by
+the sound of the cheerful horn, of the sportsmen of ancient days,
+who chased the wolf, hart, wild boar, and buck among these same
+woods and dales of England. All hearts love to hear the merry sound
+of the huntsman's horn, except perhaps that of the hunted fox or
+stag. The love of hunting seems ingrained in every Englishman, and
+whenever the horsemen appear in sight, or the &quot;music&quot; <span class="pagenum"><a name="page014" id="page014"></a>[pg 014]</span>of the hounds
+is heard in the distance, the spade is laid aside, the ploughman
+leaves his team, the coachman his stables, the gardener his
+greenhouses, books are closed, and every one rushes away to see the
+sport. The squire, the farmers, and every one who by hook or by
+crook can procure a mount, join in the merry chase, for as an old
+poet sings&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;The hunt is up, the hunt is up,<br /></span>
+<span>Sing merrily we, the hunt is up;<br /></span>
+<span>The birds they sing,<br /></span>
+<span>The deer they fling:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Hey, nony, nony-no:<br /></span>
+<span>The hounds they cry,<br /></span>
+<span>The hunters they fly,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Hey trolilo, trolilo,<br /></span>
+<span>The hunt is up.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We English folks come of a very sporting family. The ancient Britons
+were expert hunters, and lived chiefly on the prey which they
+killed. Our Saxon forefathers loved the chase, and in some very old
+Saxon pictures illustrating the occupations of each month we see the
+lord, attended by his huntsmen, chasing the wild boars in the woods
+and forests. The Saxon king, Edgar, imposed a tribute of wolves'
+heads, and Athelstan ordered the payment of fines in hawks and
+strong-scented dogs. Edward the Confessor, too, who scorned worldly
+amusements, used to take &quot;delight in following a pack of swift dogs,
+and in cheering them with his voice.&quot; The illustration is taken from
+an old illumination which adorned an <span class="pagenum"><a name="page015" id="page015"></a>[pg 015]</span>ancient MS., and represents
+some Saxons engaged in unearthing a fox. </p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/015.jpg" name="fig015" id="fig015">
+<img  src="images/015-thumb.jpg"
+alt="HUNTING IN SAXON TIMES (from an ancient MS.)." /></a>
+<h5>HUNTING IN SAXON TIMES (from an ancient MS.).</h5>
+</div>
+
+<p>When the Normans came to England great changes were made, and
+hunting&mdash;the favourite sport of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page016" id="page016"></a>[pg 016]</span>Conqueror&mdash;was promoted with a
+total disregard of the welfare of the people. Whole villages and
+churches were pulled down in order to enlarge the royal forests,
+and any one who was rash enough to kill the king's deer would lose
+his life or his eyesight. It was not until the reign of Henry III.
+that this law was altered. William the Conqueror, who forbade the
+killing of deer and of boars, and who &quot;loved the tall stags as
+though he were their father,&quot; greatly enlarged the New Forest, in
+Hampshire. Henry I. built a huge stone wall, seven miles in
+circumference, round his favourite park of Woodstock, near Oxford;
+and if any one wanted a favour from King John, a grant of
+privileges, or a new charter, he would have to pay for it in horses,
+hawks, or hounds. The Norman lords were as tyrannical in preserving
+their game as their king, and the people suffered greatly through
+the selfishness of their rulers. There is a curious MS. in the
+British Museum, called <i>The Craft of Hunting</i>, written by two
+followers of Edward II., which gives instructions with regard to the
+game to be hunted, the rules for blowing the horn, the dogs to be
+used in the chase, and so on. It is too long to quote, but I may
+mention that the animals to be hunted included the hare, hart, wolf,
+wild boar, buck, doe, fox (&quot;which oft hath hard grace&quot;), the
+martin-cat, roebuck, badger, polecat, and otter. Many of these
+animals have long since disappeared through the clearing of the old
+forests, or been exterminated on account of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page017" id="page017"></a>[pg 017]</span>mischief which they
+did. Our modern hunters do not enjoy quite such a variety of sport.</p>
+
+<p>Otter-hunting, now very rare, was once a favourite sport among
+villagers who dwelt near a river. Isaac Walton, in his book called
+<i>The Complete Angler</i>, thus describes the animated scene: &quot;Look!
+down at the bottom of the hill there, in the meadow, checkered with
+water-lilies and lady-smocks; there you may see what work they make;
+look! look! you may see all busy&mdash;men and dogs&mdash;dogs and men&mdash;all
+busy.&quot; At last the otter is found. Then barked the dogs, and shouted
+the men! Boatmen pursue the poor animal in the water. Horsemen dash
+into the river. The otter dives, and strives to escape; but all in
+vain her efforts, and she perishes by the teeth of the dogs or the
+huntsmen's spears.</p>
+
+<p>Foreigners are always astonished at our love of sport and hunting,
+and our disregard of all danger in the pursuit of our favourite
+amusement, and one of our visitors tells the following story: &quot;When
+the armies of Henry VIII. and Francis, King of France, were drawn up
+against each other, a fox got up, which was immediately pursued by
+the English. The 'varmint' ran straight for the French lines, but
+the Englishmen would not cease from the chase; the Frenchmen opposed
+them, and killed many of these adventurous gentlemen who for the
+moment forgot their warfare in the charms of the chase.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But I must proceed to mention other February <span class="pagenum"><a name="page018" id="page018"></a>[pg 018]</span>customs and sports.
+Great importance was attached to the Feast of the Purification,
+commonly called Candlemas Day (February 2nd), when consecrated
+candles were distributed and carried about in procession. At the
+Reformation this custom did not entirely disappear, for we find a
+proclamation of Henry VIII., in 1539 A.D., which orders that &quot;on
+Candlemas Day it shall be declared that the bearing of candles is
+done in memory of Christ the spiritual light, whom Simeon did
+prophesy, as it is read in the Church on that day.&quot; Christmas
+decorations were removed from the houses; the holly, rosemary, bay,
+and mistletoe disappeared, to make room for sprigs of box, which
+remained until Easter brought in the yew. Our ancestors were very
+fond of bonfires, and on the 3rd of this month, St. Blaize's Day,<a name="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4"><sup>[4]</sup></a>
+the red flames might be seen darting up from every hilltop. But why
+they should do this on that day is not evident, except that the good
+Bishop's name sounded something like <i>blaze</i>, and perhaps that
+was quite a sufficient reason! And why the day of St. Valentine should
+have been selected for the drawing lots for sweethearts, and for the
+sending affectionate greetings, is another mystery. St. Valentine
+was a priest and martyr in Italy in the third century, and had<span class="pagenum"><a name="page019" id="page019"></a>[pg 019]</span>
+nothing to do with the popular commemoration of the day.</p>
+
+<p>Now we come to the diversions of Shrove-tide,<a name="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> which immediately
+precedes the Lenten Fast. The Monday before Ash Wednesday was called
+Collop Monday in the north, because slices of bacon (or collops)
+were the recognized dish for dinner. But on Tuesday the chief
+amusements began; the bells were rung, pancakes tossed with great
+solemnity, and devoured with great satisfaction, as an old writer,
+who did not approve of so much feasting, tells us&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;In every house are shouts and cries, and mirth and revel rout,<br /></span>
+<span>And dainty tables spread, and all beset with guests about.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He further describes this old English carnival, which must have
+rivalled any that we read of on the Continent&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Some run about the streets attired like monks, and some like kings <br /></span>
+<span>Accompanied with pomp, and guard, and other stately things.<br /></span>
+<span>Some like wild beasts do run abroad in skins that divers be<br /></span>
+<span>Arrayed, and eke with loathsome shapes, that dreadful are to see,<br /></span>
+<span>They counterfeit both bears and wolves, and lions fierce in sight, <br /></span>
+<span>And raging bulls; some play the cranes, with wings and stilts upright.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page020" id="page020"></a>[pg 020]</span>
+<p>But the great game for Shrove Tuesday was our time-honoured
+football, which has survived so many of the ancient pastimes of our
+land, and may be considered the oldest of all our English national
+sports. The play might not be quite so scientific as that played by
+our modern athletes, but, from the descriptions that have come down
+to us, it was no less vigorous. &quot;After dinner&quot; (says an old writer)
+&quot;all the youths go into the fields to play at the ball. The ancient
+and worthy men of the city come forth on horseback to see the sport
+of the young men, and to take part of the pleasure in beholding
+their agility.&quot; There are some exciting descriptions of old football
+matches; and we read of some very fierce contests at Derby, which
+was renowned for the game. In the seventeenth century it was played
+in the streets of London, much to the annoyance of the inhabitants,
+who had to protect their windows with hurdles and bushes. At
+Bromfield, in Cumberland, the annual contest on Shrove Tuesday was
+keenly fought. Sides having been chosen, the football was thrown
+down in the churchyard, and the house of the captain of each side
+was the goal. Sometimes the distance was two or three miles, and
+each step was keenly disputed. He was a proud man at Bromfield who
+succeeded in reaching the goal with the ball, which he received as
+his guerdon. How the villagers used to talk over the exploits of the
+day, and recount their triumphs of former years with quite as much
+satisfaction as their <span class="pagenum"><a name="page021" id="page021"></a>[pg 021]</span>ancestors enjoyed in relating their feats in
+the border wars! </p>
+
+<p>The Scots were famous formerly, as they now are, for prowess in the
+game, and the account of the Shrove Tuesday match between the
+married and single men at Scone, in Perthshire, reads very like a
+description of a modern Rugby contest. At Inverness the women also
+played, the married against the unmarried, when the former were
+always victorious. King James I., who was a great patron of sports,
+did not approve of his son Henry being a football player. He wrote
+that a young man ought to have a &quot;moderate practice of running,
+leaping, wrestling, fencing, dancing, and playing at the caitch, or
+tennis, bowls, archery, pall-mall, and riding; and in foul or stormy
+weather, cards and backgammon, dice, chess, and billiards,&quot; but
+football was too rough a game for his Majesty, and &quot;meeter for
+laming than making able.&quot; Stubbs also speaks of it as a &quot;bloody and
+murthering practice, rather than a fellowly sport or pastime.&quot; From
+the descriptions of the old games, it seems to have been very
+painful work for the shins, and there were no rules to prevent
+hacking and tripping in those days.</p>
+
+<p>Football has never been the spoilt child of English pastimes, but
+has lived on in spite of royal proclamations and the protests of
+peace-loving citizens who objected to the noise, rough play, and
+other vagaries of the early votaries of the game. Edward II. and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page022" id="page022"></a>[pg 022]</span>
+succeeding monarchs regarded it as a &quot;useless and idle sport,&quot; which
+interfered with the practice of archery, and therefore ought to be
+shunned by all loyal subjects. The violence displayed at the
+matches is evident from the records which have come down to us, and
+from the opinions of several writers who condemn it severely. Free
+fights, broken limbs, and deaths often resulted from old football
+encounters; and when the games took place in the streets, lines of
+broken windows marked the progress of the players. &quot;A bloody and
+murdering practice,&quot; &quot;a devilish pastime,&quot; involving &quot;beastly fury
+and extreme violence,&quot; the breaking of necks, arms, legs and
+backs&mdash;these were some of the descriptions of the football of olden
+times. The Puritans set their faces against it, and the sport
+languished for a long period as a general pastime. In some places it
+was still practised with unwonted vigour, but it was not until the
+second half of the present century that any revival took place. But
+football players have quickly made up for lost time; few villages do
+not possess their club, and our young men are ready to &quot;Try it out
+at football by the shins,&quot; with quite as much readiness as the
+players in the good old days, although the play is generally less
+violent, and more scientific.</p>
+
+<p>Hurling, too, was a fast and furious game, very similar to our game
+of hockey, and played with sticks and a ball. Two neighbouring
+parishes used to compete, and the object was to drive the ball from
+some central <span class="pagenum"><a name="page023" id="page023"></a>[pg 023]</span>spot to one, or other, village. The contest was keen
+and exciting; a ball was driven backwards and forwards, over hills,
+dales, hedges, and ditches, through bushes, briars, mires, plashes,
+and rivers, until at length the wished-for goal was gained.
+Battledore and shuttlecock were favourite games for the girls, which
+they played singing quaint rhymes&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Great A, little A;<br /></span>
+<span>This is pancake day!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and the men also indulged in tip-cat, or billet.</p>
+
+<p>There is one other custom, of a most barbarous and cruel
+description, which was practised on Shrove Tuesday by our
+forefathers, and which happily has perished,<a name="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> and that was
+throwing at cocks or hens with sticks. The poor bird was tied by the
+leg, and its tormentors stood twenty-two yards distant and had three
+throws each for twopence, winning the bird if they could knock it
+down. The cock was trained beforehand to avoid the sticks, so as to
+win more money for its brutal master. Well might a learned foreigner
+remark, &quot;The English eat a certain cake on Shrove Tuesday, upon
+which they immediately run mad, and kill their poor cocks.&quot;
+Cock-fighting was a favourite amusement on Shrove Tuesday, as well
+as at other times. This shameful and barbarous practice was
+continued until the eighteenth century; some of our kings took
+delight in it, and in the old grammar <span class="pagenum"><a name="page024" id="page024"></a>[pg 024]</span>schools in the North of
+England it was sanctioned by the masters, who received from their
+scholars a small tax called &quot;cock-fight dues.&quot; Happily, with
+bull-baiting, bear-baiting, dog-fighting, and the like, this cruel
+and brutal pastime has ceased to exist. If we have lost some of the
+simple joys and cheerful light-heartedness of our forefathers, we
+have also happily lost some of their cruel disregard for the
+sufferings of animals, and abandoned such barbarous amusements as I
+have tried to describe. But the old sports of England were not all
+like these; the archery, running, leaping, wrestling, football, and
+other games in which our ancestors delighted, made the young men of
+England a manly and a sturdy race, and our nation mainly owes its
+greatness to the courage, manliness, and daring of her sons.</p>
+
+<p>But Ash Wednesday has dawned, and all is still in town and village.
+The Shrove-tide feast is ended, and the days of fasting and of
+prayer have hushed the sounds of merriment and song.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/024.jpg" name="fig024" id="fig024">
+<img  src="images/024-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page025" id="page025"></a>[pg 025]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/025.jpg" name="fig025" id="fig025">
+<img  src="images/025-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>MARCH.</h3>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;And now a solemn fast we keep,<br /></span>
+<span>When earth wakes from her winter sleep.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;And he was clad in cote and hode of grene;<br /></span>
+<span>A shefe of pecocke arrowes bryght and shene<br /></span>
+<span>Under his belt he bare ful thriftely,<br /></span>
+<span>Well could he dresse his tackle yomanly;<br /></span>
+<span>His arrowes drouped not with fethers lowe,<br /></span>
+<span>And in hande he bare a myghty bowe.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Archery&mdash;Lent&mdash;&quot;Mothering&quot; Sunday&mdash;Palm Sunday&mdash;
+&quot;Shere&quot; Thursday&mdash;Watching the Sepulchre.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterO.png" name="fig025o" id="fig025o"><img  src="images/LetterO-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter O" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">F all the sports and pastimes of old England, archery was the most
+renowned, and many a hard-fought victory has been gained through the
+skill which our English archers acquired in the use of their famous
+bows. &quot;Alas, alas for Scotland when English arrows fly!&quot; was the sad
+lament of many a Highland clan, and Frenchmen often learnt to their
+cost the force of our bowmen's arms. The accounts of the fights of
+Cre&ccedil;y and Poitiers tell of the prowess of our archers; <span class="pagenum"><a name="page026" id="page026"></a>[pg 026]</span>and the skill
+which they acquired by practising at the butts at home has gained
+many a victory. Archery was so useful in war that several royal
+proclamations <span class="pagenum"><a name="page027" id="page027"></a>[pg 027]</span>were issued to encourage the sport, and in many
+parishes there were fields set apart for the men to practise.
+Although the sport has died out as a popular pastime, the old name,
+the butts, remains in many a town and village, recording the spot
+where our forefathers acquired their famous skill. The name is still
+retained in the neighbouring town of Reading, and in some old
+records I find that in 1549 a certain &quot;Will'm Watlynton received
+xxxvi<i>s</i>. for making of the butts;&quot; and there are several items
+of charges in other years for repairing and renewing the same.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/026.jpg" name="fig026" id="fig026">
+<img  src="images/026-thumb.jpg"
+alt="TWO ARCHERS WEARING MILITARY ARMOR." /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>Edward III. ordered &quot;that every one strong in body, at leisure on
+holidays, should use in their recreation bows and arrows, and learn
+and exercise the art of shooting, forsaking such vain plays as
+throwing stones, handball, football, bandyball, or cock-fighting,
+which have no profit in them.&quot; Edward IV. ordered every Englishman,
+of whatever rank, to have a bow his own height always ready for use,
+and to instruct his children in the art. In every township the butts
+were ordered to be set up, and the people were required to shoot &quot;up
+and down&quot; every Sunday and feast-day, under penalty of one
+halfpenny.</p>
+
+<p>The sport began to decline in the sixteenth century, in spite of
+royal proclamations and occasional revivals. Henry VIII. forbade the
+use of the cross-bow, lest it should interfere with the practice of
+the more ancient weapon, and many old writers lament over the decay
+of this famous pastime of old England, which, as <span class="pagenum"><a name="page028" id="page028"></a>[pg 028]</span>Bishop Latimer
+stated in one of his sermons, &quot;is a goodly art, a wholesome kind of
+exercise, and much commended as physic.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The Finsbury archers had, in 1594, no less than one hundred and
+sixty-four targets in Finsbury Fields, set up on pillars with
+curious devices over them; but four years later Stow laments that
+&quot;by reason of closing in of common grounds, our archers, for want of
+room to shoot abroad, creep into ordinary dicing-houses and
+bowling-alleys near home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The famous Robin Hood, who lived in the reign of Richard I., was the
+king of archers. The exploits of this renowned outlaw and his merry
+men form the subject of many old ballads and romances, and the old
+oaks in Sherwood Forest could tell the tale of many an exciting
+chase after the king's deer, and of many a luckless traveller who
+had to pay dearly for the hospitality of Robin Hood and Little John.
+The ballads narrate that they could shoot an arrow a measured mile,
+but this is a flight of imagination which we can hardly follow!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;But he was an archer true and good,<br /></span>
+<span>And people called him Robin Hood;<br /></span>
+<span>Such archers as he and his men<br /></span>
+<span>Will England never see again.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page029" id="page029"></a>[pg 029]</span>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/029.jpg" name="fig029" id="fig029">
+<img  src="images/029-thumb.jpg"
+alt="CROSS-BOW SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS." /></a>
+<h5>CROSS-BOW SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS (from MS. dated 1496).</h5>
+</div>
+
+<p>Another ballad relates the prowess of William of Cloudslee, who
+scorned to shoot at an ordinary target, and cutting a hazel rod from
+a tree, he shot at it from twenty score paces, cleaving the rod in
+two.</p>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page030" id="page030"></a>[pg 030]</span>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/030.jpg" name="fig030" id="fig030">
+<img  src="images/030-thumb.jpg"
+alt="A SINGLE ARCHER." /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>Like William Tell of great renown, our English archer could split an
+apple placed on his son's head at the distance of six score paces. </p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page031" id="page031"></a>[pg 031]</span>
+<p>In time of war the archers were armed with a body-armour, the arms
+being left free. They had a long bow made of yew, a sheaf of arrows
+winged with gray goose-feathers, a sword, and small shield. Such was
+the appearance of the men who struck such terror among the knights
+and chivalry of France, and won many victories for England before
+the days of muskets and rifles.</p>
+
+<p>We are now in the season of Lent, and our towns and villages were
+very still and quiet during these weeks. But there was an old custom
+on Refreshment<a name="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> or Mid-Lent Sunday for people to visit their
+mother-church and make offerings on the altar. Hence probably arose
+the practice of &quot;mothering,&quot; or going to visit parents on that day,
+and taking presents to them. Herrick alludes to this pleasant custom
+in the following lines&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;I'll to thee a simnell bring,<br /></span>
+<span>'Gainst thou go'st a mothering;<br /></span>
+<span>So that when she blesseth thee,<br /></span>
+<span>Half that blessing thou'lt give me.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Many a mother's heart would rejoice to welcome to the old village
+home once again some fond youth or maiden who had gone to seek their
+fortunes in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page032" id="page032"></a>[pg 032]</span>town, and many happy recollections would long linger
+of &quot;Mothering&quot; Sunday. The cakes alluded to in the above verse,
+which children presented to their parents on these occasions, were
+called Simnells. In some parts of England&mdash;in Lancashire,
+Shropshire, and Herefordshire&mdash;these cakes are still eaten on
+Mid-Lent Sunday. Possibly they had some religious signification, for
+the Saxons were in habit of eating consecrated cakes at their
+festivals. The name Simnell is derived from a Latin word signifying
+fine flour, and not from the mythical persons, Simon and Nell, who
+are popularly supposed to have invented the cake. Hot cross buns are
+a relic of an ancient rite of the Saxons, who ate cakes in honour of
+the goddess of spring, and the early Christian missionaries strove
+to banish the heathen ideas associated with the cakes (which latter
+the people would not abandon) by putting a cross upon them.</p>
+
+<p>In memory of our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the
+people took branches of palm-trees and scattered them in the way, on
+Palm Sunday our ancestors went in procession through the town or
+village, bearing branches of willow, yew, or box (as there were no
+palms growing in this country), which were subsequently carried to
+the church and offered at the altar. This custom lingered on after
+the Reformation, and until recent times the practice of going
+a-palming, or gathering branches of willow, on the Saturday before
+Palm Sunday, has continued. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page033" id="page033"></a>[pg 033]</span>Sometimes in medi&aelig;val times a wooden
+figure representing our Saviour riding upon an ass was drawn along
+by the crowds in the procession, and the people scattered their
+willow branches before the figure as it passed.</p>
+
+<p>Thursday before Easter Day was called Shere, or Maundy, Thursday.
+The first name is derived from the ancient custom of <i>shering</i> the
+head and clipping the beard on that day; and Maundy is a corruption
+of the Latin word <i>mandatum</i>, which means &quot;a command,&quot; and refers to
+the command of our Lord to imitate His example in the humility which
+He showed in washing the feet of His disciples. In memory of His
+lowly act the kings and queens of England used to wash the feet of a
+large number of poor men and women, and bestowed upon them gifts and
+money. This practice was continued until the reign of James II., and
+in our own day the Queen presents to a certain number of poor people
+bags of silver pennies, called Maundy money, which is coined for
+that special purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Many of my readers are familiar with the rhyme concerning &quot;Hot cross
+buns,&quot; but perhaps they are not acquainted with the superstition
+which our forefathers attached to them. A writer on Cornish customs
+says: &quot;In some of our farmhouses the Good Friday cake may be seen
+hanging to the bacon-rack, slowly but surely diminishing, until the
+return of the season replaces it by a fresh one. It is of sovereign
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page034" id="page034"></a>[pg 034]</span>good in all manner of diseases that may afflict the family, or
+flocks and herds. I have seen a little of this cake grated into a
+warm mash for a sick cow.&quot; Hot cross buns were supposed to have
+great power in preserving friendship. If two friends broke a bun in
+half exactly at the cross, while standing within the church-doors on
+Good Friday morning before service, and saying the words&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Half for you, and half for me,<br /></span>
+<span>Between us two good-will shall be. Amen,&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>then, so long as they kept their halves, no quarrel would arise
+between them. In the West of England it was considered very sinful
+to work on Good Friday, and woe betide the luckless housewife who
+did her washing on that day, for one of the family, it was believed,
+would surely die before the end of the year. There are many other
+superstitions attached to the day, such as the preserving of eggs
+laid on Good Friday, which were supposed to have power to extinguish
+fire; the making of cramp-rings out of the handles of coffins, which
+rings were blessed by the King of England as he crept on his knees
+to the cross, and were supposed to be preservatives against cramp.</p>
+
+<p>In old churchwardens' account-books we find such entries as the
+following&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;To the sextin for watching the sepulture two nyghts viii<i>d</i>.&quot;<br />
+<br />
+&quot;Paide to Roger Brock for watching of the sepulchre 8<i>d</i>.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page035" id="page035"></a>[pg 035]</span>
+<p>And as the nights were cold we find an additional item&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Paid more to said Roger Brock for syses and colles, 3<i>d.</i>&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>These entries allude to the ancient custom of erecting on Good
+Friday a small building to represent the Holy Sepulchre, and setting
+a person to watch for two nights in remembrance of the soldiers
+watching the grave in which our Lord's Body was laid. At the dawning
+of the Easter morn the bells rang joyously, and all was life and
+animation. The sun itself was popularly supposed to dance with joy
+on the Feast of the Resurrection. But the manners and customs,
+sports and pastimes, which were associated with Easter, I will
+reserve for my next chapter.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/035.png" name="fig035" id="fig035">
+<img  src="images/035-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page036" id="page036"></a>[pg 036]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/036.png" name="fig036" id="fig036">
+<img  src="images/036-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h4>APRIL.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;The spring clad all in gladness<br /></span>
+<span>Doth laugh at winter's sadness;<br /></span>
+<span>And to the bagpipe's sound<br /></span>
+<span>The nymphs tread out their ground.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Fie then, why sit we musing,<br /></span>
+<span>Youth's sweet delight refusing;<br /></span>
+<span>Say dainty nymphs, and speak:<br /></span>
+<span>Shall we play barley-breake?&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i9"><i>Old Ballad</i> (A.D. 1603).<br /></span>
+</div></div >
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Easter Customs&mdash;Pace Eggs&mdash;Handball in Churches&mdash;Sports
+confined to Special Localities&mdash;Stoolball and Barley-brake
+&mdash;Water Tournament&mdash;Quintain&mdash;Chester Sports&mdash;Hock-tide.
+</h4>
+
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterF.png" name="fig036f" id="fig036f">
+<img  src="images/LetterF-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter F" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">ROM the earliest days of Christianity Easter has always been
+celebrated with the greatest joy, and accounted the Queen of
+Festivals. Many curious customs are associated with this feast, some
+of which represented in a rude, primitive way the Resurrection of
+our Lord. There was an old Miracle Play which was performed at
+Easter; for we find in the churchwardens' books at<span class="pagenum"><a name="page037" id="page037"></a>[pg 037]</span>
+Kingston-upon-Thames, in the reign of Henry VIII., certain expenses
+for &quot;a skin of parchment and gunpowder for the play on Easter Day,&quot;
+for a player's coat, stage, and &quot;other things belonging to the
+play.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then there was the custom in the North of England of &quot;lifting&quot; or
+&quot;heaving,&quot; which was originally designed to represent our Saviour's
+Resurrection. On Easter Monday the men used to lift the women, whom
+they met, thrice above their heads into the air, and the women
+responded on Easter Tuesday, and lifted the men. This custom
+prevailed also in North Wales, Warwickshire, and Shropshire.</p>
+
+<p>The Pace Eggs, or <i>Pasche</i>, or <i>Paschal</i> Eggs, were originally
+intended to show forth the same truth, as the egg retaining the
+elements of future life was used as an emblem of the Resurrection.
+These Pace eggs were dyed, decorated with pretty devices, and
+presented by friends to each other. In the North of England, the
+home of so many of our old customs, the practice of giving Pace eggs
+still lingers on; and we find amongst the household expenses of King
+Edward I. an item of &quot;four hundred and a half of
+eggs&mdash;eighteenpence,&quot; which were purchased on Easter Day. The prices
+current in the thirteenth century for eggs would scarcely be deemed
+sufficient by our modern poultry-keepers!</p>
+
+<p>The decoration of churches and houses with flowers just risen from
+their winter sleep, the practice of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page038" id="page038"></a>[pg 038]</span>always wearing some part of the
+dress new on Easter Day, all seem to have had their origin in the
+holy lessons which cluster round the festival of the resurrection.
+An old writer tells us that it was the custom in some churches for
+the clergy to play at handball at this season; even bishops and
+archbishops took part in the pastime; but why they should profane
+God's house in this way we are at a loss to discover. The reward of
+the victors was a tansy-cake, so called from the bitter herb tansy,
+which was supposed to be beneficial after eating so much fish during
+Lent. Of the various kinds of games with balls I propose to treat in
+another chapter.</p>
+
+<p>At Easter there were numerous sports in vogue in different parts of
+the country. In olden times almost every county had its peculiar
+sport, which was regarded as a monopoly of that district. People did
+not work so hard in those days, and seem to have had more time and
+energy for ancient pastimes. Many of these old games have entirely
+vanished; others have left their old neighbourhoods, and received a
+hearty welcome all over the country. Berkshire and Somersetshire
+were the ancestral homes of cudgel-play, quarter-staff, and
+single-stick. Skating and pole-leaping were the characteristic
+sports of the fen country. Kent and Sussex were famous for their
+cricket; the northern counties for their football. Scotland rejoiced
+in golf, curling, and tossing the caber; while Cumberland and
+Westmoreland, Cornwall <span class="pagenum"><a name="page039" id="page039"></a>[pg 039]</span>and Devon, were noted for their vigorous and
+active wrestlers. Curling, tossing the caber<a name="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8"><sup>[8]</sup></a>, and wrestling have
+clung to their old homes; but the other sports have wandered far
+and wide, and are no longer confined to their native counties.</p>
+
+<p>At Easter the local favourite sport was renewed with zest and
+eagerness, and almost everywhere foot-races were run, the prize of
+the conqueror being a tansy-cake. Stoolball and barley-brake were
+also favourite games in this month, as Poor Robin says in his
+<i>Almanack</i> for 1677. Barley-brake seems to have been a very merry
+game, in which the ladies took part, and of which we find some very
+bright descriptions in the writings of some old English poets. The
+only science of the pastime consisted in one couple trying with
+&quot;waiting foot and watchful eye&quot; to catch the others and bear them
+off as captives.</p>
+
+<p>An old writer thus describes a water tournament, which seems to have
+been a popular pastime among the youths of London at Easter&mdash;&quot;They
+fight battels on the water. A shield is hanged upon a pole (this is
+a kind of quintain) fixed in the midst of the stream. A boat is
+prepared without oars, to be carried by the violence of the water,
+and in the fore-part thereof standeth a young man ready to give<span class="pagenum"><a name="page040" id="page040"></a>[pg 040]</span>
+charge upon the shield with his lance. If so be he break his lance
+against the shield, and do not fall, he is thought to have performed
+a worthy deed. If so be that, without breaking his lance, he
+runneth strongly against the shield, down he falleth into the water,
+for the boat is violently tossed with the tide; but on each side of
+the shield ride two boats furnished with young men, which recover
+him that falleth as soon as they may. Upon the bridge, wharves, and
+houses by the river-side, stand great numbers to see and laugh
+thereat.&quot; Stow thus describes the water tournament&mdash;&quot;I have seen
+also in the summer season, upon the river Thames, some rowed in
+wherries, with staves in their hands, flat at the fore-end, running
+one against the other; and for the most part, one or both of them
+were overthrown and well ducked.&quot; This sport on the water was a
+variety of the famous quintain, which was itself derived from the
+jousts or tournaments, only, instead of a human adversary, the
+knight or squire, riding on a horse, charged a shield or wooden
+figure attached to a piece of wood, which easily turned round upon
+the top of a post. At the other end of the wood was a heavy bag of
+sand, which, when the rider struck the shield with his lance, swung
+round and struck him with great force on the back if he did not ride
+fast and so escape his ponderous foe. There were other forms of this
+sport, which is so ancient that its origin has been lost in
+antiquity. Queen Elizabeth was very much <span class="pagenum"><a name="page041" id="page041"></a>[pg 041]</span>amused at Kenilworth Castle
+by the hard knocks which the inexpert riders received from the
+rotating sand-bag when they charged &quot;a comely quintane&quot; in her
+royal presence in the year 1575.</p>
+
+<p>A handsome quintain still stands on Offham village green, in Kent,
+although it is no longer used for the skilful practice of former
+days. It is the custom to hoist married men, who are not blest with
+children, on the quintain, which is made to revolve rapidly.
+Sometimes discontented and disobedient wives share the same fate.</p>
+
+<p>Chester was famous for its Easter sports, when the mayor with his
+mace, the corporation with twenty guilds, marched to the Rood-eye,
+to play at football. But &quot;inasmuch as great strife did arise among
+the young persons of the same city&quot; on account of the game, a change
+was made in the reign of Henry VIII., and foot-races and horse-races
+were substituted for the time-honoured football, and an arrow of
+silver was given to the best archer.</p>
+
+<p>But Easter sports are almost finished: however, we have not long to
+wait for another popular anniversary; for the famous Hock-tide
+sports always took place a fortnight after Easter, and much
+amusement, and profit also, were derived from the quaint observances
+of Hock Monday and Tuesday. The meaning of the word and the origin
+of the custom have been the subjects of much conjecture; but the
+festival is supposed to be held in remembrance of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page042" id="page042"></a>[pg 042]</span>victory of our
+Saxon forefathers over the Danes in the time of Ethelred. The custom
+was that on Hock Monday the men should go out into the streets and
+roads with cords, and stop and bind all the women they met,
+releasing them on payment of a small ransom. On the following day
+the women bound the men, and the proceeds were devoted to charitable
+purposes. It is to be noted that the women always extracted the most
+money, and in the old churchwardens' accounts we find frequent
+records of this strange method of collecting subscriptions&mdash;<i>e.g.</i>,
+St. Lawrence's, Reading, A.D. 1499:&mdash;&quot;Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd&quot; (gathered) &quot;of women xx<i>s</i>. Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd of men iiij<i>s</i>.&quot; We also find that the women had a supper
+given to them as a reward for their exertions, for there is the
+&quot;item for wives' supper at Hock-tide xxiij<i>d</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The observance of Hock-tide seems to have been particularly popular
+in the ancient town of Reading. At Coventry there was an &quot;old
+Coventry Play of Hock Tuesday,&quot; which was performed with great
+delight before Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth: the players divided
+themselves into two companies to represent the Saxons and the Danes:
+a great battle ensued, and by the help of the Saxon women the former
+were victorious, and led the Danes captive. The queen laughed much
+at the pageant, and gave the performers two bucks and five marks in
+money.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page043" id="page043"></a>[pg 043]</span>
+<p>So ends the month of sunshine and of shower; but the rustic youths
+are making ready for the morris-dance, and the merry milk-maids are
+preparing their ribbons to adorn themselves for the revels of May
+Day. The May-pole is being erected on the village green, and all is
+in readiness for the rejoicings of to-morrow.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/043.png" name="fig043" id="fig043">
+<img  src="images/043-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page044" id="page044"></a>[pg 044]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/044.jpg" name="fig044" id="fig044">
+<img  src="images/044-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h4>MAY.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Colin met Sylvia on the green<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Once on the charming first of May,<br /></span>
+<span>And shepherds ne'er tell false, I ween,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet 'twas by chance, the shepherds say.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Colin he bow'd and blush'd, then said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Will you, sweet maid, this first of May,<br /></span>
+<span>Begin the dance by Colin led,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To make this quite his holiday?'<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Sylvia replied, 'I ne'er from home<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet ventur'd, till this first of May;<br /></span>
+<span>It is not fit for maids to roam,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And make a shepherd's holiday.'<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;'It is most fit,' replied the youth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'That Sylvia should this first of May<br /></span>
+<span>By me be taught that love and truth<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Can make of life a holiday.'&quot;&mdash;<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Lady Craven.</span><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>May Day Festivities&mdash;May-pole&mdash;Morris-dancers&mdash;The Book of
+Sports&mdash;Bowling&mdash;Beating the Bounds&mdash;George Herbert's
+description of a Country Parson.
+</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterT.png" name="fig044t" id="fig044t">
+<img  src="images/LetterT-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter T" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">HE spring has dawned with all its brightness and beauty; the
+nightingale's song is heard, and all nature seems to rejoice in the
+sweet spring-time. Our forefathers delighted, too, in the advent of
+the bright month of May, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page045" id="page045"></a>[pg 045]</span>which the old poets used to compare to a
+maiden clothed in sunshine dancing to the music of birds and brooks;
+and May Day was the great rural festival of the year.</p>
+
+<p>Long before the break of day, men and women, old and young, of all
+classes, used to assemble and hurry away to the woods and groves to
+gather the blooming hawthorn and spring flowers, and laden with
+their spoils returned when the sun rose, with merry shouts and
+horn-blowings, and adorned every door and window in the village. The
+poet Herrick sings of this pleasant beginning to the day's
+festivities. Addressing a maiden named Corinna, he says&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Come, my Corinna, come, and coming mark<br /></span>
+<span>How each field turns a street, and each street a park,<br /></span>
+<span>Made green and trimmed with trees; see how<br /></span>
+<span>Devotion gives each house a bough<br /></span>
+<span>Or branch; each porch, each door, ere this<br /></span>
+<span>An ark, a tabernacle is<br /></span>
+<span>Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The men blew cow-horns to usher in the spring, and the maids carried
+garlands to hang them in the churches; while at Oxford the
+choristers of Magdalen College assemble at the top of the tower at
+early dawn, and sing hymns of thankfulness because spring has come
+again. This pleasing custom is still observed every year on the
+first of May.</p>
+
+<p>But let us away to the village green, where the May-pole is being
+adorned with a few finishing <span class="pagenum"><a name="page046" id="page046"></a>[pg 046]</span>touches, and is covered with flowers
+and ribbons. It has been carried here by twenty or thirty yoke of
+oxen, their horns decorated with sweet flowers, and then, with
+shouts and laughter, and with song, the young men raise the massive
+pole with handkerchiefs and flags streaming on the top, and the
+rustic feast and dance begin.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">&quot;The May-pole is up,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Now give me the cup,<br /></span>
+<span>I'll drink to the garlands around it;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But first unto those<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whose hands did compose<br /></span>
+<span>The glory of flowers that crown'd it.&quot;<a name="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9"><sup>[9]</sup></a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>A company of morris-dancers approach, and a circle is made round the
+May-pole in which they can perform. First comes a man dressed in a
+green tunic, with a bow, arrows, and bugle-horn, who represents
+Robin Hood, and by his side, attended by some maidens, walks Maid
+Marian, the May Queen.<a name="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> Will Stukeley, Little John, and other
+companions of the famous outlaw, are represented; and last, but not
+least, comes the hobby-horse&mdash;a man with a light wooden framework
+representing a horse about him, covered with trappings reaching to
+the ground, so as to prevent the man's feet from being seen. The
+hobby-horse careered about, pranced and curveted, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page047" id="page047"></a>[pg 047]</span>to the great
+amusement of the company. The morris-dancers are adorned with bells,
+which jingle merrily as they dance. But a formidable-looking dragon
+approaches, which hisses and flaps his wings, and looks very fierce,
+making the hobby-horse kick and rear frantically. When the animals
+have wearied themselves, the maidens dance again, and the archers
+set up their targets on the lower end of the green, where a close
+contest ensues, and after many shots the victor is crowned with a
+laurel wreath.</p>
+
+<p>Such were some of the sights and sounds of May Day in olden times.
+But the Puritans, who slew their king, Charles I., were very much
+opposed to all joyousness and mirth, and one of their first acts
+when they came into power was to put down the May-pole. They ordered
+that all May-poles (which they called &quot;a heathenish vanity,
+generally abused to superstition and wickedness&quot;) shall be taken
+down by the constables and churchwardens, and that the said officers
+be fined five shillings till the said May-poles be taken down. So
+the merry May songs were hushed for many a long year, until Charles
+II. was restored to his throne, and then the stately pole was reared
+once more, and Robin Hood and his merry crew began their sports
+again. But times change, and we change with them: customs pass away,
+and with them have long vanished the May-pole and its bright group
+of light-hearted rustics. An American writer who visited this
+country thus describes his <span class="pagenum"><a name="page048" id="page048"></a>[pg 048]</span>feeling when he saw an old May-pole still
+standing at Chester&mdash;&quot;I shall never forget my delight. My fancy
+adorned it with wreaths of flowers, and peopled the green bank with
+all the dancing revelry of May Day. I value every custom that tends
+to infuse poetical feeling into the common people, and to sweeten
+and soften the rudeness of rustic manners without destroying their
+simplicity. Indeed, it is to the decline of this happy simplicity
+that the decline of this custom may be traced, and the rural dance
+on the green, and the homely May-day pageant, have gradually
+disappeared in proportion as the peasantry have become expensive and
+artificial in their pleasures, and too knowing for simple enjoyment.
+Some attempts, indeed, have been made by men of both taste and
+learning to rally back the popular feeling to their standards of
+primitive simplicity; but the time has gone by, the feeling has
+become chilled by habits of gain and traffic, the country apes the
+manners and amusements of the town, and little is heard of May Day
+at present, except from the lamentations of authors, who sigh after
+it from among the brick walls of the city.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The name of the parish of St. Andrew <i>Undershaft</i> records the place
+where the city May-pole, or <i>shaft,</i> was erected, and <i>Shaft Alley</i>
+the place where it lay when it was not required for use.</p>
+
+<p>The proclamation of James I., called the &quot;Book of Sports,&quot; which was
+renewed by King Charles I., <span class="pagenum"><a name="page049" id="page049"></a>[pg 049]</span>throws some light upon the sports in
+vogue during his reign. It was enacted &quot;for his good people's lawful
+recreation, after the end of Divine service, that his good people
+be not disturbed, or discouraged, from any lawful recreation, such
+as dancing for men and women, archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or
+any such harmless recreations; nor from having May games, Whitsun
+ales, and morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles, and other
+sports therewith used, so as the same be had in due and convenient
+time, without impediment or neglect of Divine service. And that
+women shall have leave to carry rushes to the church for the
+decorating of it, according to their old custom. But withal his
+Majesty doth hereby account still as prohibited all unlawful games
+to be used on Sundays only, as bear and bull-baiting, interludes,
+and at all times in the meaner sort of people by law prohibited,
+bowling.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Why his Majesty should have been so very severe on the game of
+bowls, which is a very ancient pastime, and innocent enough, is not
+at first quite clear; but it appears that the numerous
+bowling-alleys in London were, in the sixteenth century, the resorts
+of very bad company, and the nests of gambling and vice. Hence the
+severity of King James' strictures on bowling.</p>
+
+<p>The people of Lancashire in the time of James I. were as devoted to
+sports and amusement as they are now; and when the king was making a
+progress <span class="pagenum"><a name="page050" id="page050"></a>[pg 050]</span>through Lancashire, &quot;he received a petition from some
+servants, labourers, mechanics, and other vulgar persons,
+complaining that they were debarred from dancing, playing,
+church-ales&mdash;in a word, from all recreations on Sundays after Divine
+service.&quot; King James hated Puritanism and loved recreation; so he
+readily granted the petition of the Lancashire folk, and issued a
+proclamation encouraging Sunday pastimes, which is known as the
+famous &quot;Book of Sports.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In Ireland on May Day Bale-fires are lighted, and to this day young
+men jump through the flames, and children are passed across the
+embers, in order to secure them good luck during the coming year. On
+this day, too, the Irish kings are supposed to rise from their
+graves and gather together a ghostly army of rude warriors to fight
+for their country. The wild cries of the shadowy host, the clashing
+of shields, and the sound of drums are said to have been heard
+during the period of the last rebellion in Ireland.</p>
+
+<p>On one of the Rogation Days, or on Ascension Day, it was the custom
+to go in procession round the boundaries of the parish to ask God's
+blessing on the fruits of the earth, and as there were few maps and
+divisions of land, to call to mind and pass on to the next
+generation the boundaries of the township or village. The choir sang
+hymns, and under certain trees, which were called Gospel Trees, the
+clergyman read the Gospel for the day, with a litany and prayers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page051" id="page051"></a>[pg 051]</span>
+Sometimes boys were whipped, or bumped against trees, or thrown into
+a river, in order to impress upon them where the boundaries were.
+But they received a substantial recompense afterwards, and the
+whole company, when the procession was over, sat down to the
+perambulation dinner, and talked about their recollections of former
+days.</p>
+
+<p>The advantages of this practice are set forth in George Herbert's
+description of a country parson. He says, &quot;The country parson is a
+lover of old customs, if they be good and harmless. Particularly he
+loves procession, and maintains it, because there are contained in
+it four manifest advantages, 1. A blessing of God for the fruits of
+the earth. 2. Justice in the preservation of bounds. 3. Charity, in
+loving, walking, and neighbourly accompanying one another, with
+reconciling of differences at that time, if there be any. 4. Mercy,
+in relieving the poor by a liberal distribution and largess, which
+at that time is, or ought to be, used. Wherefore he exacts of all to
+be present at the perambulation, and those that withdraw and sever
+themselves from it he mislikes, and rebukes as uncharitable and
+unneighbourly; and if they will not reform, presents them&quot; (<i>i.e.</i>
+to the bishop for censure).</p>
+
+<p>This custom is still preserved, or has been revived, in many
+parishes, and at Oxford the boys may be seen on Ascension Day
+bearing white willow-wands, and beating the bounds of some of the
+old city parishes.</p>
+
+<hr  />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page052" id="page052"></a>[pg 052]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/052.jpg" name="fig052" id="fig052">
+<img  src="images/052-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h4>JUNE.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i3">&quot;The woods, or some near town<br /></span>
+<span>That is a neighbour to the bordering down,<br /></span>
+<span>Hath drawn them thither, 'bout some lusty sport,<br /></span>
+<span>Or spiced wassel-bowl, to which resort<br /></span>
+<span>All the young men and maids of many a cote,<br /></span>
+<span>Whilst the trim minstrell strikes his merry note.&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i7"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Fletcher</span>, <i>The Faithful Shepherdess</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Whitsuntide Sports&mdash;Church-ales&mdash;Church-house&mdash;Quarter-staff
+&mdash;Whistling and Jingling Matches&mdash;St. John's Eve&mdash;Wrestling.
+</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterA.png" name="fig052a" id="fig052a">
+<img  src="images/LetterA-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter A" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">FTER May Day our villagers had not long to wait until the
+Whitsuntide holiday came round. This holiday was notorious for the
+&quot;Church-ales,&quot; which were held at this season. These feasts were a
+means of raising money for charitable purposes. If the church needed
+a new roof, or some poor people were in sad straits, the villagers
+would decide to have a &quot;Church-ale&quot;; generally four times a year the
+feast was given, and always at Whitsuntide. The churchwardens
+bought, and received presents of, a large quantity of malt, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page053" id="page053"></a>[pg 053]</span>
+they brewed into beer, and sold to the company, and any inhabitant
+of the parish who did not attend had to pay a fine. Every one who
+was able contributed something to the entertainment. The feast was
+held in the church-house, a building which stood near the church.
+This was the scene of many social gatherings, and is thus described
+by an old writer&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="note"><p>&quot;In every parish was a church-house, to which belonged
+     spits, crocks, and other utensils for dressing provisions.
+     Here the housekeepers met. The young people were there,
+     too, and had dancing, bowling, shooting at butts, &amp;c., the
+     ancients (<i>i.e.</i> the old folk) sitting gravely by and
+     looking on. All things were civil, and without scandal.
+     The church-ale is, doubtless, derived from the Agapai or
+     Love Feasts, mentioned in the New Testament.&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>Whether the learned writer was right in his conjecture we cannot be
+quite certain, but church-ales subsequently degenerated into
+something quite different from New Testament injunctions, and were
+altogether prohibited on account of the excess to which they gave
+rise. Let us hope that all these feasts were not so bad as they were
+represented, and indeed in early times great reverence was attached
+to them, which prevented excess. The neighbours, too, would come in
+from the adjoining parishes and share the feast. An arbour of boughs
+was erected in the churchyard, called Robin Hood's Bower, where the
+maidens collected money for the &quot;ales&quot; in the same <span class="pagenum"><a name="page054" id="page054"></a>[pg 054]</span>way which they
+employed at Hock-tide, and which was called &quot;Hocking.&quot; The old books
+of St. Lawrence's Church, Reading (to which I have before
+referred), contain a record of this custom&mdash;&quot;1505 A.D. Item.
+Received of the maidens' gathering at Whitsuntide by the tree at the
+church door, ij<sup>s</sup>.vi<sup>d</sup>.&quot; The morris-dancers and minstrels, the
+ballad-singers and players, were in great force on these occasions,
+and were entertained at the cost of the parish. In the
+churchwardens' account of St. Mary's, Reading, we find in the year
+1557&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="note"><p>&quot;Item&mdash;paid to Morris-dancers and the Minstrels,
+meat and drink at Whitsuntide&mdash;iii<sup>s</sup>.iiii<sup>d</sup>.&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>When the feasting had ended, archery, running races in sacks,
+grinning through a horse-collar (each competitor trying to make the
+most ludicrous grimaces), afforded amusement to the light-hearted
+spectators.</p>
+
+<p>The game of quarter-staff is an old pastime which was a great
+favourite among the rustics of Berkshire. The quarter-staff is a
+tough piece of wood about eight feet long, which the player grasped
+in the middle with one hand, while with the other he kept a loose
+hold midway between the middle and one end. The object of the game
+was, to use the forcible language of the time, to &quot;break the head&quot;
+of the opponent. On the White Horse Hill, where Alfred fought
+against the Danes, and carved out on the hill-side the White Horse
+as a memorial of his victory, many a rural sport has been played,
+and at the periodical &quot;scourings of the Horse&quot; many a Berkshire head
+broken to see who was the noted champion of the game. An old
+parishioner of mine, James of Sandhurst, was once the hero of
+quarter-staff in the early part of the century. The whistling match
+was not so dangerous a contest; the prize was conferred upon the
+whistler who could whistle clearest, and go through his tune while a
+clown, or merry-andrew, made laughable grimaces before him.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page055" id="page055"></a>[pg 055]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/055.jpg" name="fig055" id="fig055">
+<img  src="images/055-thumb.jpg"
+alt="QUARTER-STAFF." /></a>
+<h5>QUARTER-STAFF.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page056" id="page056"></a>[pg 056]</span>
+<p>Another diversion common at these country gatherings was the
+jingling match. A large circle was inclosed with ropes, in which the
+players took their place. All were blindfolded with the exception of
+one, who was the jingler, and who carried a bell in each hand, which
+he was obliged to keep ringing. His object was to elude the pursuit
+of his blinded companions, and he won the prize if he was still free
+when the play ceased. It was an amusing sight to see the men trying
+to catch the active jingler, running into each other's arms, and
+catching every one but the right one. When the jingling match was
+over, a pig with a short, well-soaped tail was turned out for the
+people to run after, and he who could hold it by the tail without
+touching any other part obtained it for his pains. There was also a
+game called Pigeon-holes, which appears to have been somewhat
+similar to our present game of bagatelle.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page057" id="page057"></a>[pg 057]</span>
+<p>And so with laughter and with song the feast ended, the evening
+shadows fell around, and the happy rustics retired to their humble
+thatched-roofed homes. The proceeds of these church-ales were often
+considerable. &quot;There were no rates for the poor in my grandfather's
+time,&quot; says one writer, &quot;the church-ale of Whitsuntide did the
+business&quot;; and whether the parishioners had to pay a tax for the
+support of the King's army, or to repair the church, or to maintain
+some orphan children, it was generally found &quot;that something still
+remained to cover the bottom of the purse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Of the &quot;mysteries,&quot; or miracle plays, as they were called, which
+were performed in towns on Corpus Christi Day and at other times, I
+propose to write in another chapter; and we will now proceed to the
+hillsides near our villages on the eve of St. John's Day, when we
+should witness the lighting of large bonfires, and some curious
+customs connected with that ceremony. Both the old and the young
+people used to sally forth from the village to some neighbouring
+height, and there, amidst much laughter and with many a shout, they
+lighted the large bonfire. Then they danced round the blazing logs,
+and afterwards leaped through the flames, and at the close of the
+ceremony each person brought away with him a burning branch. This
+rite appears to have been a relic of Paganism. Probably the fire was
+originally lighted in honour of the sun, which our forefathers
+worshipped <span class="pagenum"><a name="page058" id="page058"></a>[pg 058]</span>before they became Christians. The leaping through the
+flames had also a superstitious meaning, and the simple people
+thought that in this way they could ward off evil spirits and
+prevent sickness. The Roman shepherds used to leap through the
+Midsummer blaze in honour of Pales. The Scandinavians lit their
+bonfires in honour of their gods Odin and Thor, and the leaping
+through the flames reminds us of the worshippers of Baal and Moloch,
+who, as we read in the Bible, used to &quot;pass their children through
+the fire&quot; in awe of their cruel god. St. John's Day, or Midsummer
+Day (June 24th), was chosen because on that day the sun reaches its
+highest point in the zodiac. There is, however, another
+interpretation of the meaning of the fires on St. John's Day, as
+illustrating the verse which speaks of him &quot;as a burning and a
+shining light&quot; (St. John v. 35); but this interpretation was
+probably invented by some pious divine who endeavoured to attach a
+Christian meaning to an ancient heathen custom. The connection of
+the ceremony with the old worship of the sun is indisputable. Its
+practice was very general in nearly all European nations, and in not
+very remote times from Norway to the shores of the Mediterranean the
+glow of St. John's fires might have been seen. The Emperor
+Charlemagne in the ninth century forbade the custom as a heathen
+rite, but the Church endeavoured to win over the custom from its
+Pagan associations and to attach to it a Christian signification. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page059" id="page059"></a>[pg 059]</span>In
+the island of Jersey the older inhabitants used to light fires under
+large iron pots full of water, in which they placed silver
+articles&mdash;as spoons, mugs, &amp;c., and then knocked the silver against
+the iron with the idea of scaring away all evil spirits.<a name="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a>
+Sometimes bones were burnt in the fire, for we are told in a quaint
+homily on the Feast of St. John Baptist, that bones scared away the
+evil spirits in the air, since &quot;wise clerks know well that dragons
+hate nothing more than the stink of burning bones, and therefore the
+country folk gather as many as they might find, and burned them; and
+so with the stench thereof they drove away the dragons, and so they
+were brought out of great disease.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In some most remote northern parts of England the farmer lights a
+wisp of straw, which he carries round his fields to protect them
+from the tare and darnel, the devil and witches. In some places they
+used to cover a wheel with straw, set it on fire, and roll it down a
+hill. A learned writer on antiquities tells us that the people
+imagined that all their ill-luck rolled away from them together with
+this burning wheel. All these customs are relics of the old fire and
+sun worship, to which our forefathers were addicted. Wrestling,
+running races, and dancing were afterwards practised by the
+villagers. Wrestling is a very ancient sport, and the men of
+Cornwall and Devon, of Westmoreland and Cumberland, were famous <span class="pagenum"><a name="page060" id="page060"></a>[pg 060]</span>for
+their skill. A &quot;Cornish hug&quot; is by no means a tender embrace.
+Sometimes the people bore back to their homes boughs of trees, with
+which they adorned their doors and windows. At Oxford the
+quadrangle of Magdalen College was decorated with boughs on St.
+John's Day, and a sermon preached from the stone pulpit in the
+corner of the quadrangle; this was meant to represent the preaching
+of St. John the Baptist in the wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>At length the villagers, wearied with their exertions, retire to
+their cottage homes, marching in procession from the scene of their
+observances; and silence reigns o'er the village for a few short
+hours, till the sunlight summons them to their daily toil.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/060.png" name="fig060" id="fig060">
+<img  src="images/060-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page061" id="page061"></a>[pg 061]</span>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/061.png" name="fig061" id="fig061">
+<img  src="images/061-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h4>JULY.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Swift o'er the mead with lightning speed<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The bounding ball flies on;<br /></span>
+<span>And hark! the cries of victory rise<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For the gallant team that's won.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<h4>Cricket&mdash;Club-ball&mdash;Trap-ball&mdash;Golf&mdash;Pall-mall&mdash;Tennis&mdash;
+Rush-bearing</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterA.png" name="fig061a" id="fig061a">
+<img  src="images/LetterA-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter A" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">T this time of the year all the cricket-clubs in town and
+village
+are very busy, and matches are being played everywhere. It may not
+therefore be inappropriate if I tell you in this chapter of the
+history of that game which has become so universally popular
+wherever our countrymen live. On the plains of India, in Australia
+(as some of our English cricketers have learnt to their cost), in
+Egypt, wherever Englishmen go, there cricket finds a home and a
+hearty welcome. But it is not nearly so ancient a game as others
+which I have already mentioned, although it had some fairly old
+parents, simple and humble-minded folk, who would have been greatly
+astonished to see the extraordinary development of their precocious
+offspring.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page062" id="page062"></a>[pg 062]</span>
+<p>Kent and Sussex were the ancestral homes of cricket, which is thus
+described by an old writer&mdash;&quot;A game most usual in Kent, with a
+cricket-ball bowled and struck with two cricket-bats between two
+wickets. The name is derived from the Saxon word <i>cryc</i>, baculus, a
+bat or staff; which also signifies fulcimentum, a support or prop,
+whence a cricket or little stool to sit upon. Cricket play among the
+Saxons was also called <i>stef-plege</i> (staff-play).&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I fear that our old writer must have made a great mistake if he
+imagined that the Saxons ever played cricket, and I believe that the
+word was not known before the sixteenth century. In the records of
+Guildford we find that a dispute arose about the enclosure of a
+piece of land in the time of Elizabeth; and in the suit that arose
+one John Derrick stated in his evidence that he knew the place well
+&quot;for fifty years or more, and that when he was a scholar in the free
+school at Guildford he and several of his companions did run and
+play there at cricket and other plays.&quot; Also in Cotgrave's French
+Dictionary, published in 1611, the word <i>crosse</i> is translated &quot;a
+cricket-staff, or the crooked-staff wherewith boys play at cricket.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the eighteenth century allusions to the game become more
+frequent, although it was still a boy's game. It had its poet, who
+sang&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Hail, cricket, glorious, manly, British game,<br /></span>
+<span>First of all sports, be first alike in fame.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It had its calumniators, who said that it &quot;propagated <span class="pagenum"><a name="page063" id="page063"></a>[pg 063]</span>a spirit of
+idleness&quot; in bad times, when people ought to work and not play, and
+that it encouraged gambling. But the game began to prosper, and
+several noted men, poets and illustrious statesmen, recall the
+pleasurable memories of their prowess with the bat and ball. In a
+book of songs called <i>Pills to purge Melancholy</i>, published in 1719,
+we find the verse&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;He was the prettiest fellow<br /></span>
+<span>At football or at cricket:<br /></span>
+<span>At hunting chase or nimble race<br /></span>
+<span>How featly he could prick it.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In the early part of the eighteenth century the game was in a very
+rudimentary condition, very different from the scientific pastime it
+has since become. There were only two wickets, a foot high and two
+feet apart, with one long bail at the top. Between the wickets there
+was a hole large enough to contain the ball, and when the batsman
+made a run, he had to place the end of his bat in this hole before
+the wicket-keeper could place the ball there, otherwise he would be
+&quot;run out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The bat, too, was a curved, crooked arrangement very different from
+our present weapon. The Hambledon Club, in Hampshire, which has
+produced some famous players, seems to have been mainly instrumental
+in reforming and improving the game. Its members introduced a limit
+to the width of the bat, viz., four and a quarter inches&mdash;the
+standard still in force&mdash;in order to prevent players, such as a hero
+from <span class="pagenum"><a name="page064" id="page064"></a>[pg 064]</span>Reigate, bringing bats as wide as the wicket. In 1775 they
+wisely introduced a middle stump, as they found the best balls
+harmlessly flying between the wide wickets. It was feared lest this
+alteration would shorten the game too much, but it does not seem to
+have had that effect, as in an All England match against the
+Hambledon Club, two years later, one Aylward scored 167 runs, and
+stayed in two whole days. England owes much to the old Club at
+Hambledon for the improvements which it wrought in the game, which
+has become our great national pastime.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Mitford, in her charming book, <i>Our Village</i>, describes the
+rivalry which existed between the village elevens at the beginning
+of the nineteenth century, and gives a sketch of a match between two
+Berkshire village teams, which brought about some very happy results
+of a romantic nature. She tells us, too, of the comments of the
+rustics on the &quot;new-fashioned&quot; style of bowling which one of the
+team had introduced from London, which did not at all commend itself
+to them, but effectually took their wickets. When that celebrated
+company of cricketers, dressed in frock-coats and tall hats, whose
+portraits adorn many a pavilion, competed for the honour of All
+England, they were quite ignorant of &quot;round-arm&quot; bowling, which is,
+of course, an invention of modern times. Only &quot;lobs,&quot; or
+&quot;under-hands,&quot; were the order of the day. It has been stated that we
+are indebted to the ladies for the important discovery of the modern
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page065" id="page065"></a>[pg 065]</span>style of delivering the ball. The story may be legendary, but I have
+read somewhere that the elder Lillywhite used to practise cricket
+all through the winter, and that his daughters used to bowl to him.
+During the bitter cold of a winter's day they wore their shawls, and
+found it more convenient to bowl with extended arms than in the old
+method. Their balls so delivered used to puzzle their father, and
+often take his wicket; so he began to imitate them, and introduced
+his new method into matches, and thus the age of round-arm bowling
+was inaugurated. I cannot vouch for the truth of the story, and only
+tell it as it was told to me.<a name="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> At any rate Lillywhite was the
+father of modern bowling, which would have startled and considerably
+puzzled the veteran cricketers in the early part of the present
+century.</p>
+
+<p>The proper parent of cricket seems to have been club-ball, which is
+a very old game, and of which there is a picture in the Bodleian
+Library at Oxford, dated 1344 A.D. It represents a female throwing a
+ball to a man who is in the act of raising his bat to strike it.
+Behind the woman, at a little distance, appear several other figures
+of men and women waiting attentively to catch or stop the ball when
+hit by the batsman. There is a still more ancient picture of two
+club-ball players, representing the batsman holding the ball also
+and preparing to hit it, while the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page066" id="page066"></a>[pg 066]</span>other player holds his hands in
+readiness to catch the ball. He has the appearance of a very careful
+fielder. Here we have the rudimentary idea of cricket; but how they
+scored their game, what rules they had, we cannot determine.
+Stool-ball claims also to be an ancestor of cricket, and consists in
+one player defending a stool with his hand from being hit by a ball
+bowled by another player. Here is a simple form of the modern game,
+the stool being used as a wicket, and the hand for a bat.</p>
+
+<p>Trap-ball is a much older game than cricket, and can be traced to
+the beginning of the fourteenth century. The modern game differs
+little from that which the old pictures describe, except in the
+shape of the trap which holds the ball. But the most ancient of all
+games of this nature is golf, or goff (as it used to be spelt),
+which was played with a crooked club or staff, sometimes called a
+bandy. Scotsmen are very fond of this game, which has lately
+migrated into England and found many admirers. It was probably
+introduced into Scotland from Holland, and was a popular pastime as
+early as 1457. In spite of proclamations encouraging archery, and
+forbidding golf, it continued to flourish; it has a long list of
+royal patrons; and the Stuart monarchs seem to have been as
+enthusiastic over the game as all true golfers ought to be. Poets
+have sung the praises of golf, and the glory of the heroes who drove
+their balls along St. Andrew's Links, or those of East Neuk. The
+object of the game is to drive the ball into certain holes in the
+fewest number of strokes. James II. was an expert golfer, and had
+only one rival, an Edinburgh shoemaker, named Paterson.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page067" id="page067"></a>[pg 067]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/067.jpg" name="fig067" id="fig067">
+<img  src="images/067-thumb.jpg"
+alt="PALL-MALL." /></a>
+<h5>PALL-MALL.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page068" id="page068"></a>[pg 068]</span>
+<p>If you have visited London you will probably have walked along the
+street called Pall Mall, which name is derived from an old game
+fashionable in the reign of Charles II. The merry monarch and his
+courtiers frequently amused themselves with this game, which
+somewhat resembled golf, and consisted in driving a ball by means of
+a mallet through an iron hoop suspended from the ground in the
+fewest blows. The game was played in St. James's Park, where the
+street which bears its name now runs.</p>
+
+<p>Tennis also has a history. It commenced its career as hand-ball, the
+ball being driven backwards and forwards with the palm of the hand.
+Then the players used gloves, and afterwards bound cords round their
+hands to make the ball rebound more forcibly. Here we have the
+primitive idea of a racket. France seems to have been the original
+home of tennis, which in the thirteenth century was played in
+unenclosed spaces; but in the fourteenth it migrated to the towns,
+and walls enclosed the motions of the ball. In Paris alone there
+were said to be eighteen hundred tennis-courts. In the sixteenth
+century there were several covered tennis-courts in England, and
+some of our English monarchs were very devoted to the game. Henry
+VII. used to play tennis, and there is a record of his having lost
+twelvepence at tennis, and threepence for the loss of balls. Henry
+VIII. was also very fond of the game, and lost much money at wagers
+with certain Frenchmen; but, like a sensible man, &quot;when he perceived
+their craft he eschewed their company, and let them go.&quot; He built
+the famous court at Hampton, which still remains. Charles II. also
+played tennis. The old game is very different from the modern
+lawn-tennis which is now so popular: it was always the game of the
+select few, and not of the many, like its precocious offspring; and
+there are only thirty-one tennis-courts in England at the present
+day. The court attached to the palace of the French King Louis XVI.
+at Versailles was the scene of some very exciting meetings in the
+early days of the French Revolution in 1789.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page069" id="page069"></a>[pg 069]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/069.jpg" name="fig069" id="fig069">
+<img  src="images/069-thumb.jpg"
+alt="PALL-MALL." /></a>
+<h5>PALL-MALL.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page070" id="page070"></a>[pg 070]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/070.jpg" name="fig070" id="fig070">
+<img  src="images/070-thumb.jpg"
+alt="TENNIS." /></a>
+<h5>TENNIS.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page071" id="page071"></a>[pg 071]</span>
+<p>There were some other forms of ball-play, such as balloon-ball,
+stow-ball, &amp;c.; but of these it is hardly needful for me to speak,
+as they are only varieties of those games which I have already
+described. The history of football has been narrated in a preceding
+chapter. You will be able to trace from the descriptions of these
+old sports the ancestors of our noble game of cricket, and wonder at
+the extraordinary development of so scientific a game from such rude
+and simple beginnings.</p>
+
+<p>The floors of the houses and churches of old England consisted
+simply of the hard, dry earth, which the people covered with rushes;
+and once a year there was a great ceremony called &quot;Rush-bearing,&quot;
+when the inhabitants of each village or town went in procession to
+the church to strew the floor with newly-cut rushes. The company
+went to a neighbouring marsh and cut the rushes, binding them in
+long bundles, and decorating them with ribands and flowers. Then a
+procession was formed, every one bearing a bundle of rushes; and
+with <span class="pagenum"><a name="page072" id="page072"></a>[pg 072]</span>music, drums, and ringing of bells they marched to the church,
+and strewed the floor with their honoured burdens. Long after the
+rushes ceased to be used in churches the ceremony was continued,
+and I have witnessed a rush-bearing procession such as I have
+described. There was a rush-cart with a large pile of decorated
+rush-sheaves, and some characters from the May-day games were
+introduced. A queen sat under a canopy of rushes, a few
+morris-dancers performed their antics, and a jester amused the
+spectators with his quaint sayings. A village feast, followed by
+dancing round a May-pole, generally formed the conclusion of the
+day's festivities. In 1884 this pleasant custom was revived at
+Grasmere in the Lake district, when the children of the village
+carried out a &quot;rush-bearing&quot; after the manner of their forefathers,
+and the village green again resounded with songs of joy.</p>
+
+<p>I fear that our ancestors were not always very cleanly people; they
+seldom washed their floors, and therefore they were obliged to adopt
+some device to hide their uncleanliness. The old rushes were not
+taken away before the new ones were brought in; hence the lowest
+layer became filthy, and one writer attributes the frequent
+pestilences which often broke out to the dirtiness of their floors
+and the masses of filthy rushes lying upon them. Perhaps some of the
+wise folks in Lancashire discovered this, for we find the following
+entry in the account books of Kirkham <span class="pagenum"><a name="page073" id="page073"></a>[pg 073]</span>Church, 1631&mdash;&quot;Paid for
+carrying the rushes out of the Church in the sickness time, 5.<i>s</i>.
+0<i>d</i>.&quot; Straw was used in winter: it would seem very strange to us
+to have our floors covered with straw, like a stable!</p>
+
+<p>In this matter of cleanliness we have certainly improved upon the
+habits of our forefathers: dirty cottages are the exception, and not
+the rule, as they were in the days of &quot;good Queen Bess&quot;; and the
+absence of those terrible plagues which used to devastate our land
+in former times is due in a great measure to the improved
+cleanliness and more careful regard for sanitation by the people of
+England.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/073.png" name="fig073" id="fig073">
+<img  src="images/073-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page074" id="page074"></a>[pg 074]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/074.png" name="fig074" id="fig074">
+<img  src="images/074-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h4>AUGUST.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Crowned with the ears of corn, now come,<br /></span>
+<span>And to the pipe sing harvest home.<br /></span>
+<span>Come forth, my lord, and see the cart<br /></span>
+<span>Dressed up with all the country art:<br /></span>
+<span>The horses, mares, and frisking fillies<br /></span>
+<span>Clad all in linen white as lilies.<br /></span>
+<span>The harvest swains and wenches bound<br /></span>
+<span>For joy, to see the hock-cart crowned.&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i9"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Herrick's </span><i>Hesperides</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Lammas Day&mdash;St. Roch's Day&mdash;Harvest-home&mdash;&quot;Ten-pounding&quot;&mdash;
+Sheep-shearing&mdash;&quot;Wakes&quot;&mdash;Fairs.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterT.png" name="fig074t" id="fig074t">
+<img  src="images/LetterT-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter T" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">HE harvest fields have begun to ripen, and the corn will soon be
+ready for the sickle; of this fact our forefathers were reminded by
+the Lammas Festival, which was celebrated on the first of this
+month. <i>Lammas</i> is a shortened form of the word Loaf-mass, or feast
+of the loaf. A loaf of bread was made of the first-ripe corn, and
+used in Holy Communion on this day; so this feast was a preliminary
+harvest thanksgiving festival<span class="pagenum"><a name="page075" id="page075"></a>[pg 075]</span>&mdash;a feast of &quot;first-fruits,&quot; such as
+the Jews were commanded in the old Mosaic law to observe. </p>
+
+<p>When the harvest was gathered in there were great festivities, and
+it has been thought that August 16th, St. Roch's Day, was generally
+observed as the harvest-home. St. Roch, or Roque, was a Frenchman,
+who lived in the early part of the fourteenth century, and was
+supposed to have performed miraculous cures, but August 16th seems
+to have been rather early in the year for a harvest-home. However,
+when the feast of ingathering did take place, there were great
+rejoicings in our English villages, and the mode of its celebration
+helped to knit together the masters and labourers, and to promote
+good feeling between them.</p>
+
+<p>When the fields were almost cleared of the golden grain, the last
+few sheaves were decorated with flowers and ribbons, and brought
+home in a waggon, called the &quot;Hock-cart,&quot; while the labourers, their
+wives and children, carrying green boughs, sheaves of wheat and rude
+flags, formed a glad procession. All the pipes and tabors in the
+village sounded, and shouts of laughter and of song were raised as
+the glad procession marched along. They sang&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Harvest-home, harvest-home,<br /></span>
+<span>We have ploughed, we have sowed,<br /></span>
+<span>We have reaped, we have mowed,<br /></span>
+<span>We have brought home every load.<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Hip, hip, hip, harvest-home!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page076" id="page076"></a>[pg 076]</span>
+<p>or, as they say in Berkshire&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Whoop, whoop, whoop, harvest whoam!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Sometimes the most comely maiden in the village was chosen as
+Harvest Queen, and placed upon her throne at the top of the sheaves
+in the hock-cart as it was drawn homewards to the farm.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/076.jpg" name="fig076" id="fig076">
+<img  src="images/076-thumb.jpg"
+alt="HARVEST-HOME." /></a>
+<h5>HARVEST-HOME.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<p>The rustics receive a hearty welcome at their master's house, where
+they find the fuelled chimney blazing wide, and the strong table
+groaning beneath the smoking sirloin&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i7">&quot;Mutton, veal,<br /></span>
+<span>And bacon, which makes full the meal,<br /></span>
+<span>With several dishes standing by,<br /></span>
+<span>As here a custard, there a pie,<br /></span>
+<span>And here all-tempting frumenty.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page077" id="page077"></a>[pg 077]</span>
+<p>Frumenty, which is made of wheat boiled in milk was a standing dish
+at every harvest supper. And then around the festive board old tales
+are told, well-known jests abound, and thanks given to the good
+farmer and his wife for their hospitality in some such homely rhymes
+as these&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Here's a health to our master,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The lord of the feast;<br /></span>
+<span>God bless his endeavours,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And send him increase.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;May everything prosper<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That he takes in hand,<br /></span>
+<span>For we be his servants,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And do his command.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The youths and maidens dance their country dances, as an old writer,
+who lived in the reign of Charles II., tells us:&mdash;&quot;The lad and the
+lass will have no lead on their heels. O, 'tis the merry time
+wherein honest neighbours make good cheer, and God is glorified in
+His blessings on the earth.&quot; When the feast is over, the company
+retire to some near hillock, and make the welkin ring with their
+shouts, &quot;Holla, holla, holla, largess!&quot;&mdash;largess being the presents
+of money and good things which the farmer had bestowed.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the harvest-home in the good old days&mdash;joy and delight to
+both old and young. The toils of the labourers did not seem so hard
+and wearisome when they knew that the farmers had such a grateful
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page078" id="page078"></a>[pg 078]</span>sense of their good services; and if any one felt aggrieved or
+discontented, the mutual intercourse at the harvest-home, when all
+were equal, when all sat at the same table and conversed freely
+together, soon banished all ill-feeling, and promoted a sense of
+mutual trust, which is essential to the happiness and well-being of
+any community. Shorn of much of its merriment and quaint customs,
+the harvest-home still lingers on in some places; but modern habits
+and notions have deprived it of much of its old spirit and
+light-heartedness. We have our harvest thanksgiving services, which
+(thank God!) are observed in almost every village and hamlet. It is,
+of course, our first duty to thank God for the fruits of His bounty
+and love; but the harvest-home should not be forgotten. When
+labourers simply regard harvest-time as a season when they can earn
+a few shillings more than usual, and take no further interest in
+their work, or in the welfare of their master, all brightness
+vanishes from their industry: their minds become sordid and
+mercenary; and mutual trust, good-feeling, and fellowship cease to
+exist.</p>
+
+<p>Neither did the harvest-men allow drunkenness, laziness, swearing,
+quarrelling, nor lying, to go unpunished. The labourers in Suffolk,
+if they found one of their number guilty, would hold a court-martial
+among themselves, lay the culprit down on his face, and an
+executioner would administer several hard blows with a shoe studded
+with hob-nails. This was called <span class="pagenum"><a name="page079" id="page079"></a>[pg 079]</span>&quot;ten-pounding,&quot; and must have been
+very effectual in checking any of the above delinquencies. </p>
+
+<p>Besides
+the harvest-home there was also observed another feast of a similar
+character in the spring, when the sheep were shorn. A plentiful
+dinner was given by the farmer to the shearers and their friends,
+and a table was often set in the open village for the young people
+and children. Tusser, who wrote a book upon <i>Five Hundred Points of
+Husbandry</i>, did not forget the treats which ought to be given to the
+labourers, and alludes to the sheep-shearing festival in the
+following lines&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Wife, make us a dinner; spare flesh, neither corn,<br /></span>
+<span>Make wafers and cakes, for our sheep must be shorn;<br /></span>
+<span>At sheep-shearing, neighbours none other things crave,<br /></span>
+<span>But good cheer and welcome like neighbours to have.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We have in many villages and towns a feast called &quot;the Wakes,&quot; which
+is one of the oldest of our English festivals. The day of &quot;the
+Wakes&quot; is the festival of the Saint to whom the parish church is
+dedicated, and it is so called because, on the previous night, or
+vigil, the people used to watch, or &quot;wake,&quot; in the church till the
+morning dawned. It was the custom for the inhabitants of the parish
+to keep open house on that day, and to entertain all their relations
+and friends who came to them from a distance. In early times the
+people used to make booths and tents with the boughs of trees near
+to the church, and were directed to celebrate the feast in them with
+thanksgiving <span class="pagenum"><a name="page080" id="page080"></a>[pg 080]</span>and prayer. By degrees they began to forget their
+prayers, and remembered only the feasting, and other abuses crept
+in, so at last the &quot;waking&quot; on the eve of the festival was
+suppressed. But these primitive feasts were the origin of most of
+our fairs, which are generally held on the dedication festival of
+the parish church.<a name="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> The neighbours from the adjoining villages
+used to attend the wakes, so the peddlers and hawkers came to find a
+market for their wares. Their stalls began to multiply, until at
+last an immense fair sprang into existence, which owed its origin
+entirely to the religious festival of &quot;the wakes.&quot; Fairs have
+degenerated like many other good things, and we can hardly realize
+their vastness in the middle ages. The circuit of a fair sometimes
+was very great, and it would have been impossible in those days to
+carry on the trade of the country without them. The great
+Stourbridge Fair, near Cambridge, I have described in my former book
+on <i>English Villages</i>. The booths were planted in a cornfield, and
+the circuit of the fair, which was one of the largest in Europe, was
+over three miles. All kinds of sports were held on these occasions:
+plays, comedies, tragedies, bull-baiting, &amp;c., and King James was
+very wroth with the undergraduates of Cambridge who would insist
+upon frequenting Stourbridge Fair rather than attend to their
+studies.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page081" id="page081"></a>[pg 081]</span>
+<p>The &quot;Wakes,&quot; or village feast, was a great day for all sports and
+pastimes. A writer in the <i>Spectator</i> describes the &quot;country wake&quot;
+which he witnessed at Bath. The green was covered with a crowd of
+all ages and both sexes, decked out in holiday attire, and divided
+into several parties, &quot;all of them endeavouring to show themselves
+in those exercises wherein they excelled.&quot; In one place there was a
+ring of cudgel-players, in another a football match, in another a
+ring of wrestlers. The prize for the men was a hat, and for the
+women, who had their own contests, a smock. Running and leaping also
+found a place in the programme. In Berkshire back-sword play and
+wrestling were the favourite amusements for vigorous youths, and men
+strove hard to win the honour of being champion and the prizes which
+were offered on the occasion. There were &quot;cheap jacks,&quot; and endless
+booths containing all kinds of fairings, ribands, gingerbread cakes,
+and shows, with huge pictures hung outside of giants and wild
+Indians, pink-eyed ladies, live lions, and deformities of all kinds.
+There were minor sports, such as climbing the pole, jumping in
+sacks, rolling wheelbarrows blindfolded, donkey races, muzzling in a
+flour-tub, &amp;c.; but the back-sword play was the chief and most
+serious part of the programme.</p>
+
+<p>A good sound ash-stick with a large basket handle was the weapon
+used, very similar to, but heavier and shorter than an ordinary
+single-stick. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page082" id="page082"></a>[pg 082]</span>object is to &quot;break the head&quot; of the
+opponent&mdash;<i>i.e.</i> to cause blood to flow anywhere above the eyebrow.
+A slight blow will often accomplish this, so the game is not so
+savage as it appears to be. The play took place on a stage of rough
+planks about four feet high. Each player was armed with a stick,
+looping the fingers of his left hand in a handkerchief or strap,
+which he fastened round his left leg, measuring the length, so that
+when he drew it tight with his left elbow up he had a perfect guard
+for the left side of his head.<a name="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> Guarding his head with the stick
+in his right hand, he advanced, and then the fight began; fast and
+furious came the blows, until at last a red streak on the temple of
+one of the combatants declared his defeat. The <i>Reading Mercury</i> of
+May 24, 1819, advertised the rural sports at Peppard, when the not
+very magnificent prize of eighteenpence was offered to every man who
+broke a head at cudgel-play, and a shilling to every one who had his
+head broken.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the sport which our old Berkshire rustics delighted in.
+Back-sword play, wrestling, and other pastimes made them a hardy
+race, full of courage, and developed qualities which it is hoped
+their descendants have not altogether lost. The gallant Berkshire
+Regiment, which fought so bravely <span class="pagenum"><a name="page083" id="page083"></a>[pg 083]</span>at Maiwand, is composed of the
+sons of those who used to wield the back-sword on the Berkshire
+downs, and showed themselves not unworthy of their ancestry,
+although the quarter-staff and ashen-swords are forgotten. The old
+village feasts are forgotten too&mdash;more's the pity. Then old quarrels
+were healed, old bitternesses removed: aged friends met, and became
+young again in heart, as they revived old memories and sweet
+recollections of youthful days. Rich and poor, the squire and the
+farmer, the farmer and his labourers, all mingled together, class
+with class; and good-fellowship, harmony, and mutual confidence were
+promoted by these annual gatherings. It is true that these village
+feasts degenerated, because the well-to-do folk abstained from them;
+but would it not be possible to revive them, to preserve the good
+which they certainly did, and to eliminate the evil which is so
+often mingled with the good? Such a consideration is worthy of the
+attention of all who have the welfare of the people at heart.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/083.png" name="fig083" id="fig083">
+<img  src="images/083-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page084" id="page084"></a>[pg 084]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/084.jpg" name="fig084" id="fig084">
+<img  src="images/084-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a><h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h4>SEPTEMBER.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Nor is there hawk which mantleth her on pearch,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Whether high tow'ring or accoasting low,<br /></span>
+<span>But I the measure of her flight do search,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And all her prey, and all her diet know.&quot;&mdash;<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Spenser</span>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Hawking&mdash;Michaelmas&mdash;Bull and Bear-baiting.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterO.png" name="fig084o" id="fig084o">
+<img  src="images/LetterO-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter O" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">F all old English sports hawking is one of the most ancient and the
+most fashionable. It has almost died out now, but there are one or
+two hawking enthusiasts who have endeavoured to revive this old
+English pastime, and on the Berkshire Downs a hawking party was seen
+a few years ago. Hawking consists in the training and flying of
+hawks for the purpose of catching other birds. Kings and noblemen,
+barons and ladies of feudal times, used to delight in following the
+sport on horseback, and to watch their favourite birds towering high
+to gain the upward flights in order to swoop down upon some heron,
+crane, or wild duck, and bear it to the ground. Persons <span class="pagenum"><a name="page085" id="page085"></a>[pg 085]</span>of high rank
+always carried their hawks with them wherever they went, and in old
+paintings the hawk upon the wrist of a portrait was the sign of
+noble birth. The sport was practised by our Saxon forefathers before
+the Normans came, and the first trained hawk in England is said to
+have been sent by St. Boniface, the &quot;Apostle of the Germans,&quot; as a
+present to Ethelbert, King of Kent, in the eighth century. The
+history of the sport of the kings who loved to take part in it, and
+of their adventures, would require a volume, and my space only
+allows me to give you a brief account of the manner in which the
+sport was conducted.</p>
+
+<p>I may mention that before the reign of King John only kings and
+noblemen were allowed to take part in hawking; but in the forest
+Charter, which that monarch was compelled to sign, every freeman was
+permitted to have his own hawks and falcons. The falconer, who took
+care of the hawks, was a very important person. The chief falconer
+of the King of France received four thousand florins a year, besides
+a tax upon every hawk sold in the kingdom. The Welsh princes
+assigned the fourth place of honour in their courts to this officer;
+but this proud distinction had its responsibilities, and this high
+official was only allowed to take three draughts from his horn, lest
+his brain should not be as clear as it ought to be, and the precious
+birds might be neglected.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes the hawking party went on foot, carrying <span class="pagenum"><a name="page086" id="page086"></a>[pg 086]</span>long poles to
+enable them to jump the ditches and to follow the course. Henry
+VIII. nearly lost his life on one occasion through falling (his
+pole having broken) into a bog, from which he was rescued by one
+John Moody, who happened to see the accident. But mounted on gallant
+steeds the lords and ladies were accustomed to follow their
+favourite pastime, and amid the blowing of horns and laughter and
+shoutings they rode along, galloping up-hill and down-hill, with
+their eyes fixed upon the birds, which were battling or chasing each
+other high overhead. The hawk did not always win the fight:
+sometimes a crafty heron would turn his long bill upwards just as
+the hawk was descending upon him, and pierce his antagonist through
+the body.</p>
+
+<p>Great skill and perseverance were required in training these birds.
+When they were not flying after their prey, they were hoodwinked,
+<i>i.e.</i> their heads were covered with caps, which were often finely
+embroidered. On their legs they had strings of leather, called
+<i>jesses</i>, with rings attached. When a hawk was being trained, a long
+thread was fastened to these rings to draw the bird back again, but
+when it was well educated, it would obey the voice of the falconer
+and return when it had performed its flight. It was necessary for
+the bird to know its master very intimately, so a devoted follower
+of the sport would always carry his hawk about with him, and the two
+were as inseparable as a Highland shepherd and his dog. The
+sportsman would feed his bird and train it daily, and in an old book
+of directions he is advised &quot;at night to go to the mews, and take it
+from its perch, and set it on his fist, and bear it all the night,&quot;
+in order to be ready for the morrow's sport.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page087" id="page087"></a>[pg 087]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/087.jpg" name="fig087" id="fig087">
+<img  src="images/087-thumb.jpg"
+alt="A FALCONER." /></a>
+<h5>A FALCONER.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page088" id="page088"></a>[pg 088]</span>
+<p>The mews were the buildings where the hawks were kept when
+moulting, the word &quot;mew&quot; being a term used by falconers to signify
+to moult, or cast feathers; and the King's Mews, near Charing Cross,
+was the place where the royal hawks were kept. This place was
+afterwards enlarged, and converted into stables for horses; but the
+old name remained, and now most stables in London are called mews,
+although the word is derived from falconry, and the hawks have long
+since flown away.</p>
+
+<p>The sport declined at the end of the seventeenth century, when
+shooting with guns became general, but our language has preserved
+some traces of this ancient pastime. When a person is blinded by
+deceit, he is said to be &quot;hoodwinked,&quot; and this word is derived from
+the custom of placing a hood over the hawk's eyes before it was
+released from restraint.</p>
+
+<p>On the Feast of St. Michael, or Michaelmas, the tenants were in the
+habit of bringing presents of a fat goose to their landlord, in
+order to make him kind and lenient in the matters of rent, repairs,
+and the renewal of leases, and the noble landlords used to entertain
+their tenants right royally in the great halls of their ancestral
+mansions, roast goose forming a <span class="pagenum"><a name="page089" id="page089"></a>[pg 089]</span>standing dish of the repast. This is
+probably the origin of the custom which prevails at the present time
+of eating geese at Michaelmas.</p>
+
+<p>When the harvest was over, and the farmers were not so busy, they
+often amused themselves by the cruel sport of baiting a bull. An old
+gentleman who lived at Wokingham was so fond of this savage pastime
+that he left in his will a sum of money for the purpose of providing
+every year two bulls to be baited for the amusement of the people of
+his native town. The bulls are still bought, but they are put to
+death in a more merciful manner, and the meat given to the poor.
+Amongst the hills in Yorkshire there is a small village, through
+which a brook runs, crossed by two bridges, and having a stone wall
+on each side. Thus, when the bridges were stopped up, there was
+formed a wall-encircled space, into which, once a year, at least, a
+poor bull was placed, to be worried to death by dogs, and within the
+memory of men now living this cruel sport has been carried on.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this only a sport for ignorant rustics; kings and noble
+courtiers, and even ladies, used to frequent the bear-gardens of the
+metropolis, and witness with delight the slaughter of bulls, and
+bears, and dogs. Erasmus tells us that in the reign of Henry VIII.
+&quot;many herds of bears were maintained in this country for the purpose
+of baiting.&quot; Queen Elizabeth commanded bears, bulls, and the ape to
+be baited in her presence, and James I. was not <span class="pagenum"><a name="page090" id="page090"></a>[pg 090]</span>averse to the sight.
+The following is a description of this barbarous
+entertainment&mdash;&quot;There is a place built in the form of a theatre,
+which serves for baiting of bulls and bears. They are fastened
+behind, and then worried by great English bull-dogs; but not without
+risk to the dogs from the horns of the one and the teeth of the
+other.&quot; Even horses were sometimes baited, and sometimes asses.
+Evelyn, in his <i>Diary</i>, thus describes the strange sight&mdash;&quot;June
+16th, 1670. I went with some friends to the bear-garden, where was
+cock-fighting, dog-fighting, bear and bull-baiting, it being a
+famous day for all these butcherly sports, or rather barbarous
+cruelties. The bulls did exceedingly well, but the Irish wolf-dog
+exceeded, which was a tall greyhound, a stately creature indeed, who
+beat a cruel mastiff. One of the bulls tossed a dog full into a
+lady's lap, as she sat in one of the boxes at a considerable height
+from the arena. Two poor dogs were killed, and so all ended with the
+ape on horseback, and I most heartily weary of the rude and dirty
+pastime, which I had not seen, I think, in twenty years before.&quot;
+Foreigners, who have visited England in by-gone times, often allude
+scornfully to our forefathers' barbarous diversions; but on the
+whole they seem rather to have enjoyed the sport. A Spanish nobleman
+was taken to see a poor pony baited with an ape fastened on its
+back; and he wrote&mdash;&quot;to see the animal kicking amongst the dogs,
+with the screams of the ape, beholding the curs hanging from the
+ears and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page091" id="page091"></a>[pg 091]</span>neck of the pony, is very laughable!&quot; But enough has been
+said of these terrible and monstrous cruelties. Happily for us they
+no longer exist, and together with cock-fighting, throwing at cocks
+and hens, and other barbarous amusements, cannot now be reckoned
+among our sports and pastimes. It was a happy thing for us when the
+conscience of the nation was aroused, and the law stepped in to put
+an end to such disgraceful scenes which were witnessed in the Paris
+Garden at Southwark, or in the rude bull-run of a Yorkshire village.
+The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was not known
+in the days of bear-baiting and cock-throwing.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/091.png" name="fig091" id="fig091">
+<img  src="images/091-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page092" id="page092"></a>[pg 092]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/092.jpg" name="fig092" id="fig092">
+<img  src="images/092-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a><h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h4>OCTOBER.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Rivet well each coat of mail;<br /></span>
+<span>Blows shall fall like showers of hail;<br /></span>
+<span>Merrily the harness rings,<br /></span>
+<span>Of tilting lists and tournay sings,<br /></span>
+<span>Honour to the valiant brings.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Clink, clink, clink!&quot;&mdash;<i>Armourers' Chorus</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>Tournaments&mdash;<i>Mysteries</i>&mdash;<i>Moralities</i>&mdash;<i>Pageants</i>.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterI.png" name="fig092i" id="fig092i">
+<img  src="images/LetterI-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter I" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">N the days of chivalry, when gallant knights used to ride about in
+search of adventures; and when there were many wars, battles, and
+crusades, martial exercises were the chief amusements of the people
+of England. We have already mentioned some of these sports in which
+the humbler folk used to show their strength and dexterity, and now
+I propose to tell you of those wonderful trials of military skill
+called tournaments, which were the favourite pastimes of the
+noblemen and gentry of England in the middle ages, and afforded much
+amusement to their poorer neighbours <span class="pagenum"><a name="page093" id="page093"></a>[pg 093]</span>who flocked to see these
+gallant feats of arms. Tournaments were fights in miniature, in
+which the combatants fought simply to exhibit their strength and
+prowess. There was a great deal of pomp and ceremony attached to
+them. The lists, as the barriers were called which inclosed the
+scene of combat, were superbly decorated, and surrounded by
+pavilions belonging to the champions, ornamented with their arms and
+banners. The seats reserved for the noble ladies and gentlemen who
+came to see the fight were hung with tapestry embroidered with gold
+and silver. Everyone was dressed in the most sumptuous manner: the
+minstrels and heralds were clothed in the costliest garments; the
+knights who were engaged in the sports and their horses were most
+gorgeously arrayed. The whole scene was one of great splendour and
+magnificence, and, when the fight began, the shouts of the heralds
+who directed the tournament, the clashing of arms, the clang of
+trumpets, the charging of the combatants, and the shouts of the
+spectators, must have produced a wonderfully impressive and exciting
+effect upon all who witnessed the strange spectacle.</p>
+
+<p>The regulations and laws of the tournament were very minute. When
+many preliminary arrangements had been made with regard to the
+examination of arms and helmets and the exhibition of banners, &amp;c.,
+at ten o'clock on the morning of the appointed day the champions and
+their adherents were required to be in their places. Two cords
+divided the combatants, who <span class="pagenum"><a name="page094" id="page094"></a>[pg 094]</span>were each armed with a pointless sword
+and a truncheon hanging from their saddles. When the word was given
+by the lord of the tournament, the cords were removed, and the
+champions charged and fought until the heralds sounded the signal to
+retire. It was considered the greatest disgrace to be unhorsed. A
+French earl once tried to unhorse our King Edward I. when he was
+returning from Palestine, wearied by the journey. The earl threw
+away his sword, cast his arms around the king's neck, and tried to
+pull him from his horse. But Edward put spurs to his horse and drew
+the earl from the saddle, and then shaking him violently, threw him
+to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The joust (or just) differed from tournament, because in the former
+only lances were used, and only two knights could fight at once. It
+was not considered quite so important as the grand feat of arms
+which I have just described, but was often practised when the more
+serious encounter had finished. Lances or spears without heads of
+iron were commonly used, and the object of the sport was to ride
+hard against one's adversary and strike him with the spear upon the
+front of the helmet, so as to beat him backwards from his horse, or
+break the spear. You will gather from these descriptions that this
+kind of sport was somewhat dangerous, and that men sometimes lost
+their lives at these encounters. In order to lessen the risk and
+danger of the two horses running into each other when the knights
+charged, a boarded railing was erected in the midst of the lists,
+about four or five feet high. The combatants rode on separate sides
+of this barrier, and therefore could not encounter each other except
+with their lances.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page095" id="page095"></a>[pg 095]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/095.jpg" name="fig095" id="fig095">
+<img  src="images/095-thumb.jpg"
+alt="A TOURNAMENT." /></a>
+<h5>A TOURNMENT.</h5>
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page096" id="page096"></a>[pg 096]</span>
+<p>In the days of chivalry ladies were held in high honour and
+respect. It was their privilege to assign the prizes to those who
+had distinguished themselves most in the tournament. They were the
+arbiters of the sport; and, indeed, the jousts were usually held in
+honour of the ladies, who received as their right the respect and
+devotion of all true knights. This respect for women had a softening
+and ennobling influence, which was of great value in times when such
+influences were rare. It was probably derived (according to a French
+writer) from our ancestors, the Germans, &quot;who attributed somewhat of
+divinity to the fair sex.&quot; It is the sign of a corrupt age and
+degraded manners when this respect ceases to be paid.</p>
+
+<p>Only men of noble family, and who owned land, were allowed to take
+part in the jousts or tournament; but the yeomen and young farmers
+used to practise similar kinds of sport, such as tilting at a ring,
+quintain, and boat jousts, which have already been mentioned in a
+preceding chapter. Richard I., the lion-hearted king, was a great
+promoter of these martial sports, and appointed five places for the
+holding of tournaments in England, namely, at some place between
+Salisbury and Wilton, between Warwick <span class="pagenum"><a name="page097" id="page097"></a>[pg 097]</span>and Kenilworth, between
+Stamford and Wallingford, between Brackley and Mixbury, and between
+Blie and Tykehill. But in almost every part of England tournaments
+or jousts have been held, and scenes enacted such as I have
+described. Sometimes two knights would fight in mortal combat. If
+one knight accused the other of crime or dishonour, the latter might
+challenge him to fight with swords or lances, and, according to the
+superstition of the times, the victor was considered to be the one
+who spoke the truth. But this ordeal combat was far removed from the
+domain of sport.</p>
+
+<p>When jousts and tournaments were abandoned, tilting on horseback at
+a ring became a favourite courtly amusement. A ring was suspended on
+a level with the eye of the rider; and the sport consisted in riding
+towards the ring, and sending the point of a lance through it, and
+so bearing it away. Great skill was required to accomplish this
+surely and gracefully. Ascham, a writer in the sixteenth century,
+tells us what accomplishments were required from the complete
+English gentleman of the period. &quot;To ride comely, to run fair at the
+tilt or ring, to play at all weapons, to shoot fair in bow, or
+surely in gun; to vault lustily, to run, to leap, to wrestle, to
+swim, to dance comely, to sing, and play of instruments cunningly;
+to hawk, to hunt, to play at tennis, and all pastimes generally
+which be joined to labour, containing either some fit exercises for
+war, or some <span class="pagenum"><a name="page098" id="page098"></a>[pg 098]</span>pleasant pastime for peace&mdash;these be not only comely
+and decent, but also very necessary for a courtly gentleman to use.&quot;
+The courtly gentleman must have been very industrious to acquire
+all these numerous accomplishments!</p>
+
+<p>There was another form of spectacle which gave great pleasure to our
+ancestors; and often in the market-places of old towns, or in open
+fields, at the bottom of natural amphitheatres near some of the
+ancient monasteries, were Scriptural plays performed, which were
+called <i>Miracles</i>, or <i>Mysteries</i>, because they treated of scenes
+taken from the Old or New Testament, or from the lives of saints and
+martyrs. The performances were very simple and often grotesque, but
+the plays were regarded by the monks, who assisted in these
+representations, as a means of teaching the people sacred truths.
+The miracle play of Norman and medi&aelig;val times was a long,
+disconnected performance, which often lasted many days. In the reign
+of Henry IV. there was a play which lasted eight days, and,
+beginning with the creation of the world, contained the greater part
+of the history of the Old and the New Testament. The words of the
+play seem to us strange, and sometimes profane; but they were not
+thought to be so by those who listened to them. The <i>Mystery</i> play
+only lasted one day, and consisted of one subject, such as <i>The
+Conversion of St. Paul</i>. <i>Noah and the Flood</i> was a very popular
+piece. His wife is represented as being much <span class="pagenum"><a name="page099" id="page099"></a>[pg 099]</span>opposed to the perilous
+voyage in the ark, and abuses Noah very severely for compelling her
+to go. Sometimes the authors thought it necessary to introduce a
+comic character to enliven the dullness of the performance. But, in
+spite of humorous demons, these mysteries ceased to attract, and
+plays called <i>Moralities</i> were introduced, in which the actors
+assumed the parts of personified virtues, &amp;c., and you might have
+heard &quot;Faith&quot; preaching to &quot;Prudence,&quot; or &quot;Death&quot; lecturing &quot;Beauty&quot;
+and &quot;Pride.&quot; The first miracle play performed in England was that of
+<i>St. Catherine</i>, which was acted at Dunstable, 1110 A.D.; and
+another early piece was the play called <i>The Image of St. Nicholas</i>.
+These were of a religious nature and were performed in church during
+Divine service. The following is an outline of the plot of the
+latter: instead of the image of St. Nicholas, which adorned his
+shrine, a man stood in the garb of the saint whom he represented.
+The service is divided into two portions, and the play is produced
+during the interval. A stranger appears at the west door, who is
+evidently a rich heathen, and lays down his treasures before the
+image of the saint and beseeches him to take care of them. A band of
+thieves enter and steal the treasures, and when the heathen returns,
+he is so enraged that he proceeds to chastise the image of the
+saint; when lo! the figure descends, marches out of the church, and
+convinces the thieves of their wickedness. Struck with fear on
+account of the miracle, they restore the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>[pg 100]</span>treasures, the Pagan sings
+a song of joy, and St. Nicholas tells him to worship God, and to
+praise Christ. Then, after an act of adoration to the Almighty, the
+service is resumed.<a name="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15"><sup>[15]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p>There were also strolling companies of minstrels, jugglers, and
+jesters, who went about the country, and acted secular pieces
+composed of comic stories, jokes, and dialogues, interspersed with
+dancing and tumbling. The whole performance was very absurd and
+often indecent, and the clergy did their utmost to suppress these
+strolling companies.</p>
+
+<p>The stage upon which the <i>Mysteries</i> were played was built on
+wheels, in order that it might be drawn to different parts of the
+town. Sometimes religious plays were acted in churches before the
+Reformation; but in Cornwall the people formed an earthen
+amphitheatre in some open field, and as the players did not learn
+their parts very well, a prompter used to follow them about with a
+book and tell them what to say. Coventry, York, Wakefield, Reading,
+Hull, and Leicester were famous for their plays, and in the
+churchwardens' accounts we find many entries referring to the
+performances.</p>
+
+<div class="note">
+1469.&mdash;<i>e.g.</i> Item paid to Noah and his wife ... ... xxi<sup>d</sup>.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">&quot;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  &quot;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  for a rope to hang the ship in the church ... ii<sup>d</sup>.</span><br /></div>
+
+<p>These performances would probably seem very foolish <span class="pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>[pg 101]</span>and childish to
+a modern audience, but they helped to enliven and diversify the
+lives of our more simple-minded forefathers.</p>
+
+<p>The people, too, loved pageants which were performed on great
+occasions, during a Royal progress for instance, or to welcome the
+advent of some mighty personage. Great preparations were made for
+these exhibitions of rustic talent; long verses were committed to
+memory; rehearsals were endless, and the stories of Greek and Roman
+mythology were ransacked to provide scenes and subjects for the
+rural pageant. All this must have afforded immense amusement and
+interest to the country-folk in the neighbourhood of some lord's
+castle, when the king or queen was expected to sojourn there.
+Shepherds and shepherdesses, gods and goddesses, clowns and mummers,
+all took part in the play, and it may interest my readers to give an
+account of one of these pageants, which was performed before Queen
+Elizabeth when she visited the ancient and historic castle of
+Sudeley.<a name="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16"><sup>[16]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p>The play is founded on the old classical story of Apollo and Daphne.
+The sun-god, Apollo, was charmed by the beauty of the fair Daphne,
+the daughter of a river-god, and pursued her with base intent. Just
+as she was about to be overtaken she prayed for aid, and was
+immediately changed into a laurel-tree, which became the favourite
+tree of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page102" id="page102"></a>[pg 102]</span>disappointed lover. The pageant founded on this old
+classical legend commenced with a man, who acted the part of Apollo,
+chasing a woman, who represented Daphne, followed by a young
+shepherd bewailing his hard fate. He, too, loved the fair and
+beautiful Daphne, but Apollo wooed her with fair words, and
+threatened him with diverse penalties, saying he would change him
+into a wolf, or a cockatrice, or blind his eyes. The shepherd in a
+long speech tells how Daphne was changed into a tree, and then
+Apollo is seen at the foot of a laurel-tree weeping, accompanied by
+two minstrels. The repentant god repeats the verse&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Sing you, play you; but sing and play my truth;<br /></span>
+<span>This tree my lute, these sighs my note of ruth:<br /></span>
+<span>The laurel leaf for ever shall be green,<br /></span>
+<span>And Chastity shall be Apollo's Queen.<br /></span>
+<span>If gods may die, here shall my tomb be placed,<br /></span>
+<span>And this engraven, 'Fond Phoebus, Daphne chaste.'&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>A song follows, and then, wonderful to relate, the tree opens, and
+Daphne comes forth. Apollo resigns her to the humble shepherd, and
+then she runs to her Majesty the Queen, and with a great deal of
+flattery wishes her a long and prosperous reign.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the simple play which delighted the minds of our
+forefathers, and helped to raise them from sordid cares and the dull
+monotony of continual toil. In our popular amusements the village
+folk do not take part, except as spectators, and therefore <span class="pagenum"><a name="page103" id="page103"></a>[pg 103]</span>lose half
+the pleasure; whereas in the time of the Virgin Queen the
+rehearsals, the learning the speeches by heart, the dresses, the
+excitement, all contributed to give them fresh ideas and new
+thoughts. The acting may not have been very good; indeed Queen
+Elizabeth did not always think very highly of the performances of
+her subjects at Coventry, and was heard to exclaim, &quot;What fools ye
+Coventry folk are!&quot; but I think her Majesty must have been pleased
+at the concluding address of the players at Sudeley. After the
+shepherds had acted a piece in which the election of the King and
+Queen of the Bean formed a part, they knelt before the real Queen,
+and said, &quot;Pardon, dread Sovereign, poor shepherds' pastimes, and
+bold shepherds' presumptions. We call ourselves kings and queens to
+make mirth; but when we see a king or queen, we stand amazed. At
+chess there are kings and queens, and they of wood. Shepherds are no
+more, nor no less, wooden. In theatres workmen have played emperors;
+yet the next day forgotten neither their duties nor occupation. For
+our boldness in borrowing their names, and in not seeing your
+Majesty for our blindness, we offer these shepherds' weeds: which,
+if your Majesty vouchsafe at any time to wear, it shall bring to our
+hearts comfort, and happiness to our labours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the Queen visited Kenilworth Castle, splendid pageants were
+performed in her honour. As she entered the castle the gigantic
+porter recited verses <span class="pagenum"><a name="page104" id="page104"></a>[pg 104]</span>to greet her Majesty, gods and goddesses
+offered gifts and compliments on bended knee, and the Lady of the
+Lake, surrounded by Tritons and Nereids, came on a floating island
+to do homage to the peerless Elizabeth, and to welcome her to all
+the sport the castle could afford. For an account of the strange
+conduct of Orion and his dolphin upon this occasion, we refer our
+readers to Sir Walter Scott's <i>Kenilworth</i>, and the lover of
+pageants will find much to interest him in Gascoigne's <i>Princely
+Progress</i>. In many of the chief towns of England the members of the
+Guilds were obliged by their ordinances to have a pageant once every
+year, which was of a religious nature. The Guild of St. Mary at
+Beverley made a yearly representation of the Presentation of Christ
+in the Temple, one of their number being dressed as a queen to
+represent the Virgin, &quot;having what may seem a son in her arms,&quot; two
+others representing Joseph and Simeon, and two others going as
+angels carrying lights. The people of England seem always to have
+had a great fondness for shows and pageants.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/104.png" name="fig104" id="fig104">
+<img  src="images/104-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page105" id="page105"></a>[pg 105]</span>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/105.jpg" name="fig105" id="fig105">
+<img  src="images/105-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h4>NOVEMBER.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem" style="margin-left: 10%">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">&quot;The ploughman, though he labour hard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Yet on the holiday<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Heigh trolollie, lollie loe.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">No emperor so merrily<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Doth pass his time away;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Then care away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And wend along with me.&quot;&mdash;<i>Complete Angler</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">&quot;The curious preciseness,<br /></span>
+<span>And all pretended gravity of those<br /></span>
+<span>That seek to banish hence these harmless sports,<br /></span>
+<span>Have thrust away much ancient honesty.&quot;&mdash;<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Irving's</span> <i>Sketch Book</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>All-hallow Eve&mdash;&quot;Soul Cakes&quot;&mdash;Diving for Apples&mdash;The Fifth of
+November&mdash;Martinmas&mdash;<i>Demands Joyous</i>&mdash;Indoor Games.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterT.png" name="fig105t" id="fig105t">
+<img  src="images/LetterT-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter T" /></a></div>
+
+<p class="hang">HE first of November is All Saints' Day, and the eve of that
+day,
+called All-hallow Even, was the occasion of some very ancient and
+curious customs. It seems to have been observed more by the
+descendants of the Celts than by the Saxons; and Wales, Scotland,
+and Ireland were the homes of many of the popular superstitions
+connected with this festival. In Scotland <span class="pagenum"><a name="page106" id="page106"></a>[pg 106]</span>the bonfires were set up
+in every village, and each member of a family would throw in a white
+stone marked with his name; and if that stone could not be found
+next morning, it was supposed that that person would die before the
+following All Saints' Day. This foolish superstition may be classed
+with the other well-known superstition with regard to the sitting of
+thirteen people at one table, in which some are still foolish enough
+to believe.</p>
+
+<p>All-hallow Even was supposed to be a great night for witches:
+possibly it was with the intention of guarding against their spells
+that the farmers used to carry blazing straw around their cornfields
+and stacks. It was the custom for the farmer to regale his men with
+seed cake on this night; and there were cakes called &quot;Soul Mass
+Cakes,&quot; or &quot;Soul Cakes,&quot; which were given to the poor. These were of
+triangular shape, and poor people in Staffordshire used to go
+<i>a-souling</i>, i.e. collecting these soul cakes, or anything else they
+could get.</p>
+
+<p>On this night the fishermen of Scotland signed their boats, that is
+put a cross of tar upon them, in order that their fishing might
+prosper. The church bells were rung all night long for all Christian
+souls, and we find from some old account books that the good folk
+were very careful to have all their bell-ropes and bells in good
+order for All-hallow Even. This ringing was supposed to benefit the
+souls of the dead in Purgatory, and was suppressed after the
+Reformation.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page107" id="page107"></a>[pg 107]</span>
+<p>There were some very homely pastimes for All-hallow Even for the
+young folk in the north of England. Apples were placed in a vessel
+of water and &quot;dived for&quot;; or they were suspended from the roof and
+caught at by several expectant mouths. Sometimes a rod was suspended
+with an apple at one end, and at the other a lighted candle. The
+youths had their hands tied behind their backs, and caught at the
+apple, often causing the candle to swing round and burn their hair.
+The cracking of nuts was an important ceremony among the young men
+and maidens, who threw nuts into the fire, and from the way in which
+they cracked, or burned, foretold all kinds of happiness or misery
+for themselves. The nuts that burned brightly prophesied prosperity
+to their owners, but those that crackled or burned black denoted
+misfortune. In olden times, when people were more superstitious than
+they are now, they attached great importance to these omens and
+customs, but happily the young people of our times have ceased to
+believe in magic and foolish customs, and country girls strive to
+attract their swains by other charms than those of nut-cracking on
+All-hallow Even.</p>
+
+<p>We have still our bonfires on November 5th, but the event which
+happened on that day is very recent as compared with many of the old
+customs of which I have been writing. However, it is nearly three
+hundred years ago since Guy Fawkes and his companions attempted to
+blow up the Houses of Parliament <span class="pagenum"><a name="page108" id="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span>with gunpowder; and yet we still
+light our bonfires and burn Guy Fawkes' effigy, with much
+accompaniment of squibs and crackers, just as if the event which we
+commemorate only occurred last year. Probably very few of our
+rustics think much of the origin of the customs observed on November
+the Fifth, or remember that it was instituted by the House of
+Commons as &quot;a holiday for ever in thankfulness to God for our
+deliverance, and detestation of the Papists;&quot; but this ignorance
+does not prevent them from keeping up the custom and enjoying the
+excitement of the bonfire and fireworks. If you are not acquainted
+with the history of the conspiracy, I would advise you to read it in
+some good history book, and&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Pray to remember<br /></span>
+<span>The fifth of November<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Gunpowder treason and plot,<br /></span>
+<span>When the King and his train<br /></span>
+<span>Had nearly been slain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Therefore it shall not be forgot.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The Berkshire boys, as they carried their Guy and collected wood for
+their bonfires, used to add the words&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Our king's a valiant soldier,<br /></span>
+<span>With his blunderbuss on his shoulder,<br /></span>
+<span>Cocks his pistol, draws his rapier;<br /></span>
+<span>Pray give us something for his sake here.<br /></span>
+<span>A stick and a stake, for our good king's sake:<br /></span>
+<span>If ye won't give one, I'll take two,<br /></span>
+<span>The better for me, and the worse for you.<br /></span>
+</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="page109" id="page109"></a>[pg 109]</span><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i5">CHORUS&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span>&quot;Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, make the bells ring,<br /></span>
+<span>Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, God save the King.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Some of the rhymes tell us about the nefarious deeds of wicked Guy
+Fawkes, who</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">&quot;... with his companions did contrive<br /></span>
+<span>To blow the House of Parliament up alive,<br /></span>
+<span>With three score barrels of powder down below,<br /></span>
+<span>To prove Old England's wicked overthrow;<br /></span>
+<span>But by God's mercy all of them got catched,<br /></span>
+<span>With their dark lantern, and their lighted match.<br /></span>
+<span>Ladies and gentlemen sitting by the fire,<br /></span>
+<span>Please put hands in pockets and give us our desire:<br /></span>
+<span>While you can drink one glass, we can drink two,<br /></span>
+<span>The better for we, and none the worse for you.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>This rhyme was concluded with the following strange jingle&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Rumour, rumour, pump a derry,<br /></span>
+<span>Prick his heart and burn his body,<br /></span>
+<span>And send his soul to Purgatory.&quot;<a name="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17"><sup>[17]</sup></a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The streets of Oxford used to be the scenes of great encounters
+between the townsmen and gownsmen (or college students) on this
+night, who, on any other night in the year, never thought of
+fighting. Happily in recent years these fights have ceased, but even
+now the gownsmen are &quot;gated&quot; on the night of the Fifth of November,
+<i>i.e.</i> are confined to their colleges, lest there should be a
+renewal of these <span class="pagenum"><a name="page110" id="page110"></a>[pg 110]</span>encounters. So severe were the battles in ancient
+times, that the tower of Carfax Church was lowered because the
+townsfolk used to ascend thither and shoot their arrows at the
+undergraduates; and the butchers were obliged to ply their trade
+beyond the city walls, because they had used their knives and
+cleavers in their annual fight.</p>
+
+<p>At Martinmas, or the Feast of St. Martin, it was the custom to lay
+in a stock of winter provisions, and many cows, oxen, and swine were
+killed at this time, their flesh being salted and hung up for the
+winter, when fresh provisions were seldom to be had.</p>
+
+<p>And now the long evenings have set in, and our ancestors in hall or
+cottage assemble round the blazing hearth, and listen to the
+minstrel's lays, and recite their oft-told tales of adventure and
+romance. Sometimes they indulge in asking each other riddles, and
+there exists at the present time an old collection of these early
+efforts of wit and humour which are not of a very high order. The
+book is called <i>Demands Joyous,</i> and was printed in A.D. 1511. I may
+extract the following riddles:&mdash;&quot;What is it that never was and never
+will be? Answer: A mouse's nest in a cat's ear. Why does a cow lie
+down? Because it cannot sit. How many straws go to a goose's nest?
+Not one, for straws, not having feet, cannot go anywhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With such feeble efforts of wit did the country folk try to beguile
+the long evenings. In those days there were no newspapers, very few
+books, even if they <span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" id="page111"></a>[pg 111]</span>could be read, and the only means of gathering
+information from other parts of the country were the peddlers or
+wandering minstrels, who told them the news as they passed from
+place to place. Consequently, the above humble efforts of wit were
+not to be despised, and served to beguile the tediousness of the
+long winter's night. Besides, the villagers had the carols to
+practise for Christmas, many of which were handed down from father
+to son for many generations, and probably both words and music
+received many variations in their course. Old collections of these
+carols still exist, such as the one entitled, &quot;Good and True, Fresh
+and New, Christmas Carols,&quot; which was made in the middle of the
+seventeenth century. As an instance of the way in which the words
+became changed as they were passed on by illiterate singers, I may
+mention a carol of which the refrain is now printed &quot;Now Well, Now
+Well&quot;; originally this must have been &quot;Noel, Noel.&quot; Some of the
+carols degenerated into songs about the wassail bowl, and the
+virtues of strong ale, and our forefathers were not unlike some of
+their children, who forget the Saviour in the enjoyment of His
+gifts. And besides the carols the villagers had the ordinary hymns
+to practise, with grand accompaniment of violins, flutes,
+clarionets, etc., for each village had its own musicians, who took
+great pride and interest in their playing, and used to practise
+together in the evenings. The old instruments have vanished: we have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112" id="page112"></a>[pg 112]</span>
+our organs and harmoniums: our choirs sing better and more
+reverently; but there are no reunions of the village orchestra,
+which used to afford so much pleasure to the rustics of former
+days.</p>
+
+<p>In the lord's hall there were plenty of sedentary games, and amongst
+these pre-eminently stands the noble pastime of chess. It is very
+ancient, and is supposed to have been invented by Xerxes, a
+philosopher in the court of Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon. It was
+well known in England before the Conquest, and Canute was very fond
+of the chessboard. King John was so engrossed in this game that when
+some messengers came to tell him that the French king had besieged
+one of his cities, he would not listen to them until he had finished
+his chess. The complicated movements of the various men seem to show
+that the game was developed and improved, and not the invention of
+one man, but few changes have been made during several centuries.
+Players are checkmated now in very much the same way as they were
+five hundred years ago.</p>
+
+<p>Besides chess they had backgammon, or tables, as the game was
+called, Merelles, or Nine men's Morris (which also found its way to
+the shepherds' cottages), dice, and card games, some of which I have
+described before. Gambling was often carried on to a great extent,
+but evidently our modern people are not wiser than their ancestors
+in this matter; and instead of playing games for recreation, are not
+satisfied until they <span class="pagenum"><a name="page113" id="page113"></a>[pg 113]</span>lose fortunes on the hazard of a dice or a
+card. Let us hope that men will at length become wiser as the world
+grows older. </p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/113.jpg" name="fig113" id="fig113">
+<img  src="images/113-thumb.jpg"
+alt="TWO CHESS PLAYERS." /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>Erasmus, the learned Dutchman, in his <i>Colloquies</i> suggests some
+curious awards for victors. He represents two youths, Adolphus and
+Bernard, who begin <span class="pagenum"><a name="page114" id="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span>to play a game at bowls. Adolphus says, &quot;What
+shall he that beats get, or he that is beaten lose?&quot; Bernard
+replies, &quot;What if he that beats shall have a piece of his ear cut
+off? It is a mean thing to play for money: you are a German, and I a
+Frenchman: we will both play for the honour of his country. If I
+shall beat you, you shall cry out thrice, 'Let France flourish!' if
+I shall be beat (which I hope I shall not), I will in the same words
+celebrate your Germany.&quot; They bowl away: a stone represents the
+Jack: a mischievous bit of brickbat rather interferes with the
+German's accuracy, of aim, but in the end he wins, and the French
+cock has to crow thrice, &quot;Let Germany flourish.&quot; In another game
+between two students who are contending in the play of striking a
+ball through an iron ring, it is arranged that he that is beat shall
+make and repeat extempore some verses in praise of him that beat
+him. This certainly would make many a youth keen to win the contest!</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/114.png" name="fig114" id="fig114">
+<img  src="images/114-thumb.png"
+alt="Chapter End Graphic"/></a>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page115" id="page115"></a>[pg 115]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/115.png" name="fig115" id="fig115">
+<img  src="images/115-thumb.jpg"
+alt="Chapter Start Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h4>DECEMBER.</h4>
+
+<blockquote class="ChapterPoem">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;The Darling of the world is come,<br /></span>
+<span>And fit it is we find a room<br /></span>
+<span>To welcome Him. The nobler part<br /></span>
+<span>Of all the house here is the heart,<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Which we will give Him; and bequeath<br /></span>
+<span>This holly and this ivy wreath<br /></span>
+<span>To do Him honour, who's our King,<br /></span>
+<span>And Lord of all this revelling.&quot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i9"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Herrick</span>, <i>A Christmas Carol</i>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<h4>St. Nicholas Day&mdash;The Boy Bishop&mdash;Christmas Eve&mdash;Christmas
+Customs&mdash;Mummers&mdash;&quot;Lord of Misrule&quot;&mdash;Conclusion.</h4>
+
+<div class="figletter"><a href="images/LetterN.png" name="fig115n" id="fig115n">
+<img  src="images/LetterN-thumb.png" alt="Ornate Letter N" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p class="hang">OW dark and chill December has arrived; and very dark and chill it
+must have seemed to our ancestors. No gaslights illuminated the
+streets, here and there a feeble oil lamp helped to make the
+darkness visible, when the oil was not frozen: the roads were deep
+with mud, and everything outside was cold and cheerless. But within
+the farmer's kitchen the huge logs burned brightly, and the
+Christmas holidays were at hand with the accustomed merrymakings, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page116" id="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span>
+cheer the hearts of all in the depths of the dreary winter. </p>
+
+<p>But before Christmas Day arrived, the children enjoyed a great treat
+on St. Nicholas' Day, December 6th, when it was the custom for
+parents to convey secretly presents of various kinds to their little
+sons and daughters, who were taught to believe that they owed them
+to the kindness of St. Nicholas, who, going up and down among the
+towns and villages, came in at the windows and distributed the
+gifts. St. Nicholas, who died A.D. 343, threw a purse filled with
+money into the bedroom of a poor man for the benefit of his three
+daughters, who were in sore trouble; and this story seems to have
+originated the custom which has been observed in many countries, and
+brought much enjoyment to the young folk who received St. Nicholas'
+bounty.</p>
+
+<p>Before the Reformation there was another very strange custom
+associated with this day; namely, the election of a boy bishop, who
+was dressed in episcopal robes, with a mitre on his head, and who
+actually was allowed to preach in the church. This was done
+regularly at many of our cathedrals and collegiate churches, and we
+find records of the custom amongst the archives of Salisbury and
+many other places; even the service which they used is in existence.
+The youthful bishop was elected by the choir-boys, and exercised his
+functions until Holy Innocents' Day. On that day in great state he<span class="pagenum"><a name="page117" id="page117"></a>[pg 117]</span>
+entered the cathedral surrounded by the other boys, who played the
+part of prebendaries, and attended by the dean and canons, who on
+this occasion yielded up their dignity to the youthful prelate and
+his followers. The collect for Holy Innocents' Day in our
+Prayer-book formed part of the service. It was a strange ceremony,
+not unmixed with irreverence, and happily has long been
+discontinued, being forbidden by Royal proclamation in 1542, and
+finally abolished by Elizabeth.</p>
+
+<p>In the archives of the ancient town of Bristol there is a book of
+directions for the Mayor and his brethren, and on St. Nicholas' Day
+they are ordered to go to the Church of St. Nicholas and join in the
+festival of the boy bishop, to hear his sermon and receive his
+blessing. Then they dined together, and waited for the young bishop
+to come to them, playing the meanwhile at dice, the town clerk being
+ordered to find the dice, and to receive a penny for every raffle.
+The bishop was regaled with bread and wine, and preached again to
+the Mayor and corporation in the evening. I am informed that a
+curious memorial of this custom existed until recent years in one
+village at least. An old lady recollected that when she was a child
+she was allowed to play with her companions in church on St.
+Nicholas' Day.</p>
+
+<p>But Christmas is approaching, and we must hasten to describe that
+bright and happy festival. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page118" id="page118"></a>[pg 118]</span>holiday began on Christmas Eve, and
+perhaps you have wondered why we hang up mistletoe, and decorate our
+churches and houses with holly, why our ancestors brought in the
+Yule-log, and performed many other customs which do not seem to be
+very closely connected with the celebration of the birthday of our
+Lord. But we must remember that our forefathers were originally
+heathen, and at this period of the year they practised several
+strange customs connected with their Druidical worship, and held
+great feasts in honour of their gods. When Christian missionaries
+converted these heathen, they strove to put down some of the old
+idolatrous practices; but their efforts were in vain, for the people
+were warmly attached to these old rights and usages. So a compromise
+was effected: the old Pagan customs were shorn of their idolatry and
+transferred to our Christian festivals. Cutting the mistletoe was
+distinctly a rite practised by the Druids, who cut the sacred plant
+with a golden knife, and sacrificed two white bulls to the sylvan
+deities whom they thus sought to propitiate. We hang up our bunches
+of mistletoe now, but we do not attach any superstitious importance
+to it, nor imagine that any gods of the woods will be influenced by
+our procedure. The bringing in of the Yule-log was a Norse custom
+observed in honour of Thor, from whose name we derive our word
+Thursday or Thor's-day. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page119" id="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span>mighty log was drawn into the baronial
+hall with great pomp, while the bards sang their songs of praise and
+chanted &quot;Welcome Yule.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Welcome be Thou, heavenly King,<br /></span>
+<span>Welcome, born on this morning;<br /></span>
+<span>Welcome for whom we shall sing<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Welcome, Yule.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Herrick, who delighted so much in singing of</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Maypoles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes&mdash;&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>then bursts out in joyous strains:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Come, bring with a noise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">My merry, merry boys,<br /></span>
+<span>The Christmas log to the firing;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While my good dame, she<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Bids ye all be free<br /></span>
+<span>And drink to your heart's desiring.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With the last year's brand<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Light the new block, and<br /></span>
+<span>For good success in his spending,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On your psaltries play,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That sweet luck may<br /></span>
+<span>Come while the log is a-teending.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We can fancy that we see the ceremony, the glad procession of
+retainers and servants, the lights flaring in all directions: we can
+hear the shouts and chorus of many voices, the drums beating and
+flutes and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page120" id="page120"></a>[pg 120]</span>trumpets sounding. The huge hearth receives the mighty
+log, and the flames and sparks shoot up the gaping chimney. </p>
+
+<p>At Court in olden times Christmas was kept right royally, if we may
+judge from the extensive <i>menu</i> of the repasts of King Henry III.
+and his courtiers in the year 1247. He kept his Christmas at
+Winchester Castle, and the neighbourhood must have been ransacked to
+furnish supplies for the royal table. The choice dainties were as
+follows: Boars, with heads entire, well cooked and very succulent,
+48; fowls, 1900; partridges, mostly &quot;put in paste,&quot; 500; swans, 41;
+peacocks, 48; hares, 260; eggs, 24,000; 300 gallons of oysters; 300
+rabbits, and more if possible; birds of various sorts, as many as
+could be had; of whitings, &quot;particularly good and heavy,&quot; and conger
+eels the same; a hundred mullets, &quot;fat and very heavy.&quot; For bread
+the king paid &pound;27 10s., at the price of four loaves to the penny.
+When the king kept his Christmas at York in 1250, the royal treasury
+must have been very full, for he ordered for the royal banquets 7000
+fowls, 1750 partridges, besides immense numbers of boars, swans,
+pheasants, &amp;c. Of course the king had a very large retinue of
+vassals and feudal lords to provide for; but the store seems
+sufficiently vast to supply the wants of an army of faithful, but
+hungry, subjects. Sometimes, when the king was short of money, there
+was a considerable <span class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id="page121"></a>[pg 121]</span>reduction in the amount of good things consumed
+at Christmas. </p>
+
+<p>Our ancestors were very careful to attend the services of the
+church, which their loving hands had adorned with holly, bay,
+rosemary, and laurel. They considered it a day of special
+thanksgiving and rejoicing, as an old poet observed&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;At Christmas be merry and thankful with all,<br /></span>
+<span>And feast thy poor neighbours, the great and the small.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The solemn service of Holy Communion was celebrated on Christmas
+Eve, in medi&aelig;val times&mdash;the only night in all the year when an
+evening celebration was allowed. The halls of the knights and barons
+of ancient days were thrown open to all comers, and open house was
+kept for a fortnight. Rejoicing at Christmas time seems to have been
+universal, and it is not for us to judge whether in their mirth they
+sometimes forgot the reason of true Christmas joy, and thought more
+of their feasting than of Him who was born on Christmas Day. But by
+their hearty manner of keeping this annual festival, by the
+hospitality which the farmers and rich men showed to their labourers
+and poorer neighbours, they promoted, at any rate, &quot;goodwill amongst
+men&quot;&mdash;old animosities, quarrels, and bitternesses were forgotten,
+and the hearts of the poor cheered.</p>
+
+<p>In the North of England every farmer gave two feasts, one called
+&quot;the old folks' night,&quot; and the other <span class="pagenum"><a name="page122" id="page122"></a>[pg 122]</span>&quot;the young folks' night.&quot; The
+old Squire used to receive his tenants and neighbours at daybreak,
+when the black-jacks were passed round, and woe betide the luckless
+cook who had overslept herself, and had not boiled the Hackin, or
+large sausage, ere the day dawned, for then she was seized by the
+arms and made to run round the market-place, or courtyard, until she
+was ashamed of her laziness.</p>
+
+<p>And now let us enter the hall of some great baron and see how our
+ancestors kept a merry Christmas. The panelled walls, and stags'
+horns, and gallery at one end of the great room were hung with holly
+and mistletoe. The Yule-log blazed upon the hearth, and then entered
+the vassals, tenants, and servants of the lord to share in the
+Christmas banquet. Rank and ceremony were laid aside: all were
+deemed equal, whether lords or barons, serfs or peasants&mdash;a custom
+which arose, doubtless, from the remembrance of Him who on the first
+Christmas Day, &quot;although He was rich, yet for our sakes became
+poor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And now on the huge oaken table were placed the various dishes of
+the feast&mdash;a mighty boar's head, decorated with laurel and rosemary,
+whose approach was often heralded with trumpets as the king of the
+feast; then came a peacock, stuffed with spices and sweet herbs, and
+adorned with its gay feathers, and then followed a goodly company of
+geese, capons, sirloins of beef, pheasants, mince-pies, and
+plum-porridge. A carol was often sung when the boar's head was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page123" id="page123"></a>[pg 123]</span>
+brought in; here is one from the collection of Wynkyn de Worde: </p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i3">Caput Apri defero<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Reddens laudes Domino,<br /></span>
+<span>The Boar's Head in hand bring I<br /></span>
+<span>With garlands gay and rosemary;<br /></span>
+<span>I pray you all sing merrily<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Qui estis in convivio.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>The Boar's Head, I understand,<br /></span>
+<span>Is the chief service in this land;<br /></span>
+<span>Look wherever it be fande:<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Servile cum cantico.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>Be glad, lords, both more and lasse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For this hath ordained our stew&aacute;rd<br /></span>
+<span>To cheer you all this Christmasse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">The Boar's Head with must&aacute;rd.<a name="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18"><sup>[18]</sup></a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Neither were the ale and wassail-bowl forgotten, and they circulated
+sometimes too often, I fear, and laid the seeds of gout and other
+evils, from which other generations suffer. But when the prodigious
+appetites of the company had been appeased, the maskers and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page124" id="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span>mummers
+entered the hall and performed strange antics and a curious play,
+fragments of which have come down to our own time. The youths of the
+villages of England still come round at Christmas-time and act
+their mumming-drama, in which &quot;St. George&quot; kills a &quot;Turkish knight,&quot;
+who is raised to life by &quot;Medicine Man,&quot; and performs a very
+important part of the play&mdash;passing round the money-box. This is a
+remnant of the mumming of ancient days, and perhaps of some
+&quot;mystery&quot; play, of which I told you in a previous chapter.</p>
+
+<p>In Berkshire the characters are represented by &quot;Molly,&quot; a stalwart
+man dressed in a woman's gown, shawl, and bonnet, with a besom in
+his hand, who strives in his dialogue to imitate a woman's voice;
+King George, a big burly man dressed as a knight, with a wooden
+sword and a home-made helmet; a French officer, with a cocked hat
+and sword; a Doctor, who wears a pig-tail; Jack Vinny, a jester;
+Happy Jack, a humorous character dressed in tattered garments, and
+Old Beelzebub, who appears as Father Christmas. In some parts of the
+royal county the part of King George is taken by an &quot;Africky king,&quot;
+and a Turkish knight instead of the French officer. Very curious are
+the words of the old play, and very ludicrous the representation
+when the parts are acted by competent players.</p>
+
+<p>There was also in the baron's hall a great person dressed in a very
+fantastic garb, who was here, there, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" id="page125"></a>[pg 125]</span>and everywhere, directing the
+mummers, making jokes to amuse the company, and looking after
+everybody. He was called the &quot;Lord of Misrule.&quot; Sometimes his rule
+was harmless enough, and did good service in directing the revels;
+but often he was more worthy of his name, and was guilty of all
+kinds of absurd and mischievous pranks, which did great harm, and
+were very profane. But these were not part of the Christmas feast,
+where all was happiness and mirth. Sir Walter Scott says, in his
+description of the festival&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;England was merry England when<br /></span>
+<span>Old Christmas brought his sports again;<br /></span>
+<span>A Christmas gambol oft would cheer<br /></span>
+<span>A poor man's heart through all the year.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>All the old poets sing in praise of the great day which, as Herrick
+says, &quot;sees December turned to May,&quot; and which makes the &quot;chilling
+winter's morn smile like a field beset with corn.&quot; Old carols chant
+in reverent strains their homage to the infant Saviour: some reflect
+time-honoured customs and social joys when old age casts aside its
+solemnity and mingles once more in the light-hearted gaiety of
+youth, and all unite in chanting the praises of this happy festival.
+The poet Withers sings&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Lo! now is come our joyful'st feast!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Let every man be jolly;<br /></span>
+<span>Each room with ivy leaves is drest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And every post with holly.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id="page126"></a>[pg 126]</span>
+<span>&quot;Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And Christmas blocks are burning;<br /></span>
+<span>Their ovens they with baked meats choke,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And all their spits are turning.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Without the door let sorrow lie,<br /></span>
+<span>And if, for cold, it has to die,<br /></span>
+<span>We'll bury it in Christmas pie,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And evermore be merry.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Thus the happy night was spent; and if, like grave elders, we look
+down upon these frolics of a younger age, and think ourselves so
+much wiser and better than our forefathers, we should not forget the
+benefits which come from open-handed hospitality, goodwill, and
+simple manners, nor scornfully regard honest merriment and
+light-hearted gaiety. A light heart is generally not far removed
+from a holy heart.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, England was merry England then; and although there were plenty
+of troubles in those days, when plagues decimated whole villages,
+when wars were frequent, food scarce, and oppression common, yet the
+Christmas festivities, the varieties of sports and pastimes which
+each season provided, the homely customs and bonds of union between
+class and class which these observances strengthened, added
+brightness to the lives of our simple forefathers, who might
+otherwise have sunk beneath the burdens of their daily toil. We have
+seen how many customs and sports, which were at first simple and
+harmless, degenerated and were abused: we have noticed some of the
+bad features of these ancient pastimes, such as cruelty to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page127" id="page127"></a>[pg 127]</span>animals
+and intemperance; and are thankful that there is some improvement
+manifest in these respects. But it is interesting to witness again
+in imagination the scenes that once took place in our market-places
+and on our village greens; and, if it be impossible to restore again
+the glories of May Day and the brightness of the Christmas feast, we
+may still find plenty of harmless and innocent recreation, and learn
+to be merry, and at the same time wise.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/127.png" name="fig127" id="fig127">
+<img  src="images/127-thumb.png" alt="Chapter End Graphic" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<a name="FOOTNOTES"></a><h2>FOOTNOTES</h2>
+
+
+<a name="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1">[1]</a><div class="note">
+<p>Although the 1st of January was popularly regarded as
+the beginning of the year from early times, it was not until 1752
+A.D. that the legal commencement of the year was changed from March
+25th to the former date.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2">[2]</a><div class="note"><p> These fires signified our Saviour and the Twelve
+Apostles. One of the fires, which represented Judas, the traitor,
+was extinguished soon after it was lighted, and the materials of the
+fire kicked about.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3">[3]</a><div class="note"><p> The distaff was the staff which held the flax or wool
+in spinning. All maidens were engaged in this occupation, and a
+&quot;spinster&quot; (<i>i.e.</i> one who spins) is still the legal term for an
+unmarried woman.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4">[4]</a><div class="note"><p> St. Blaize (or Blasius) was Bishop of Sebaste in
+Armenia, and was martyred 316 A.D. His flesh was torn with iron
+combs, so the wool-staplers have adopted him as their patron saint.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5">[5]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Shrove-tide</i> and <i>Shrove Tuesday</i> derive their names
+from the ancient practice of confessing one's sins on that day. <i>To
+be shriven,</i> or <i>shrove</i>, means to obtain absolution from one's
+sin.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6">[6]</a><div class="note"><p> It was practised as late as the end of the last
+century.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7">[7]</a><div class="note"><p> So called from the Gospel of the day, which treats of
+the feeding of the five thousand.&mdash;<i>Cf</i>. Wheatley on Prayer-book.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8">[8]</a><div class="note"><p> The caber is a small tree, or beam, heavier at one end
+than the other. The performer holds this perpendicularly, with the
+smaller end downwards, and his object is to toss it so as to make it
+fall on the other end.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9">[9]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>A Pleasant Grove of New Fancies</i>, 1637.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10">[10]</a><div class="note"><p> Sometimes the May Queen did not consort with
+morris-dancers, but sat in solitary state under a canopy of boughs.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11">[11]</a><div class="note"><p> A Correspondence in <i>Athen&aelig;um</i>, Sept. 20, 1890.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12">[12]</a><div class="note"><p> The same story is told of Willes, who is supposed by
+some cricketers to be the inventor of the modern style of delivery.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13">[13]</a><div class="note"><p> The word <i>fair</i> is derived from the ecclesiastical
+term, <i>feria</i>, a holiday.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14">[14]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Cf.</i> Govett's <i>King's Book of Sports</i>, and <i>Tom
+Brown's Schooldays,</i> to which I am indebted for the above accurate
+description of back-sword play.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15">[15]</a><div class="note"><p> I am indebted for this description to Mr. W. Andrews'
+interesting book on the <i>Curiosities of the Church</i>.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16">[16]</a><div class="note"><p> Cf. <i>Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley</i>, by Mrs. Dent.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17">[17]</a><div class="note"><p> Cf. <i>Glossary of Berkshire Words and Phrases</i>, by
+Major B. Lowsley, R.E.</p></div>
+
+<a name="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18">[18]</a><div class="note"><p> The custom of bringing in the boar's head is still
+preserved at Queen's College, Oxford. The story is told of a student
+of the college who was attacked by a wild boar while he was
+diligently studying Aristotle during a walk near Shotover Hill. His
+book was his only means of defence, so he thrust the volume down the
+animal's throat, exclaiming, &quot;It is Greek!&quot; The boar found Greek
+very difficult to digest, and died on the spot, and the head was
+brought home in triumph by the student. Ever since that date, for
+five hundred years, a boar's head has graced the college table at
+Christmas.</p></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128" id="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span>
+<a name="INDEX"></a><h2>INDEX.</h2>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id="page129"></a>[pg 129]</span>
+<ul>
+<li> Agape, suggested origin of &quot;Church ales,&quot;
+<a href="#page053">53</a></li>
+<li>Ales, Church,
+<a href="#page052">52</a>,
+<a href="#page053"> 53</a>,
+<a href="#page057"> 57</a></li>
+<li> Alfred, laws relating to holidays, <a href="#page005">5</a></li>
+<li> All-hallow Eve, <a href="#page105">105</a> </li>
+<li> Animals to be hunted, <a href="#page016">16</a></li>
+<li> April, <a href="#page036">36</a></li>
+<li> Archery, <a href="#page025">25-31</a></li>
+<li> Ascension Day, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Ascham's accomplishments of English Gentleman, <a href="#page097">97</a></li>
+<li> Back-sword play, <a href="#page081">81</a></li>
+<li> Baiting bears, bulls, &amp;c., <a href="#page089">89</a></li>
+<li> Bale-fires,<a href="#page025">50</a></li>
+<li> Ball games, <a href="#page020">20</a>,
+<a href="#page021"> 21</a>,
+<a href="#page061"> 61-71</a></li>
+<li> Barley-brake, <a href="#page039">39</a></li>
+<li> Bath, wakes at, <a href="#page081">81</a></li>
+<li> Battledore, <a href="#page023">23</a></li>
+<li> Bean, King of, <a href="#page007">7</a></li>
+<li> Berks&mdash;Old sports, <a href="#page081">81</a></li>
+<li> &quot;Bessy,&quot;<a href="#page009"> 9</a></li>
+<li> Blaize St., <a href="#page018">18</a></li>
+<li> Boar's head at Christmas, <a href="#page123">123</a></li>
+<li> Bonfires, 6, <a href="#page057">57</a>,
+<a href="#page106">106</a>,
+<a href="#page108">108</a></li>
+<li> Book of Sports, <a href="#page048">48</a>,
+<a href="#page050"> 50</a></li>
+<li> Bounds, beating, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Bowl, <a href="#page049">49</a></li>
+<li> Boy bishop, <a href="#page116">116</a></li>
+<li> Bull-baiting, <a href="#page089">89</a></li>
+<li> Burning wheel, <a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Butts, <a href="#page027">27</a></li>
+<li> Caber-tossing, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Candlemas, <a href="#page018">18</a></li>
+<li> Carols, <a href="#page111">111</a></li>
+<li> <i>Catherine, St.</i>, miracle play, <a href="#page099"> 99</a></li>
+<li> Charlemagne, <a href="#page058">58</a></li>
+<li> Chess, 112</li>
+<li> Chester,<a href="#page041"> 41</a>,
+<a href="#page048">48</a></li>
+<li> Choirs, Old, <a href="#page111">111</a></li>
+<li> Christmas holidays,<a href="#page005"> 5</a>
+<ul>
+<li> customs, <a href="#page118">118-126</a></li>
+<li>at Court, <a href="#page120">120</a></li>
+</ul></li>
+<li>Church decoration, <a href="#page037">37</a>,
+<a href="#page049">49</a>,
+<a href="#page121">121</a>,</li>
+<li> Churchwardens' accounts,
+<a href="#page034">34</a>,
+<a href="#page036">36</a>,
+<a href="#page042">42</a>,
+<a href="#page054">54</a>,
+<a href="#page072">72</a>,
+<a href="#page100">100</a></li>
+<li> Church ale, <a href="#page052">52</a>,
+<a href="#page053">53</a>,
+<a href="#page057">57</a></li>
+<li> Church house, <a href="#page053">53</a></li>
+<li> Cloudslee, William of,<a href="#page028"> 28</a></li>
+<li> Club-ball, <a href="#page065">65</a>,
+<a href="#page066">66</a></li>
+<li> Cock-fighting, <a href="#page023">23</a>,
+<a href="#page024"> 24</a></li>
+<li> Cock-throwing, <a href="#page023">23</a></li>
+<li> Collop Monday,<a href="#page019"> 19</a></li>
+<li> <i>Colloquies</i> of Erasmus, <a href="#page113">113</a></li>
+<li> <i>Conversion of St. Paul</i>, mystery play, <a href="#page098">98</a></li>
+<li> Country parson, <a href="#page051">51</a></li>
+<li> Coventry, <a href="#page042">42</a>,
+<a href="#page103">103</a></li>
+<li> <i>Crafte of Hunting</i>, <a href="#page016">16</a></li>
+<li> Cricket, <a href="#page038">38</a>,
+<a href="#page061">61-65</a></li>
+<li> Cross-bow, <a href="#page027">27</a></li>
+<li> Cudgel-play, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Curling, <a href="#page039">39</a></li>
+<li> Customs, local,<a href="#page004"> 4</a>,
+<a href="#page005"> 5</a>,
+<a href="#page006"> 6</a>,
+<a href="#page012"> 12</a>,
+<a href="#page020"> 20</a>,
+<a href="#page024"> 24</a>,
+<a href="#page033"> 33</a>,
+<a href="#page034"> 34</a>,
+<a href="#page037"> 37</a>,
+<a href="#page038"> 38</a>,
+<a href="#page039"> 39</a>,
+<a href="#page040"> 40</a>,
+<a href="#page041"> 41</a>,
+<a href="#page050"> 50</a>,
+<a href="#page054"> 54</a>,
+<a href="#page060"> 60</a>,
+<a href="#page062"> 62</a>,
+<a href="#page078"> 78</a>,
+<a href="#page081"> 81</a>,
+<a href="#page106"> 106</a>,
+<a href="#page108"> 108</a>,
+<a href="#page109"> 109</a>,
+<a href="#page117"> 117</a></li>
+</ul>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page130" id="page130"></a>[pg 130]</span>
+<ul>
+<li>Dances, country, on village green,
+<a href="#page011"> 11</a></li>
+<li> Dancing with swords,
+<a href="#page010"> 10</a></li>
+<li> December, <a href="#page115">115</a></li>
+<li> Dedication festivals,<a href="#page003"> 3</a></li>
+<li> <i>Demands Joyous</i>, <a href="#page110">110</a></li>
+<li> Devonshire custom,
+<a href="#page004"> 4</a> </li>
+<li> Distaff, St.,
+<a href="#page009"> 9</a> </li>
+<li> Dragons, <a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Dues, Cock-fight,
+<a href="#page024"> 24</a> </li>
+<li> Early sport,<a href="#page014"> 14</a>, <a href="#page016">16</a></li>
+<li> Easter, <a href="#page036">36-41</a></li>
+<li> Eighteenth century cricket, <a href="#page063">63</a></li>
+<li> Election of King of Bean,<a href="#page007"> 7</a></li>
+<li> England &quot;Merry,&quot;<a href="#page001"> 1</a>,
+<a href="#page125">125</a>, <a href="#page126">126</a></li>
+<li> <i>English Villages, Our</i>,<a href="#page003"> 3</a>,
+<a href="#page080">80</a></li>
+<li> Epiphany,<a href="#page005"> 5</a></li>
+<li> Erasmus, <i>Colloquies</i> of, <a href="#page113">113</a></li>
+<li> Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, <a href="#page090">90</a></li>
+<li> Fairs, <a href="#page003">3</a>,
+<a href="#page080">80</a>, </li>
+<li> Falconer, <a href="#page087">87</a></li>
+<li> February,<a href="#page013"> 13</a></li>
+<li> Festivals,<a href="#page003"> 3</a>,
+<a href="#page036">36</a>,
+<a href="#page050">50</a>,
+<a href="#page118">118</a></li>
+<li> Finsbury,<a href="#page028"> 28</a> </li>
+<li> Football, <a href="#page020">20</a>,
+<a href="#page021">21</a>,
+<a href="#page041">41</a></li>
+<li> Foot-races,<a href="#page022"> 22</a>,
+<a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Fox-hunting extraordinary,<a href="#page017"> 17</a></li>
+<li> France, home of tennis, <a href="#page039">39</a></li>
+<li> Gambling, <a href="#page112">112</a></li>
+<li> Games, minor ball, <a href="#page071">71</a>
+<ul>
+<li>ball, <a href="#page020">20</a>,
+<a href="#page021">21</a>,
+<a href="#page064"> 64</a>,
+<a href="#page071">71</a></li>
+<li>indoor, <a href="#page021">21</a>,
+<a href="#page112">112</a></li>
+</ul></li>
+<li> George Herbert, <a href="#page051">51</a></li>
+<li> Golf, <a href="#page066">66</a>,
+<a href="#page068">68</a></li>
+<li> Good Friday cake,<a href="#page033"> 33</a></li>
+<li> Gospel trees, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Grasmere, <a href="#page072">72</a></li>
+<li> Guildford, cricket at, <a href="#page062">62</a></li>
+<li> Gunpowder Plot, <a href="#page108">108</a></li>
+<li> Guy Fawkes, <a href="#page107">107</a></li>
+<li> Hambledon Cricket Club, <a href="#page063">63</a>,
+<a href="#page064"> 64</a></li>
+<li> Handball, <a href="#page027">27</a></li>
+<li> Handball in Church, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Harvest home, <a href="#page075">75</a>,
+<a href="#page079">79</a></li>
+<li> Hawking, <a href="#page084">84</a></li>
+<li> Heaving, <a href="#page037">37</a></li>
+<li> Herbert, George, <a href="#page051">51</a></li>
+<li> Herefordshire custom,<a href="#page006"> 6</a></li>
+<li> Herrick,<a href="#page009"> 9</a>,
+<a href="#page031">31</a>,
+<a href="#page074"> 74</a>,
+<a href="#page115">115</a>,
+<a href="#page119"> 119</a>,
+<a href="#page125">125</a></li>
+<li> Hobby-horse,<a href="#page026"> 26</a></li>
+<li> Hock-cart, <a href="#page075">75</a></li>
+<li> Hocking, <a href="#page054">54</a></li>
+<li> Hock-tide, <a href="#page041">41</a>,
+<a href="#page042">42</a></li>
+<li> Holland, golf introduced from, <a href="#page066">66</a></li>
+<li> Horse-collar, grinning through a, <a href="#page054">54</a></li>
+<li> Hot cross buns,<a href="#page033"> 33</a>,
+<a href="#page034">34</a></li>
+<li> Hunting,<a href="#page013"> 13</a>,
+<a href="#page017"> 17</a></li>
+<li> Hurling,<a href="#page022"> 22</a>,
+<a href="#page023">23</a></li>
+<li> Indoor games, <a href="#page021">21</a></li>
+<li> Ireland, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Isaak Walton,<a href="#page017"> 17</a></li>
+<li> January,<a href="#page001"> 1</a></li>
+<li> Jersey, <a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Jingling match, <a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> John's, St., Eve, <a href="#page057">57</a></li>
+<li> Jousts, <a href="#page094">94</a></li>
+<li> July, <a href="#page061">61</a></li>
+<li> June, <a href="#page052">52</a></li>
+<li> Kenilworth Castle, pageants at <a href="#page103">103</a></li>
+<li> Kent and Sussex, first homes of cricket, <a href="#page062">62</a></li>
+<li> King of the Bean,<a href="#page007"> 7</a></li>
+<li> Lammas, <a href="#page074">74</a></li>
+<li> Lancashire, <a href="#page049">49</a></li>
+<li> Lawn-tennis, <a href="#page070">70</a></li>
+<li> Lifting, <a href="#page037">37</a></li>
+<li> Lillywhite, <a href="#page065">65</a></li>
+<li> Local customs,
+<a href="#page004">4</a>,
+<a href="#page005">5</a>,
+<a href="#page012">12</a>,
+<a href="#page019">19</a>,
+<a href="#page024">24</a>,
+<a href="#page033">33</a>,
+<a href="#page034">34</a>,
+<a href="#page037">37</a>,
+<a href="#page038">38</a>,
+<a href="#page039">39</a>,
+<a href="#page040">40</a>,
+<a href="#page041">41</a>,
+<a href="#page050">50</a>,
+<a href="#page054">54</a>,
+<a href="#page060">60</a>,
+<a href="#page062">62</a>,
+<a href="#page078">78</a>,
+<a href="#page081">81</a>,
+<a href="#page107">107</a>,
+<a href="#page108">108</a>,
+<a href="#page109">109</a>,
+<a href="#page117">117</a>,
+<a href="#page123">123</a></li>
+<li>&quot;Lord of Misrule,&quot; <a href="#page125">125</a></li>
+</ul>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" id="page131"></a>[pg 131]</span>
+<ul>
+<li>Magdalen hymn, <a href="#page045">45</a></li>
+<li> Magdalen pulpit, <a href="#page060">60</a></li>
+<li> March, <a href="#page025">25</a></li>
+<li> Martinmas, <a href="#page110">110</a></li>
+<li> Maundy Thursday&mdash;Money,<a href="#page033"> 33</a></li>
+<li> May&mdash;May Day, <a href="#page044">44</a></li>
+<li> May-pole, <a href="#page045">45</a>,
+<a href="#page046">46</a>,
+<a href="#page048">48</a></li>
+<li> May Queen, <a href="#page046">46</a></li>
+<li> &quot;Merry England,&quot;<a href="#page001"> 1</a>,
+<a href="#page125">125</a>,
+<a href="#page126">126</a></li>
+<li> Mews, origin of word, <a href="#page088">88</a></li>
+<li> Michaelmas, <a href="#page088">88</a></li>
+<li> Midsummer Eve, <a href="#page058">58</a></li>
+<li> Minor ball-games, <a href="#page071">71</a></li>
+<li> Miracle plays, <a href="#page036">36</a>,
+<a href="#page057">57</a>,
+<a href="#page098">98</a></li>
+<li> Misrule,&quot; &quot;Lord of, <a href="#page125">125</a></li>
+<li> Mitford, Miss, <i>Our Village</i>,<a href="#page064"> 64</a></li>
+<li> <i>Moralities</i>, <a href="#page099">99</a></li>
+<li> Mothering-Sunday, <a href="#page031">31</a></li>
+<li> Mummers, <a href="#page124">124</a></li>
+<li> <i>Mysteries</i>, <a href="#page057">57</a>,
+<a href="#page098">98</a>,
+<a href="#page100">100</a></li>
+<li> New Year's Day, <a href="#page045">45</a></li>
+<li> <i>Nicholas, St., The Image of</i>, mystery play,
+<a href="#page099">99</a></li>
+<li> Nicholas, Day, St., <a href="#page116">116</a></li>
+<li> <i>Noah and the Flood</i>, mystery play,
+<a href="#page098">98</a></li>
+<li> November, <a href="#page105">105</a></li>
+<li> October, <a href="#page092">92</a></li>
+<li> Old songs,
+<a href="#page004">4</a>,
+<a href="#page006">6</a>,
+<a href="#page008">8</a>,
+<a href="#page013">13</a>,
+<a href="#page014">14</a>,
+<a href="#page023">23</a>,
+<a href="#page036">28</a>,
+<a href="#page036">36</a>,
+<a href="#page046">46</a>,
+<a href="#page063">63</a>,
+<a href="#page075">75</a>,
+<a href="#page076">76</a>,
+<a href="#page077">77</a>,
+<a href="#page109">109</a></li>
+<li> Orchards, wassailing of,
+<a href="#page004">4</a>,
+<a href="#page006">6</a> </li>
+<li> Otter-hunting,
+<a href="#page017">17</a> </li>
+<li> <i>Our English Villages</i>, reference,
+<a href="#page003">3</a>,
+<a href="#page080">80</a></li>
+<li> <i>Our Village</i>, reference,<a href="#page064"> 64</a></li>
+<li> Outdoor winter sports,
+<a href="#page007">7</a> </li>
+<li> Oxford customs, <a href="#page109">109</a>,
+<a href="#page123">123</a></li>
+<li> Pace, <i>Pasche, Paschal</i>, eggs, <a href="#page037">37</a></li>
+<li> Pageants, <a href="#page101">101</a></li>
+<li> Pall Mall, <a href="#page068">68</a></li>
+<li> Palm Sunday,<a href="#page032"> 32</a></li>
+<li> Park, St. James's, <a href="#page068">68</a></li>
+<li> Parson, country, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Pea, Queen of,<a href="#page008"> 8</a></li>
+<li> Pig-catching, <a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> Pigeon-holes, <a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> Plagues, <a href="#page072">72</a></li>
+<li> Plough Monday,<a href="#page009"> 9</a></li>
+<li> Pole-leaping, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Purification, <a href="#page018">18</a></li>
+<li> Puritans, <a href="#page047">47</a></li>
+<li> Quarter-staff, <a href="#page038">38</a>,
+<a href="#page054">54</a>,
+<a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> Queen of the Pea,
+<a href="#page008">8</a> </li>
+<li> Queen of the Play, <a href="#page046">46</a></li>
+<li> Quintain, <a href="#page041">41</a></li>
+<li> Reading town, <a href="#page027">27</a>,
+<a href="#page042">42</a>,
+<a href="#page054">54</a></li>
+<li> Reformation,<a href="#page009"> 9</a>,
+<a href="#page018">18</a>,
+<a href="#page022">22</a> </li>
+<li> Refreshment Sunday, <a href="#page031">31</a></li>
+<li> Relics of Sun-worship, <a href="#page051">51</a>,
+<a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Revival of Bounds-beating, <a href="#page051">51</a></li>
+<li> Robin Hood,<a href="#page028"> 28</a></li>
+<li> Roch's, St., Day, <a href="#page075">75</a></li>
+<li> Rogation Days, <a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Royal golfers, <a href="#page066">66</a>
+<ul>
+<li>tennis players, <a href="#page069">69</a>,
+<a href="#page070">70</a></li>
+</ul></li>
+<li> Rush-bearing, rushes in Churches, <a href="#page049">49</a>,
+<a href="#page071">71</a>, <a href="#page072">72</a></li>
+<li> Salisbury, boy bishop, <a href="#page116">116</a></li>
+<li> September, <a href="#page084">84</a></li>
+<li> Sepulchres,<a href="#page035"> 35</a></li>
+<li> Sheep-shearing, <a href="#page079">79</a></li>
+<li> Shere Thursday,<a href="#page033"> 33</a></li>
+<li> Shrovetide, 19,<a href="#page024"> 24</a></li>
+<li> Simnell-cakes,<a href="#page032"> 32</a></li>
+<li> Single-stick,<a href="#page035"> 35</a></li>
+<li> Skating,
+<a href="#page010">10</a>,
+<a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> &quot;Spinster,&quot; derivation of,<a href="#page009"> 9</a></li>
+<li> Sports, Book of, <a href="#page048">48</a>,
+<a href="#page049">49</a>,
+<a href="#page050">50</a></li>
+<li> Sports, early,<a href="#page014"> 14</a>,
+<a href="#page016">16</a></li>
+<li> Songs, old,
+<a href="#page004"> 4</a>,
+<a href="#page006"> 6</a>,
+<a href="#page008"> 8</a>,
+<a href="#page013"> 13</a>,
+<a href="#page014"> 14</a>,
+<a href="#page023"> 23</a>,
+<a href="#page028"> 28</a>,
+<a href="#page036"> 36</a>,
+<a href="#page046"> 46</a>,
+<a href="#page063"> 63</a>,
+<a href="#page075"> 75</a>,
+<a href="#page076"> 76</a>,
+<a href="#page077"> 77</a>,
+<a href="#page109"> 109</a></li>
+<li> Soul-cakes, <a href="#page106">106</a></li>
+<li> Stool-ball, <a href="#page066">66</a></li>
+<li> Stuarts, <a href="#page021">21</a>,
+<a href="#page048"> 48</a>,
+<a href="#page050"> 50</a>,
+<a href="#page066"> 66</a>,
+<a href="#page068"> 68</a>,
+<a href="#page080"> 80</a></li>
+<li> Sudeley Castle, pageants at, <a href="#page101">101</a></li>
+<li> Sun-worship, relics of, <a href="#page057">57</a>,
+<a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+</ul>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page132" id="page132"></a>[pg 132]</span>
+<ul>
+<li> Superstitions,
+<a href="#page005">5</a>,
+<a href="#page033">33</a>,
+<a href="#page039">39</a>,
+<a href="#page050">50</a>,
+<a href="#page059">59</a>,
+<a href="#page106">106</a>,
+<a href="#page107">107</a></li>
+<li> Sussex custom,<a href="#page004"> 4</a></li>
+<li> Sussex and Kent, first homes of cricket, <a href="#page062">62</a></li>
+<li> Tansy-cake, <a href="#page038">38</a></li>
+<li> Tennis, <a href="#page068">68</a>,
+<a href="#page071">71</a></li>
+<li> Tilting at a ring, <a href="#page097">97</a></li>
+<li> Tipcat called Billet, <a href="#page023">23</a></li>
+<li> Tournaments, <a href="#page092">92</a></li>
+<li> Trap-ball, <a href="#page066">66</a></li>
+<li> Tusser, <i>Five Hundred Points of Husbandry</i>, <a href="#page079">79</a></li>
+<li> Twelfth Day Eve,<a href="#page005"> 5</a>,
+<a href="#page006">6</a></li>
+<li> Twelfth Night, 7</li>
+<li> <i>Undershaft</i>, St. Andrew, <a href="#page048">48</a></li>
+<li> Uncleanliness, <a href="#page072">72</a></li>
+<li> Valentine, St., <a href="#page018">18</a></li>
+<li> Wakes, <a href="#page079">79</a>,
+<a href="#page080">80</a>,
+<a href="#page081">81</a></li>
+<li> Walton, Isaak,<a href="#page017"> 17</a></li>
+<li> &quot;Wassail,&quot;<a href="#page004"> 4</a></li>
+<li> Water tournament, <a href="#page039">39</a>,
+<a href="#page040">40</a></li>
+<li> Whistling match, <a href="#page056">56</a></li>
+<li> White Horse Hill, <a href="#page054">54</a></li>
+<li> Whitsuntide, <a href="#page052">52</a></li>
+<li> Willes, <a href="#page065">65</a></li>
+<li> Winter games, indoor,<a href="#page010"> 10</a></li>
+<li> Wise men from East,<a href="#page007"> 7</a></li>
+<li> Withers, Christmas song, <a href="#page125">125</a></li>
+<li> Wrestling, <a href="#page059">59</a></li>
+<li> Year, New, festivities,<a href="#page004"> 4</a>,
+<a href="#page005"> 5</a></li>
+<li> Yule-log, <a href="#page118">118</a></li>
+</ul>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page133" id="page133"></a>[pg 133]</span>
+<hr />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h6><i>Richard Clay &amp; Sons, Limited, London &amp; Bungay</i></h6>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Old English Sports, by Peter Hampson
+Ditchfield
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Old English Sports
+
+Author: Peter Hampson Ditchfield
+
+Release Date: December 10, 2004  [eBook #14315]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD ENGLISH SPORTS***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Richard J. Shiffer, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
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+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
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+
+
+
+
+
+OLD ENGLISH SPORTS
+
+Pastimes and Customs
+
+by
+
+P. H. DITCHFIELD, M.A.
+
+Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; Rector of Barkham, Berks
+Hon. Sec. of Berks Archaeological Society, etc.
+
+First published by Methuen & Co., 1891
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+LADY RUSSEL
+
+THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH THE AUTHOR'S
+KINDEST REGARDS.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Encouraged by the kind reception which his former book, _Our English
+Villages_, met with at the hands of both critics and the public, the
+author has ventured to reproduce in book-form another series of
+articles which have appeared during the past year in the pages of
+_The Parish Magazine_. He desires to express his thanks to Canon
+Erskine Clarke for kindly permitting him to reprint the articles,
+which have been expanded and in part rewritten. The Sports and
+Pastimes of England have had many chroniclers, both ancient and
+modern, amongst whom may be mentioned Strutt, Brand, Hone, Stow, and
+several others, to whose works the writer is indebted for much
+valuable information.
+
+The object of this book is to describe, in simple language, the
+holiday festivals as they occurred in each month of the year; and
+the sports, games, pastimes, and customs associated with these rural
+feasts. It is hoped that such a description may not be without
+interest to our English villagers, and perhaps to others who love
+the study of the past. Possibly it may help forward the revival of
+the best features of old village life, and the restoration of some
+of those pleasing customs which Time has deprived us of. The writer
+is much indebted to Mr. E.R.R. Bindon for his very careful revision
+of the proof-sheets.
+
+BARKHAM RECTORY,
+1891.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+JANUARY.
+
+Dedication Festivals--New Year's Day--"Wassail"--Twelfth
+Night--"King of the Bean"--St. Distaffs Day--Plough
+Monday--Winter Games--Skating--Sword-dancing
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+FEBRUARY.
+
+Hunting--Candlemas Day--St. Blaize's Day--Shrove-tide--
+Football--Battledore and Shuttlecock--Cock-throwing
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MARCH.
+
+Archery--Lent--"Mothering" Sunday--Palm Sunday--
+"Shere" Thursday--Watching the Sepulchre
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+APRIL.
+
+Easter Customs--Pace Eggs--Handball in Churches--Sports confined
+to special localities--Stoolball and Barley-brake--Water
+Tournament:--Quintain--Chester Sports--Hock-tide
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MAY.
+
+May-day Festivities--May-pole--Morris-dancers--The Book of
+Sports--Bowling--Beating the Bounds--George Herbert's description
+of a Country Parson
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JUNE.
+
+Whitsuntide Sports--Church-ales--Church-house--Quarter-staff--
+Whistling and Jingling Matches--St. John's Eve--Wrestling
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+JULY.
+
+Cricket--Club-ball--Trap-ball--Golf--Pall-mall--Tennis--Rush-bearing
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+AUGUST.
+
+Lammas Day--St. Roch's Day--Harvest Home--"Ten-pounding"
+--Sheep-shearing--"Wakes"--Fairs
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+SEPTEMBER.
+
+Hawking--Michaelmas--Bull and Bear-baiting
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+OCTOBER.
+
+Tournaments--"Mysteries"--"Moralities"--Pageants
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NOVEMBER.
+
+All-hallow Eve--"Soul Cakes"--Diving for Apples--The Fifth
+of November--Martinmas--"Demands Joyous "--Indoor Games
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DECEMBER.
+
+St. Nicholas' Day--The Boy Bishop--Christmas Eve--Christmas
+Customs--Mummers--"Lord of Misrule"--Conclusion
+
+INDEX
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+JANUARY.
+
+     "Come then, come then, and let us bring
+      Unto our pretty Twelfth-Tide King,
+      Each one his several offering."
+
+                                 HERRICK'S _Star Song_.
+
+Dedication Festivals--New Year's Day--"Wassail"--Twelfth
+  Night--"King of the Bean"--St. Distaff's Day--Plough
+  Monday--Winter Games--Skating--Sword-dancing.
+
+
+In the old life of rural England few things are more interesting
+than the ancient sports and pastimes, the strange superstitions, and
+curious customs which existed in the times of our forefathers. We
+remember that our land once rejoiced in the name of "Merry England,"
+and perhaps feel some regret that many of the outward signs of
+happiness have passed away from us, and that in striving to become a
+great and prosperous nation, we have ceased to be a genial,
+contented, and happy one. In these days new manners are ever pushing
+out the old. The restlessness of modern life has invaded the
+peaceful retirement of our villages, and railway trains and cheap
+excursions have killed the old games and simple amusements which
+delighted our ancestors in days of yore. The old traditions of the
+country-side are forgotten, and poor imitations of town manners have
+taken their place. Old social customs which added such diversity to
+the lives of the rustics two centuries ago have died out. Very few
+of the old village games and sports have survived. The village
+green, the source of so much innocent happiness, is no more; and
+with it has disappeared much of that innocent and light-hearted
+cheerfulness which brightened the hours of labour, and refreshed the
+spirit of the toiling rustic, when his daily task was done. Times
+have changed, and we have changed with them. We could not now revive
+many of the customs and diversions in which our fathers took
+delight. Serious and grave men no longer take pleasure in the
+playthings which pleased them when they were children; and our
+nation has become grave and serious, and likes not the simple joys
+which diversified the lives of our forefathers, and made England
+"merry."
+
+Is it possible that we cannot restore some of these time-honoured
+customs? The sun shines as brightly now as ever it did on a May-day
+festival; the Christmas fire glows as in olden days. Let us try to
+revive the spirit which animated their festivals. Let us endeavour
+to realize how our village forefathers used to enjoy themselves, how
+they used to spend their holidays, and to picture to ourselves the
+scenes of social intercourse which once took place in our own
+hamlets. Every season of the year had its holiday customs and quaint
+manner of observance, some of them confined to particular counties,
+but many of them universally observed.
+
+In the volume, recently published, which treated of the story and
+the antiquities of "Our English Villages," I pointed out that the
+Church was the centre of the life of the old village--not only of
+its religious life, but also of its secular every-day life. This is
+true also with regard to the amusements of the people. The festival
+of the saint, to whom the parish church was dedicated, was
+celebrated with much rejoicing. The annual fair was held on that
+day, when, after their business was ended, friends and neighbours
+met together and took part in some of the sports and pastimes which
+I shall try to describe. The other holidays of the year were
+generally regulated by the Church's calendar, the great
+festivals--Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday---being all
+duly observed. I propose to record in these pages the principal
+sports, pastimes, and customs which our forefathers delighted in
+during each month of the year, the accounts of which are not only
+amusing, but add to our historical knowledge, and help us to realize
+something of the old village life of rural England.
+
+We will begin with New Year's Day[1]. It was an ancient Saxon custom
+to begin the year by sending presents to each other. On New Year's
+Eve the wassail bowl of spiced ale was carried round from house to
+house by the village maidens, who sang songs and wished every one "A
+Happy New Year." "Wassail" is an old Saxon word, meaning "Be in
+health." Rowena, the daughter of the Saxon king Hengist, offered a
+flowing bowl to the British king Vortigern, welcoming him with the
+words, "Lloured King Wassheil." In Devonshire and Sussex it was the
+custom to wassail the orchards; a troop of boys visited the
+orchards, and, encircling the apple-trees, they sang the words--
+
+     "Stand fast, bear well top,
+      Pray God send us a howling crop;
+      Every twig, apples big;
+      Every bough, apples enow;
+      Hats full, caps full,
+      Full quarter-sacks full."
+
+Then the boys shouted in chorus, and rapped the trees with their
+sticks.
+
+The custom of giving presents on New Year's Day is as old as the
+time of the Romans, who attached superstitious importance to it, and
+thought the gifts brought them a lucky year. Our Christian
+forefathers retained the pleasant custom when its superstitious
+origin was long forgotten. Fathers and mothers used to delight each
+other and their little ones by their mutual gifts; the masters gave
+presents to their servants, and with "march-paynes, tarts, and
+custards great," they celebrated the advent of the new year. Oranges
+stuck with cloves, or a fat capon, were some of the usual forms of
+New Year's gifts.
+
+The "bringing-in" of the new year is a time-honoured custom; which
+duty is performed by the first person who enters the house after the
+old year has expired. In the North of England this important person
+must be a dark man, otherwise superstitious folk believe that
+ill-luck would befall the household. In other parts of England a
+light-complexioned man is considered a more favourable harbinger of
+good fortune.
+
+The Christmas holidays extended over twelve days, which bring us to
+January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. It is stated that "in the
+days of King Alfred a law was made with regard to holidays, by
+virtue of which the twelve days after the Nativity of our Saviour
+were made festivals." Twelfth Day Eve was a great occasion among the
+rustics of England, and many curious customs are connected with it.
+In Herefordshire the farmers and servants used to meet together in
+the evening and walk to a field of wheat. There they lighted twelve
+small fires and one large one[2], and forming a circle round the
+huge bonfire, they raised a shout, which was answered from all the
+neighbouring fields and villages. At home the busy housewife was
+preparing a hearty supper for the men. After supper they adjourned
+to the ox-stalls, and the master stood in front of the finest of the
+oxen and pledged him in a curious toast; the company followed his
+example with all the other oxen, and then they returned to the house
+and found all the doors locked, and admittance sternly refused until
+they had sung some joyous songs.
+
+In the south of Devonshire, on the eve of the Epiphany, the
+best-bearing trees in the orchard were encircled by the farmer and
+his labourers, who sang the following refrain--
+
+              "Here's to thee, old apple-tree,
+     Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blow,
+     And whence thou may'st bear apples enow!
+               Hats full! caps full!
+               Bushel-bushel-sacks full,
+               And my pockets full too! Huzza!"
+
+The returning company were not allowed to enter the house until some
+one guessed what was on the spit, which savoury tit-bit was awarded
+to the man who first named it.
+
+The youths of the village during the holidays had plenty of sport,
+outdoor and indoor, which kept out the cold by wholesome exercise
+and recreative games. Many a hard battle was fought with snowballs,
+or with bat-and-ball on the ice; the barns were the scenes of many a
+wrestling match or exciting game at skittles; and in the evenings
+they played such romping games as blind-man's-buff, hunt the
+slipper, and others of a similar character. While the company sat
+round the yule-log blazing on the hearth, eating mince-pies, or plum
+porridge, and quaffing a bowl of well-spiced elder wine, the mummers
+would enter, decked out in ribands and strange dresses, execute
+their strange antics, and perform their curious play. So the wintry
+days passed until Twelfth Night, with its pleasing associations and
+mirthful customs.
+
+Twelfth Night was a very popular festival, when honour was done to
+the memory of the Three Wise Men from the East, who were called the
+Three Kings. The election of kings and queens by beans was a very
+ancient custom. The farmer invited his friends and labourers to
+supper, and a huge plumcake was brought in, containing a bean and a
+pea. The man who received the piece of cake containing the bean was
+called the King of the Bean, and received the honour of the company;
+and the pea conferred a like privilege on the lady who drew the
+favoured lot. The rest of the visitors assumed the rank of ministers
+of state or maids of honour. The festival was generally held in a
+large barn decorated with evergreens, and a large bough of mistletoe
+was not forgotten, which was often the source of much merriment.
+When the ceremony began, some one repeated the lines--
+
+      "Now, now the mirth comes
+       With the cake full of plums,
+     When Bean is King of the Sport here.
+       Beside, you must know,
+       The Pea also
+     Must revel as Queen of the Court here."
+
+Then the cake was cut and distributed amid much laughter and merry
+shouts. The holders of the bean and pea were hailed as king and
+queen for the night, the band struck up some time-honoured melody,
+and a country dance followed which was ever carried on with much
+spirit. The king exercised his royal prerogative by choosing
+partners for the women, and the queen performed a like office for
+the men; and so they merrily played their parts till the hours grew
+late.
+
+But the holidays were nearly over, and the time for resuming work
+had arrived. However, neither the women nor the men seemed to be in
+any hurry to begin. The day after Twelfth Day was humorously called
+St. Distaft's[3] Day, which was devoted to "partly work and partly
+play." Herrick, the recorder of many social customs, tells us that
+the ploughmen used to set on fire the flax which the maids used for
+spinning, and received pails of water on their heads for their
+mischief. The following Monday was called Plough Monday, when the
+labourers used to draw a plough decked with ribbons round the
+parish, and receive presents of money, favouring the spectators with
+sword-dancing and mumming. The rude procession of men, clad in clean
+smock-frocks, headed by the renowned "Bessy," who sang and rattled
+the money-box, accompanied by a strangely-dressed character called
+the Fool, attired in skins of various animals and having a long
+tail, threw life into the dreary scenery of winter, as the
+gaily-decked plough was drawn along the quiet country lanes from one
+village to another. The origin of Plough Monday dates back to
+pre-Reformation times, when societies of ploughmen called guilds
+used to keep lights burning upon the shrine of some saint, to invoke
+a blessing on their labour. The Reformation put out the lights, but
+it could not extinguish the festival.
+
+In the long winter evenings the country folk amused themselves
+around their winter's fireside by telling old romantic stories of
+errant knights and fairies, goblins, witches, and the rest; or by
+reciting
+
+                      "Some merry fit
+      Of Mayde Marran, or els of Robin Hood."
+
+In the Tudor times there were plenty of winter games for those who
+could play them, amongst which we may mention chess, cards, dice,
+shovel-board, and many others.
+
+And when the ponds and rivers were frozen, as early as the twelfth
+century the merry skaters used to glide over the smooth ice. Their
+skates were of a very primitive construction, and consisted of the
+leg-bones of animals tied under their feet by means of thongs.
+Neither were the skaters quite equal to cutting "threes" and
+"eights" upon the ice; they could only push themselves along by
+means of a pole with an iron spike at the end. But they used to
+charge each other after the manner of knights in a tournament, and
+use their poles for spears. An old writer says that "they pushed
+themselves along with such speed that they seemed to fly like a bird
+in the air, or as darts shot out from the engines of war." Some of
+the less adventurous youths were content with sliding, or driving
+each other forward on great pieces of ice. "Dancing with swords" was
+a favourite form of amusement among the young men of Northern
+nations, and in those parts of England where the Norsemen and Danes
+settled, this graceful gymnastic custom long lingered.
+
+[Illustration: DANCING ON THE VILLAGE GREEN.]
+
+The old country dances which used to delight our fathers seem to be
+vanishing. I have not seen for many years the village rustics
+"crossing hands" and going "down the middle," and tripping merrily
+to the tune of a fiddle; but perhaps they do so still.
+
+In olden days the city maidens of London were often "dancing and
+tripping till moonlight" in the open air; and later on we read that
+on holidays, after evening prayer, while the youths exercised their
+wasters and bucklers, the maidens, "one of them playing on a
+timbrel, in sight of their masters and dames, used to dance for
+garlands hanged athwart the streets." Stow, the recorder of this
+custom, wisely adds, "which open pastimes in my youth, being now
+suppressed, worser practices within doors are to be feared." In some
+parts of England they still trip it gaily in the moonlight. A
+clergyman in Gloucestershire tried to establish a cricket club in
+his parish, but his efforts were all in vain; the young men
+preferred to dance together on the village green, and the more manly
+diversion had no charms for them. Dancing was never absent from our
+ancestors' festivities, and round the merry May-pole
+
+                    "Where the jocund swains
+     Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe strains;"
+
+or in the festal hall, adorned with evergreens and mistletoe, with
+tripping feet they passed the hours "till envious night commands
+them to be gone."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+FEBRUARY.
+
+     "Down with rosemary and bayes,
+        Down with the mistleto,
+      Instead of holly, now up-raise
+        The greener box, for show."
+
+     "The holly hitherto did sway;
+        Let box now domineere,
+      Untill the dancing Easter-day,
+        Or Easter's eve appeare."
+
+Hunting--Candlemas Day--St. Blaize's Day--Shrove-tide--
+  Football--Battledore and Shuttlecock--Cock-throwing.
+
+
+The fox-hounds often meet in our village during this cheerless
+month, and I am reminded by the red coats of the huntsmen, and by
+the sound of the cheerful horn, of the sportsmen of ancient days,
+who chased the wolf, hart, wild boar, and buck among these same
+woods and dales of England. All hearts love to hear the merry sound
+of the huntsman's horn, except perhaps that of the hunted fox or
+stag. The love of hunting seems ingrained in every Englishman, and
+whenever the horsemen appear in sight, or the "music" of the hounds
+is heard in the distance, the spade is laid aside, the ploughman
+leaves his team, the coachman his stables, the gardener his
+greenhouses, books are closed, and every one rushes away to see the
+sport. The squire, the farmers, and every one who by hook or by
+crook can procure a mount, join in the merry chase, for as an old
+poet sings--
+
+     "The hunt is up, the hunt is up,
+      Sing merrily we, the hunt is up;
+      The birds they sing,
+      The deer they fling:
+      Hey, nony, nony-no:
+      The hounds they cry,
+      The hunters they fly,
+      Hey trolilo, trolilo,
+      The hunt is up."
+
+We English folks come of a very sporting family. The ancient Britons
+were expert hunters, and lived chiefly on the prey which they
+killed. Our Saxon forefathers loved the chase, and in some very old
+Saxon pictures illustrating the occupations of each month we see the
+lord, attended by his huntsmen, chasing the wild boars in the woods
+and forests. The Saxon king, Edgar, imposed a tribute of wolves'
+heads, and Athelstan ordered the payment of fines in hawks and
+strong-scented dogs. Edward the Confessor, too, who scorned worldly
+amusements, used to take "delight in following a pack of swift dogs,
+and in cheering them with his voice." The illustration is taken from
+an old illumination which adorned an ancient MS., and represents
+some Saxons engaged in unearthing a fox.
+
+[Illustration: HUNTING IN SAXON TIMES (from an ancient MS.).]
+
+When the Normans came to England great changes were made, and
+hunting--the favourite sport of the Conqueror--was promoted with a
+total disregard of the welfare of the people. Whole villages and
+churches were pulled down in order to enlarge the royal forests, and
+any one who was rash enough to kill the king's deer would lose his
+life or his eyesight. It was not until the reign of Henry III. that
+this law was altered. William the Conqueror, who forbade the killing
+of deer and of boars, and who "loved the tall stags as though he
+were their father," greatly enlarged the New Forest, in Hampshire.
+Henry I. built a huge stone wall, seven miles in circumference,
+round his favourite park of Woodstock, near Oxford; and if any one
+wanted a favour from King John, a grant of privileges, or a new
+charter, he would have to pay for it in horses, hawks, or hounds.
+The Norman lords were as tyrannical in preserving their game as
+their king, and the people suffered greatly through the selfishness
+of their rulers. There is a curious MS. in the British Museum,
+called _The Craft of Hunting_, written by two followers of Edward
+II., which gives instructions with regard to the game to be hunted,
+the rules for blowing the horn, the dogs to be used in the chase,
+and so on. It is too long to quote, but I may mention that the
+animals to be hunted included the hare, hart, wolf, wild boar,
+buck, doe, fox ("which oft hath hard grace"), the martin-cat,
+roebuck, badger, polecat, and otter. Many of these animals have long
+since disappeared through the clearing of the old forests, or been
+exterminated on account of the mischief which they did. Our modern
+hunters do not enjoy quite such a variety of sport.
+
+Otter-hunting, now very rare, was once a favourite sport among
+villagers who dwelt near a river. Isaac Walton, in his book called
+_The Complete Angler_, thus describes the animated scene: "Look!
+down at the bottom of the hill there, in the meadow, checkered with
+water-lilies and lady-smocks; there you may see what work they make;
+look! look! you may see all busy--men and dogs--dogs and men--all
+busy." At last the otter is found. Then barked the dogs, and shouted
+the men! Boatmen pursue the poor animal in the water. Horsemen dash
+into the river. The otter dives, and strives to escape; but all in
+vain her efforts, and she perishes by the teeth of the dogs or the
+huntsmen's spears.
+
+Foreigners are always astonished at our love of sport and hunting,
+and our disregard of all danger in the pursuit of our favourite
+amusement, and one of our visitors tells the following story: "When
+the armies of Henry VIII. and Francis, King of France, were drawn up
+against each other, a fox got up, which was immediately pursued by
+the English. The 'varmint' ran straight for the French lines, but
+the Englishmen would not cease from the chase; the Frenchmen opposed
+them, and killed many of these adventurous gentlemen who for the
+moment forgot their warfare in the charms of the chase."
+
+But I must proceed to mention other February customs and sports.
+Great importance was attached to the Feast of the Purification,
+commonly called Candlemas Day (February 2nd), when consecrated
+candles were distributed and carried about in procession. At the
+Reformation this custom did not entirely disappear, for we find a
+proclamation of Henry VIII., in 1539 A.D., which orders that "on
+Candlemas Day it shall be declared that the bearing of candles is
+done in memory of Christ the spiritual light, whom Simeon did
+prophesy, as it is read in the Church on that day." Christmas
+decorations were removed from the houses; the holly, rosemary, bay,
+and mistletoe disappeared, to make room for sprigs of box, which
+remained until Easter brought in the yew. Our ancestors were very
+fond of bonfires, and on the 3rd of this month, St. Blaize's Day,[4]
+the red flames might be seen darting up from every hilltop. But why
+they should do this on that day is not evident, except that the good
+Bishop's name sounded something like _blaze_, and perhaps that was
+quite a sufficient reason! And why the day of St. Valentine should
+have been selected for the drawing lots for sweethearts, and for the
+sending affectionate greetings, is another mystery. St. Valentine
+was a priest and martyr in Italy in the third century, and had
+nothing to do with the popular commemoration of the day.
+
+Now we come to the diversions of Shrove-tide,[5] which immediately
+precedes the Lenten Fast. The Monday before Ash Wednesday was called
+Collop Monday in the north, because slices of bacon (or collops)
+were the recognized dish for dinner. But on Tuesday the chief
+amusements began; the bells were rung, pancakes tossed with great
+solemnity, and devoured with great satisfaction, as an old writer,
+who did not approve of so much feasting, tells us--
+
+    "In every house are shouts and cries, and mirth and revel rout,
+     And dainty tables spread, and all beset with guests about."
+
+He further describes this old English carnival, which must have
+rivalled any that we read of on the Continent--
+
+    "Some run about the streets attired like monks, and some like
+        kings,
+     Accompanied with pomp, and guard, and other stately things.
+     Some like wild beasts do run abroad in skins that divers be
+     Arrayed, and eke with loathsome shapes, that dreadful are to
+        see,
+     They counterfeit both bears and wolves, and lions fierce in
+        sight,
+     And raging bulls; some play the cranes, with wings and stilts
+        upright."
+
+But the great game for Shrove Tuesday was our time-honoured
+football, which has survived so many of the ancient pastimes of our
+land, and may be considered the oldest of all our English national
+sports. The play might not be quite so scientific as that played by
+our modern athletes, but, from the descriptions that have come down
+to us, it was no less vigorous. "After dinner" (says an old writer)
+"all the youths go into the fields to play at the ball. The ancient
+and worthy men of the city come forth on horseback to see the sport
+of the young men, and to take part of the pleasure in beholding
+their agility." There are some exciting descriptions of old football
+matches; and we read of some very fierce contests at Derby, which
+was renowned for the game. In the seventeenth century it was played
+in the streets of London, much to the annoyance of the inhabitants,
+who had to protect their windows with hurdles and bushes. At
+Bromfield, in Cumberland, the annual contest on Shrove Tuesday was
+keenly fought. Sides having been chosen, the football was thrown
+down in the churchyard, and the house of the captain of each side
+was the goal. Sometimes the distance was two or three miles, and
+each step was keenly disputed. He was a proud man at Bromfield who
+succeeded in reaching the goal with the ball, which he received as
+his guerdon. How the villagers used to talk over the exploits of the
+day, and recount their triumphs of former years with quite as much
+satisfaction as their ancestors enjoyed in relating their feats in
+the border wars!
+
+The Scots were famous formerly, as they now are, for prowess in the
+game, and the account of the Shrove Tuesday match between the
+married and single men at Scone, in Perthshire, reads very like a
+description of a modern Rugby contest. At Inverness the women also
+played, the married against the unmarried, when the former were
+always victorious. King James I., who was a great patron of sports,
+did not approve of his son Henry being a football player. He wrote
+that a young man ought to have a "moderate practice of running,
+leaping, wrestling, fencing, dancing, and playing at the caitch, or
+tennis, bowls, archery, pall-mall, and riding; and in foul or stormy
+weather, cards and backgammon, dice, chess, and billiards," but
+football was too rough a game for his Majesty, and "meeter for
+laming than making able." Stubbs also speaks of it as a "bloody and
+murthering practice, rather than a fellowly sport or pastime." From
+the descriptions of the old games, it seems to have been very
+painful work for the shins, and there were no rules to prevent
+hacking and tripping in those days.
+
+Football has never been the spoilt child of English pastimes, but
+has lived on in spite of royal proclamations and the protests of
+peace-loving citizens who objected to the noise, rough play, and
+other vagaries of the early votaries of the game. Edward II. and
+succeeding monarchs regarded it as a "useless and idle sport," which
+interfered with the practice of archery, and therefore ought to be
+shunned by all loyal subjects. The violence displayed at the matches
+is evident from the records which have come down to us, and from the
+opinions of several writers who condemn it severely. Free fights,
+broken limbs, and deaths often resulted from old football
+encounters; and when the games took place in the streets, lines of
+broken windows marked the progress of the players. "A bloody and
+murdering practice," "a devilish pastime," involving "beastly fury
+and extreme violence," the breaking of necks, arms, legs and
+backs--these were some of the descriptions of the football of olden
+times. The Puritans set their faces against it, and the sport
+languished for a long period as a general pastime. In some places it
+was still practised with unwonted vigour, but it was not until the
+second half of the present century that any revival took place. But
+football players have quickly made up for lost time; few villages do
+not possess their club, and our young men are ready to "Try it out
+at football by the shins," with quite as much readiness as the
+players in the good old days, although the play is generally less
+violent, and more scientific.
+
+Hurling, too, was a fast and furious game, very similar to our game
+of hockey, and played with sticks and a ball. Two neighbouring
+parishes used to compete, and the object was to drive the ball from
+some central spot to one, or other, village. The contest was keen
+and exciting; a ball was driven backwards and forwards, over hills,
+dales, hedges, and ditches, through bushes, briars, mires, plashes,
+and rivers, until at length the wished-for goal was gained.
+Battledore and shuttlecock were favourite games for the girls, which
+they played singing quaint rhymes--
+
+     "Great A, little A;
+      This is pancake day!"
+
+and the men also indulged in tip-cat, or billet.
+
+There is one other custom, of a most barbarous and cruel
+description, which was practised on Shrove Tuesday by our
+forefathers, and which happily has perished,[6] and that was
+throwing at cocks or hens with sticks. The poor bird was tied by the
+leg, and its tormentors stood twenty-two yards distant and had three
+throws each for twopence, winning the bird if they could knock it
+down. The cock was trained beforehand to avoid the sticks, so as to
+win more money for its brutal master. Well might a learned
+foreigner remark, "The English eat a certain cake on Shrove Tuesday,
+upon which they immediately run mad, and kill their poor cocks."
+Cock-fighting was a favourite amusement on Shrove Tuesday, as well
+as at other times. This shameful and barbarous practice was
+continued until the eighteenth century; some of our kings took
+delight in it, and in the old grammar schools in the North of
+England it was sanctioned by the masters, who received from their
+scholars a small tax called "cock-fight dues." Happily, with
+bull-baiting, bear-baiting, dog-fighting, and the like, this cruel
+and brutal pastime has ceased to exist. If we have lost some of the
+simple joys and cheerful light-heartedness of our forefathers, we
+have also happily lost some of their cruel disregard for the
+sufferings of animals, and abandoned such barbarous amusements as I
+have tried to describe. But the old sports of England were not all
+like these; the archery, running, leaping, wrestling, football, and
+other games in which our ancestors delighted, made the young men of
+England a manly and a sturdy race, and our nation mainly owes its
+greatness to the courage, manliness, and daring of her sons.
+
+But Ash Wednesday has dawned, and all is still in town and village.
+The Shrove-tide feast is ended, and the days of fasting and of
+prayer have hushed the sounds of merriment and song.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MARCH.
+
+    "And now a solemn fast we keep,
+     When earth wakes from her winter sleep."
+
+    "And he was clad in cote and hode of grene;
+     A shefe of pecocke arrowes bryght and shene
+     Under his belt he bare ful thriftely,
+     Well could he dresse his tackle yomanly;
+     His arrowes drouped not with fethers lowe,
+     And in hande he bare a myghty bowe."
+
+Archery--Lent--"Mothering" Sunday--Palm Sunday--
+    "Shere" Thursday--Watching the Sepulchre.
+
+
+Of all the sports and pastimes of old England, archery was the most
+renowned, and many a hard-fought victory has been gained through
+the skill which our English archers acquired in the use of their
+famous bows. "Alas, alas for Scotland when English arrows fly!" was
+the sad lament of many a Highland clan, and Frenchmen often learnt
+to their cost the force of our bowmen's arms. The accounts of the
+fights of Crecy and Poitiers tell of the prowess of our archers; and
+the skill which they acquired by practising at the butts at home has
+gained many a victory. Archery was so useful in war that several
+royal proclamations were issued to encourage the sport, and in many
+parishes there were fields set apart for the men to practise.
+Although the sport has died out as a popular pastime, the old name,
+the butts, remains in many a town and village, recording the spot
+where our forefathers acquired their famous skill. The name is still
+retained in the neighbouring town of Reading, and in some old
+records I find that in 1549 a certain "Will'm Watlynton received
+xxxvi_s_. for making of the butts;" and there are several items of
+charges in other years for repairing and renewing the same.
+
+[Illustration: TWO ARCHERS WEARING ARMOR.]
+
+Edward III. ordered "that every one strong in body, at leisure on
+holidays, should use in their recreation bows and arrows, and learn
+and exercise the art of shooting, forsaking such vain plays as
+throwing stones, handball, football, bandyball, or cock-fighting,
+which have no profit in them." Edward IV. ordered every Englishman,
+of whatever rank, to have a bow his own height always ready for use,
+and to instruct his children in the art. In every township the butts
+were ordered to be set up, and the people were required to shoot
+"up and down" every Sunday and feast-day, under penalty of one
+halfpenny.
+
+The sport began to decline in the sixteenth century, in spite of
+royal proclamations and occasional revivals. Henry VIII. forbade the
+use of the cross-bow, lest it should interfere with the practice of
+the more ancient weapon, and many old writers lament over the decay
+of this famous pastime of old England, which, as Bishop Latimer
+stated in one of his sermons, "is a goodly art, a wholesome kind of
+exercise, and much commended as physic."
+
+The Finsbury archers had, in 1594, no less than one hundred and
+sixty-four targets in Finsbury Fields, set up on pillars with
+curious devices over them; but four years later Stow laments that
+"by reason of closing in of common grounds, our archers, for want of
+room to shoot abroad, creep into ordinary dicing-houses and
+bowling-alleys near home."
+
+The famous Robin Hood, who lived in the reign of Richard I., was the
+king of archers. The exploits of this renowned outlaw and his merry
+men form the subject of many old ballads and romances, and the old
+oaks in Sherwood Forest could tell the tale of many an exciting
+chase after the king's deer, and of many a luckless traveller who
+had to pay dearly for the hospitality of Robin Hood and Little John.
+The ballads narrate that they could shoot an arrow a measured mile,
+but this is a flight of imagination which we can hardly follow!
+
+    "But he was an archer true and good,
+     And people called him Robin Hood;
+     Such archers as he and his men
+     Will England never see again."
+
+Another ballad relates the prowess of William of Cloudslee, who
+scorned to shoot at an ordinary target, and cutting a hazel rod
+from a tree, he shot at it from twenty score paces, cleaving the rod
+in two.
+
+[Illustration: CROSS-BOW SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS (from MS. dated 1496).]
+
+[Illustration: AN ARCHER.]
+
+Like William Tell of great renown, our English archer could split an
+apple placed on his son's head at the distance of six score paces.
+
+In time of war the archers were armed with a body-armour, the arms
+being left free. They had a long bow made of yew, a sheaf of arrows
+winged with gray goose-feathers, a sword, and small shield. Such was
+the appearance of the men who struck such terror among the knights
+and chivalry of France, and won many victories for England before
+the days of muskets and rifles.
+
+We are now in the season of Lent, and our towns and villages were
+very still and quiet during these weeks. But there was an old custom
+on Refreshment[7] or Mid-Lent Sunday for people to visit their
+mother-church and make offerings on the altar. Hence probably arose
+the practice of "mothering," or going to visit parents on that day,
+and taking presents to them. Herrick alludes to this pleasant custom
+in the following lines--
+
+    "I'll to thee a simnell bring,
+     'Gainst thou go'st a mothering;
+     So that when she blesseth thee,
+     Half that blessing thou'lt give me."
+
+Many a mother's heart would rejoice to welcome to the old village
+home once again some fond youth or maiden who had gone to seek their
+fortunes in the town, and many happy recollections would long linger
+of "Mothering" Sunday. The cakes alluded to in the above verse,
+which children presented to their parents on these occasions, were
+called Simnells. In some parts of England--in Lancashire,
+Shropshire, and Herefordshire--these cakes are still eaten on
+Mid-Lent Sunday. Possibly they had some religious signification, for
+the Saxons were in habit of eating consecrated cakes at their
+festivals. The name Simnell is derived from a Latin word signifying
+fine flour, and not from the mythical persons, Simon and Nell, who
+are popularly supposed to have invented the cake. Hot cross buns are
+a relic of an ancient rite of the Saxons, who ate cakes in honour of
+the goddess of spring, and the early Christian missionaries strove
+to banish the heathen ideas associated with the cakes (which latter
+the people would not abandon) by putting a cross upon them.
+
+In memory of our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the
+people took branches of palm-trees and scattered them in the way, on
+Palm Sunday our ancestors went in procession through the town or
+village, bearing branches of willow, yew, or box (as there were no
+palms growing in this country), which were subsequently carried to
+the church and offered at the altar. This custom lingered on after
+the Reformation, and until recent times the practice of going
+a-palming, or gathering branches of willow, on the Saturday before
+Palm Sunday, has continued. Sometimes in mediaeval times a wooden
+figure representing our Saviour riding upon an ass was drawn along
+by the crowds in the procession, and the people scattered their
+willow branches before the figure as it passed.
+
+Thursday before Easter Day was called Shere, or Maundy, Thursday.
+The first name is derived from the ancient custom of _shering_ the
+head and clipping the beard on that day; and Maundy is a corruption
+of the Latin word _mandatum_, which means "a command," and refers to
+the command of our Lord to imitate His example in the humility which
+He showed in washing the feet of His disciples. In memory of His
+lowly act the kings and queens of England used to wash the feet of a
+large number of poor men and women, and bestowed upon them gifts and
+money. This practice was continued until the reign of James II., and
+in our own day the Queen presents to a certain number of poor people
+bags of silver pennies, called Maundy money, which is coined for
+that special purpose.
+
+Many of my readers are familiar with the rhyme concerning "Hot cross
+buns," but perhaps they are not acquainted with the superstition
+which our forefathers attached to them. A writer on Cornish customs
+says: "In some of our farmhouses the Good Friday cake may be seen
+hanging to the bacon-rack, slowly but surely diminishing, until the
+return of the season replaces it by a fresh one. It is of sovereign
+good in all manner of diseases that may afflict the family, or
+flocks and herds. I have seen a little of this cake grated into a
+warm mash for a sick cow." Hot cross buns were supposed to have
+great power in preserving friendship. If two friends broke a bun in
+half exactly at the cross, while standing within the church-doors on
+Good Friday morning before service, and saying the words--
+
+    "Half for you, and half for me,
+     Between us two good-will shall be. Amen,"
+
+then, so long as they kept their halves, no quarrel would arise
+between them. In the West of England it was considered very sinful
+to work on Good Friday, and woe betide the luckless housewife who
+did her washing on that day, for one of the family, it was believed,
+would surely die before the end of the year. There are many other
+superstitions attached to the day, such as the preserving of eggs
+laid on Good Friday, which were supposed to have power to extinguish
+fire; the making of cramp-rings out of the handles of coffins, which
+rings were blessed by the King of England as he crept on his knees
+to the cross, and were supposed to be preservatives against cramp.
+
+In old churchwardens' account-books we find such entries as the
+following--
+
+    "To the sextin for watching the sepulture two nyghts viii_d_."
+
+    "Paide to Roger Brock for watching of the sepulchre 8_d_."
+
+And as the nights were cold we find an additional item--
+
+    "Paid more to said Roger Brock for syses and colles, 3_d._"
+
+These entries allude to the ancient custom of erecting on Good
+Friday a small building to represent the Holy Sepulchre, and setting
+a person to watch for two nights in remembrance of the soldiers
+watching the grave in which our Lord's Body was laid. At the dawning
+of the Easter morn the bells rang joyously, and all was life and
+animation. The sun itself was popularly supposed to dance with joy
+on the Feast of the Resurrection. But the manners and customs,
+sports and pastimes, which were associated with Easter, I will
+reserve for my next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+APRIL.
+
+    "The spring clad all in gladness
+     Doth laugh at winter's sadness;
+     And to the bagpipe's sound
+     The nymphs tread out their ground.
+
+    "Fie then, why sit we musing,
+     Youth's sweet delight refusing;
+     Say dainty nymphs, and speak:
+     Shall we play barley-breake?"
+
+                        _Old Ballad_ (A.D. 1603).
+
+Easter Customs--Pace Eggs--Handball in Churches--Sports
+   confined to Special Localities--Stoolball and Barley-brake
+   --Water Tournament--Quintain--Chester Sports--Hock-tide.
+
+
+From the earliest days of Christianity Easter has always been
+celebrated with the greatest joy, and accounted the Queen of
+Festivals. Many curious customs are associated with this feast, some
+of which represented in a rude, primitive way the Resurrection of our
+Lord. There was an old Miracle Play which was performed at Easter;
+for we find in the churchwardens' books at Kingston-upon-Thames, in
+the reign of Henry VIII., certain expenses for "a skin of parchment
+and gunpowder for the play on Easter Day," for a player's coat,
+stage, and "other things belonging to the play."
+
+Then there was the custom in the North of England of "lifting" or
+"heaving," which was originally designed to represent our Saviour's
+Resurrection. On Easter Monday the men used to lift the women, whom
+they met, thrice above their heads into the air, and the women
+responded on Easter Tuesday, and lifted the men. This custom
+prevailed also in North Wales, Warwickshire, and Shropshire.
+
+The Pace Eggs, or _Pasche_, or _Paschal_ Eggs, were originally
+intended to show forth the same truth, as the egg retaining the
+elements of future life was used as an emblem of the Resurrection.
+These Pace eggs were dyed, decorated with pretty devices, and
+presented by friends to each other. In the North of England, the home
+of so many of our old customs, the practice of giving Pace eggs still
+lingers on; and we find amongst the household expenses of King Edward
+I. an item of "four hundred and a half of eggs--eighteenpence," which
+were purchased on Easter Day. The prices current in the thirteenth
+century for eggs would scarcely be deemed sufficient by our modern
+poultry-keepers!
+
+The decoration of churches and houses with flowers just risen from
+their winter sleep, the practice of always wearing some part of the
+dress new on Easter Day, all seem to have had their origin in the
+holy lessons which cluster round the festival of the resurrection.
+An old writer tells us that it was the custom in some churches for
+the clergy to play at handball at this season; even bishops and
+archbishops took part in the pastime; but why they should profane
+God's house in this way we are at a loss to discover. The reward of
+the victors was a tansy-cake, so called from the bitter herb tansy,
+which was supposed to be beneficial after eating so much fish during
+Lent. Of the various kinds of games with balls I propose to treat in
+another chapter.
+
+At Easter there were numerous sports in vogue in different parts of
+the country. In olden times almost every county had its peculiar
+sport, which was regarded as a monopoly of that district. People did
+not work so hard in those days, and seem to have had more time and
+energy for ancient pastimes. Many of these old games have entirely
+vanished; others have left their old neighbourhoods, and received a
+hearty welcome all over the country. Berkshire and Somersetshire
+were the ancestral homes of cudgel-play, quarter-staff, and
+single-stick. Skating and pole-leaping were the characteristic
+sports of the fen country. Kent and Sussex were famous for their
+cricket; the northern counties for their football. Scotland rejoiced
+in golf, curling, and tossing the caber; while Cumberland and
+Westmoreland, Cornwall and Devon, were noted for their vigorous and
+active wrestlers. Curling, tossing the caber[8], and wrestling have
+clung to their old homes; but the other sports have wandered far and
+wide, and are no longer confined to their native counties.
+
+At Easter the local favourite sport was renewed with zest and
+eagerness, and almost everywhere foot-races were run, the prize of
+the conqueror being a tansy-cake. Stoolball and barley-brake were
+also favourite games in this month, as Poor Robin says in his
+_Almanack_ for 1677. Barley-brake seems to have been a very merry
+game, in which the ladies took part, and of which we find some very
+bright descriptions in the writings of some old English poets. The
+only science of the pastime consisted in one couple trying with
+"waiting foot and watchful eye" to catch the others and bear them
+off as captives.
+
+An old writer thus describes a water tournament, which seems to have
+been a popular pastime among the youths of London at Easter--"They
+fight battels on the water. A shield is hanged upon a pole (this is
+a kind of quintain) fixed in the midst of the stream. A boat is
+prepared without oars, to be carried by the violence of the water,
+and in the fore-part thereof standeth a young man ready to give
+charge upon the shield with his lance. If so be he break his lance
+against the shield, and do not fall, he is thought to have performed
+a worthy deed. If so be that, without breaking his lance, he runneth
+strongly against the shield, down he falleth into the water, for the
+boat is violently tossed with the tide; but on each side of the
+shield ride two boats furnished with young men, which recover him
+that falleth as soon as they may. Upon the bridge, wharves, and
+houses by the river-side, stand great numbers to see and laugh
+thereat." Stow thus describes the water tournament--"I have seen
+also in the summer season, upon the river Thames, some rowed in
+wherries, with staves in their hands, flat at the fore-end, running
+one against the other; and for the most part, one or both of them
+were overthrown and well ducked." This sport on the water was a
+variety of the famous quintain, which was itself derived from the
+jousts or tournaments, only, instead of a human adversary, the
+knight or squire, riding on a horse, charged a shield or wooden
+figure attached to a piece of wood, which easily turned round upon
+the top of a post. At the other end of the wood was a heavy bag of
+sand, which, when the rider struck the shield with his lance, swung
+round and struck him with great force on the back if he did not ride
+fast and so escape his ponderous foe. There were other forms of this
+sport, which is so ancient that its origin has been lost in
+antiquity. Queen Elizabeth was very much amused at Kenilworth Castle
+by the hard knocks which the inexpert riders received from the
+rotating sand-bag when they charged "a comely quintane" in her royal
+presence in the year 1575.
+
+A handsome quintain still stands on Offham village green, in Kent,
+although it is no longer used for the skilful practice of former
+days. It is the custom to hoist married men, who are not blest with
+children, on the quintain, which is made to revolve rapidly.
+Sometimes discontented and disobedient wives share the same fate.
+
+Chester was famous for its Easter sports, when the mayor with his
+mace, the corporation with twenty guilds, marched to the Rood-eye,
+to play at football. But "inasmuch as great strife did arise among
+the young persons of the same city" on account of the game, a
+change was made in the reign of Henry VIII., and foot-races and
+horse-races were substituted for the time-honoured football, and an
+arrow of silver was given to the best archer.
+
+But Easter sports are almost finished: however, we have not long to
+wait for another popular anniversary; for the famous Hock-tide
+sports always took place a fortnight after Easter, and much
+amusement, and profit also, were derived from the quaint observances
+of Hock Monday and Tuesday. The meaning of the word and the origin
+of the custom have been the subjects of much conjecture; but the
+festival is supposed to be held in remembrance of the victory of our
+Saxon forefathers over the Danes in the time of Ethelred. The custom
+was that on Hock Monday the men should go out into the streets and
+roads with cords, and stop and bind all the women they met,
+releasing them on payment of a small ransom. On the following day
+the women bound the men, and the proceeds were devoted to charitable
+purposes. It is to be noted that the women always extracted the most
+money, and in the old churchwardens' accounts we find frequent
+records of this strange method of collecting subscriptions--_e.g._,
+St. Lawrence's, Reading, A.D. 1499:--"Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd" (gathered) "of women xx_s_. Item, received of Hoc money
+gaderyd of men iiij_s_." We also find that the women had a supper
+given to them as a reward for their exertions, for there is the
+"item for wives' supper at Hock-tide xxiij_d_."
+
+The observance of Hock-tide seems to have been particularly popular
+in the ancient town of Reading. At Coventry there was an "old
+Coventry Play of Hock Tuesday," which was performed with great
+delight before Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth: the players divided
+themselves into two companies to represent the Saxons and the Danes:
+a great battle ensued, and by the help of the Saxon women the former
+were victorious, and led the Danes captive. The queen laughed much
+at the pageant, and gave the performers two bucks and five marks in
+money.
+
+So ends the month of sunshine and of shower; but the rustic youths
+are making ready for the morris-dance, and the merry milk-maids are
+preparing their ribbons to adorn themselves for the revels of May
+Day. The May-pole is being erected on the village green, and all is
+in readiness for the rejoicings of to-morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MAY.
+
+    "Colin met Sylvia on the green
+      Once on the charming first of May,
+    And shepherds ne'er tell false, I ween,
+      Yet 'twas by chance, the shepherds say.
+
+    "Colin he bow'd and blush'd, then said,
+      'Will you, sweet maid, this first of May,
+    Begin the dance by Colin led,
+      To make this quite his holiday?'
+
+    "Sylvia replied, 'I ne'er from home
+      Yet ventur'd, till this first of May;
+    It is not fit for maids to roam,
+      And make a shepherd's holiday.'
+
+    "'It is most fit,' replied the youth,
+      'That Sylvia should this first of May
+    By me be taught that love and truth
+      Can make of life a holiday.'"--LADY CRAVEN.
+
+May Day Festivities--May-pole--Morris-dancers--The Book of
+   Sports--Bowling--Beating the Bounds--George Herbert's
+   description of a Country Parson.
+
+
+The spring has dawned with all its brightness and beauty; the
+nightingale's song is heard, and all nature seems to rejoice in the
+sweet spring-time. Our forefathers delighted, too, in the advent of
+the bright month of May, which the old poets used to compare to a
+maiden clothed in sunshine dancing to the music of birds and brooks;
+and May Day was the great rural festival of the year.
+
+Long before the break of day, men and women, old and young, of all
+classes, used to assemble and hurry away to the woods and groves to
+gather the blooming hawthorn and spring flowers, and laden with
+their spoils returned when the sun rose, with merry shouts and
+horn-blowings, and adorned every door and window in the village. The
+poet Herrick sings of this pleasant beginning to the day's
+festivities. Addressing a maiden named Corinna, he says--
+
+    "Come, my Corinna, come, and coming mark
+     How each field turns a street, and each street a park,
+     Made green and trimmed with trees; see how
+     Devotion gives each house a bough
+     Or branch; each porch, each door, ere this
+     An ark, a tabernacle is
+     Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove."
+
+The men blew cow-horns to usher in the spring, and the maids carried
+garlands to hang them in the churches; while at Oxford the
+choristers of Magdalen College assemble at the top of the tower at
+early dawn, and sing hymns of thankfulness because spring has come
+again. This pleasing custom is still observed every year on the
+first of May.
+
+But let us away to the village green, where the May-pole is being
+adorned with a few finishing touches, and is covered with flowers
+and ribbons. It has been carried here by twenty or thirty yoke of
+oxen, their horns decorated with sweet flowers, and then, with
+shouts and laughter, and with song, the young men raise the massive
+pole with handkerchiefs and flags streaming on the top, and the
+rustic feast and dance begin.
+
+           "The May-pole is up,
+            Now give me the cup,
+    I'll drink to the garlands around it;
+            But first unto those
+            Whose hands did compose
+    The glory of flowers that crown'd it."[9]
+
+A company of morris-dancers approach, and a circle is made round the
+May-pole in which they can perform. First comes a man dressed in a
+green tunic, with a bow, arrows, and bugle-horn, who represents
+Robin Hood, and by his side, attended by some maidens, walks Maid
+Marian, the May Queen.[10] Will Stukeley, Little John, and other
+companions of the famous outlaw, are represented; and last, but not
+least, comes the hobby-horse--a man with a light wooden framework
+representing a horse about him, covered with trappings reaching to
+the ground, so as to prevent the man's feet from being seen. The
+hobby-horse careered about, pranced and curveted, to the great
+amusement of the company. The morris-dancers are adorned with bells,
+which jingle merrily as they dance. But a formidable-looking dragon
+approaches, which hisses and flaps his wings, and looks very fierce,
+making the hobby-horse kick and rear frantically. When the animals
+have wearied themselves, the maidens dance again, and the archers
+set up their targets on the lower end of the green, where a close
+contest ensues, and after many shots the victor is crowned with a
+laurel wreath.
+
+Such were some of the sights and sounds of May Day in olden times.
+But the Puritans, who slew their king, Charles I., were very much
+opposed to all joyousness and mirth, and one of their first acts
+when they came into power was to put down the May-pole. They ordered
+that all May-poles (which they called "a heathenish vanity,
+generally abused to superstition and wickedness") shall be taken
+down by the constables and churchwardens, and that the said officers
+be fined five shillings till the said May-poles be taken down. So
+the merry May songs were hushed for many a long year, until Charles
+II. was restored to his throne, and then the stately pole was reared
+once more, and Robin Hood and his merry crew began their sports
+again. But times change, and we change with them: customs pass away,
+and with them have long vanished the May-pole and its bright group
+of light-hearted rustics. An American writer who visited this
+country thus describes his feeling when he saw an old May-pole still
+standing at Chester--"I shall never forget my delight. My fancy
+adorned it with wreaths of flowers, and peopled the green bank with
+all the dancing revelry of May Day. I value every custom that tends
+to infuse poetical feeling into the common people, and to sweeten
+and soften the rudeness of rustic manners without destroying their
+simplicity. Indeed, it is to the decline of this happy simplicity
+that the decline of this custom may be traced, and the rural dance
+on the green, and the homely May-day pageant, have gradually
+disappeared in proportion as the peasantry have become expensive and
+artificial in their pleasures, and too knowing for simple enjoyment.
+Some attempts, indeed, have been made by men of both taste and
+learning to rally back the popular feeling to their standards of
+primitive simplicity; but the time has gone by, the feeling has
+become chilled by habits of gain and traffic, the country apes the
+manners and amusements of the town, and little is heard of May Day
+at present, except from the lamentations of authors, who sigh after
+it from among the brick walls of the city."
+
+The name of the parish of St. Andrew _Undershaft_ records the place
+where the city May-pole, or _shaft,_ was erected, and _Shaft Alley_
+the place where it lay when it was not required for use.
+
+The proclamation of James I., called the "Book of Sports," which was
+renewed by King Charles I., throws some light upon the sports in
+vogue during his reign. It was enacted "for his good people's lawful
+recreation, after the end of Divine service, that his good people be
+not disturbed, or discouraged, from any lawful recreation, such as
+dancing for men and women, archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or
+any such harmless recreations; nor from having May games, Whitsun
+ales, and morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles, and other
+sports therewith used, so as the same be had in due and convenient
+time, without impediment or neglect of Divine service. And that
+women shall have leave to carry rushes to the church for the
+decorating of it, according to their old custom. But withal his
+Majesty doth hereby account still as prohibited all unlawful games
+to be used on Sundays only, as bear and bull-baiting, interludes,
+and at all times in the meaner sort of people by law prohibited,
+bowling."
+
+Why his Majesty should have been so very severe on the game of bowls,
+which is a very ancient pastime, and innocent enough, is not at first
+quite clear; but it appears that the numerous bowling-alleys in
+London were, in the sixteenth century, the resorts of very bad
+company, and the nests of gambling and vice. Hence the severity of
+King James' strictures on bowling.
+
+The people of Lancashire in the time of James I. were as devoted to
+sports and amusement as they are now; and when the king was making a
+progress through Lancashire, "he received a petition from some
+servants, labourers, mechanics, and other vulgar persons,
+complaining that they were debarred from dancing, playing,
+church-ales--in a word, from all recreations on Sundays after Divine
+service." King James hated Puritanism and loved recreation; so he
+readily granted the petition of the Lancashire folk, and issued a
+proclamation encouraging Sunday pastimes, which is known as the
+famous "Book of Sports."
+
+In Ireland on May Day Bale-fires are lighted, and to this day young
+men jump through the flames, and children are passed across the
+embers, in order to secure them good luck during the coming year. On
+this day, too, the Irish kings are supposed to rise from their
+graves and gather together a ghostly army of rude warriors to fight
+for their country. The wild cries of the shadowy host, the clashing
+of shields, and the sound of drums are said to have been heard
+during the period of the last rebellion in Ireland.
+
+On one of the Rogation Days, or on Ascension Day, it was the custom
+to go in procession round the boundaries of the parish to ask God's
+blessing on the fruits of the earth, and as there were few maps and
+divisions of land, to call to mind and pass on to the next
+generation the boundaries of the township or village. The choir sang
+hymns, and under certain trees, which were called Gospel Trees, the
+clergyman read the Gospel for the day, with a litany and prayers.
+Sometimes boys were whipped, or bumped against trees, or thrown into
+a river, in order to impress upon them where the boundaries were.
+But they received a substantial recompense afterwards, and the whole
+company, when the procession was over, sat down to the perambulation
+dinner, and talked about their recollections of former days.
+
+The advantages of this practice are set forth in George Herbert's
+description of a country parson. He says, "The country parson is a
+lover of old customs, if they be good and harmless. Particularly he
+loves procession, and maintains it, because there are contained in
+it four manifest advantages, 1. A blessing of God for the fruits of
+the earth. 2. Justice in the preservation of bounds. 3. Charity, in
+loving, walking, and neighbourly accompanying one another, with
+reconciling of differences at that time, if there be any. 4. Mercy,
+in relieving the poor by a liberal distribution and largess, which
+at that time is, or ought to be, used. Wherefore he exacts of all to
+be present at the perambulation, and those that withdraw and sever
+themselves from it he mislikes, and rebukes as uncharitable and
+unneighbourly; and if they will not reform, presents them" (_i.e._
+to the bishop for censure).
+
+This custom is still preserved, or has been revived, in many
+parishes, and at Oxford the boys may be seen on Ascension Day
+bearing white willow-wands, and beating the bounds of some of the
+old city parishes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JUNE.
+
+            "The woods, or some near town
+    That is a neighbour to the bordering down,
+    Hath drawn them thither, 'bout some lusty sport,
+    Or spiced wassel-bowl, to which resort
+    All the young men and maids of many a cote,
+    Whilst the trim minstrell strikes his merry note."
+
+                           FLETCHER, _The Faithful Shepherdess_.
+
+Whitsuntide Sports--Church-ales--Church-house--Quarter-staff
+--Whistling and Jingling Matches--St. John's Eve--Wrestling.
+
+
+After May Day our villagers had not long to wait until the
+Whitsuntide holiday came round. This holiday was notorious for the
+"Church-ales," which were held at this season. These feasts were a
+means of raising money for charitable purposes. If the church needed
+a new roof, or some poor people were in sad straits, the villagers
+would decide to have a "Church-ale"; generally four times a year the
+feast was given, and always at Whitsuntide. The churchwardens
+bought, and received presents of, a large quantity of malt, which
+they brewed into beer, and sold to the company, and any inhabitant
+of the parish who did not attend had to pay a fine. Every one who
+was able contributed something to the entertainment. The feast was
+held in the church-house, a building which stood near the church.
+This was the scene of many social gatherings, and is thus described
+by an old writer--
+
+     "In every parish was a church-house, to which belonged
+     spits, crocks, and other utensils for dressing provisions.
+     Here the housekeepers met. The young people were there,
+     too, and had dancing, bowling, shooting at butts, &c., the
+     ancients (_i.e._ the old folk) sitting gravely by and
+     looking on. All things were civil, and without scandal.
+     The church-ale is, doubtless, derived from the Agapai or
+     Love Feasts, mentioned in the New Testament."
+
+Whether the learned writer was right in his conjecture we cannot be
+quite certain, but church-ales subsequently degenerated into
+something quite different from New Testament injunctions, and were
+altogether prohibited on account of the excess to which they gave
+rise. Let us hope that all these feasts were not so bad as they were
+represented, and indeed in early times great reverence was attached
+to them, which prevented excess. The neighbours, too, would come in
+from the adjoining parishes and share the feast. An arbour of boughs
+was erected in the churchyard, called Robin Hood's Bower, where the
+maidens collected money for the "ales" in the same way which they
+employed at Hock-tide, and which was called "Hocking." The old books
+of St. Lawrence's Church, Reading (to which I have before referred),
+contain a record of this custom--"1505 A.D. Item. Received of the
+maidens' gathering at Whitsuntide by the tree at the church door,
+ij^s. vi^d." The morris-dancers and minstrels, the ballad-singers
+and players, were in great force on these occasions, and were
+entertained at the cost of the parish. In the churchwardens' account
+of St. Mary's, Reading, we find in the year 1557--
+
+     "Item--paid to Morris-dancers and the Minstrels, meat and
+     drink at Whitsuntide--iii^s. iiii^d."
+
+When the feasting had ended, archery, running races in sacks,
+grinning through a horse-collar (each competitor trying to make the
+most ludicrous grimaces), afforded amusement to the light-hearted
+spectators.
+
+The game of quarter-staff is an old pastime which was a great
+favourite among the rustics of Berkshire. The quarter-staff is a
+tough piece of wood about eight feet long, which the player grasped
+in the middle with one hand, while with the other he kept a loose
+hold midway between the middle and one end. The object of the game
+was, to use the forcible language of the time, to "break the head"
+of the opponent. On the White Horse Hill, where Alfred fought
+against the Danes, and carved out on the hill-side the White Horse
+as a memorial of his victory, many a rural sport has been played,
+and at the periodical "scourings of the Horse" many a Berkshire head
+broken to see who was the noted champion of the game. An old
+parishioner of mine, James of Sandhurst, was once the hero of
+quarter-staff in the early part of the century. The whistling match
+was not so dangerous a contest; the prize was conferred upon the
+whistler who could whistle clearest, and go through his tune while a
+clown, or merry-andrew, made laughable grimaces before him.
+
+[Illustration: QUARTER-STAFF.]
+
+Another diversion common at these country gatherings was the
+jingling match. A large circle was inclosed with ropes, in which the
+players took their place. All were blindfolded with the exception of
+one, who was the jingler, and who carried a bell in each hand, which
+he was obliged to keep ringing. His object was to elude the pursuit
+of his blinded companions, and he won the prize if he was still free
+when the play ceased. It was an amusing sight to see the men trying
+to catch the active jingler, running into each other's arms, and
+catching every one but the right one. When the jingling match was
+over, a pig with a short, well-soaped tail was turned out for the
+people to run after, and he who could hold it by the tail without
+touching any other part obtained it for his pains. There was also a
+game called Pigeon-holes, which appears to have been somewhat
+similar to our present game of bagatelle.
+
+And so with laughter and with song the feast ended, the evening
+shadows fell around, and the happy rustics retired to their humble
+thatched-roofed homes. The proceeds of these church-ales were often
+considerable. "There were no rates for the poor in my grandfather's
+time," says one writer, "the church-ale of Whitsuntide did the
+business"; and whether the parishioners had to pay a tax for the
+support of the King's army, or to repair the church, or to maintain
+some orphan children, it was generally found "that something still
+remained to cover the bottom of the purse."
+
+Of the "mysteries," or miracle plays, as they were called, which
+were performed in towns on Corpus Christi Day and at other times, I
+propose to write in another chapter; and we will now proceed to the
+hillsides near our villages on the eve of St. John's Day, when we
+should witness the lighting of large bonfires, and some curious
+customs connected with that ceremony. Both the old and the young
+people used to sally forth from the village to some neighbouring
+height, and there, amidst much laughter and with many a shout, they
+lighted the large bonfire. Then they danced round the blazing logs,
+and afterwards leaped through the flames, and at the close of the
+ceremony each person brought away with him a burning branch. This
+rite appears to have been a relic of Paganism. Probably the fire was
+originally lighted in honour of the sun, which our forefathers
+worshipped before they became Christians. The leaping through the
+flames had also a superstitious meaning, and the simple people
+thought that in this way they could ward off evil spirits and
+prevent sickness. The Roman shepherds used to leap through the
+Midsummer blaze in honour of Pales. The Scandinavians lit their
+bonfires in honour of their gods Odin and Thor, and the leaping
+through the flames reminds us of the worshippers of Baal and Moloch,
+who, as we read in the Bible, used to "pass their children through
+the fire" in awe of their cruel god. St. John's Day, or Midsummer
+Day (June 24th), was chosen because on that day the sun reaches its
+highest point in the zodiac. There is, however, another
+interpretation of the meaning of the fires on St. John's Day, as
+illustrating the verse which speaks of him "as a burning and a
+shining light" (St. John v. 35); but this interpretation was
+probably invented by some pious divine who endeavoured to attach a
+Christian meaning to an ancient heathen custom. The connection of
+the ceremony with the old worship of the sun is indisputable. Its
+practice was very general in nearly all European nations, and in not
+very remote times from Norway to the shores of the Mediterranean the
+glow of St. John's fires might have been seen. The Emperor
+Charlemagne in the ninth century forbade the custom as a heathen
+rite, but the Church endeavoured to win over the custom from its
+Pagan associations and to attach to it a Christian signification. In
+the island of Jersey the older inhabitants used to light fires under
+large iron pots full of water, in which they placed silver
+articles--as spoons, mugs, &c., and then knocked the silver against
+the iron with the idea of scaring away all evil spirits.[11]
+Sometimes bones were burnt in the fire, for we are told in a quaint
+homily on the Feast of St. John Baptist, that bones scared away the
+evil spirits in the air, since "wise clerks know well that dragons
+hate nothing more than the stink of burning bones, and therefore the
+country folk gather as many as they might find, and burned them; and
+so with the stench thereof they drove away the dragons, and so they
+were brought out of great disease."
+
+In some most remote northern parts of England the farmer lights a
+wisp of straw, which he carries round his fields to protect them
+from the tare and darnel, the devil and witches. In some places they
+used to cover a wheel with straw, set it on fire, and roll it down a
+hill. A learned writer on antiquities tells us that the people
+imagined that all their ill-luck rolled away from them together with
+this burning wheel. All these customs are relics of the old fire and
+sun worship, to which our forefathers were addicted. Wrestling,
+running races, and dancing were afterwards practised by the
+villagers. Wrestling is a very ancient sport, and the men of
+Cornwall and Devon, of Westmoreland and Cumberland, were famous for
+their skill. A "Cornish hug" is by no means a tender embrace.
+Sometimes the people bore back to their homes boughs of trees, with
+which they adorned their doors and windows. At Oxford the
+quadrangle of Magdalen College was decorated with boughs on St.
+John's Day, and a sermon preached from the stone pulpit in the
+corner of the quadrangle; this was meant to represent the preaching
+of St. John the Baptist in the wilderness.
+
+At length the villagers, wearied with their exertions, retire to
+their cottage homes, marching in procession from the scene of their
+observances; and silence reigns o'er the village for a few short
+hours, till the sunlight summons them to their daily toil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+JULY.
+
+    "Swift o'er the mead with lightning speed
+      The bounding ball flies on;
+    And hark! the cries of victory rise
+      For the gallant team that's won."
+
+
+Cricket--Club-ball--Trap-ball--Golf--Pall-mall--Tennis--
+                      Rush-bearing.
+
+
+At this time of the year all the cricket-clubs in town and village
+are very busy, and matches are being played everywhere. It may not
+therefore be inappropriate if I tell you in this chapter of the
+history of that game which has become so universally popular
+wherever our countrymen live. On the plains of India, in Australia
+(as some of our English cricketers have learnt to their cost), in
+Egypt, wherever Englishmen go, there cricket finds a home and a
+hearty welcome. But it is not nearly so ancient a game as others
+which I have already mentioned, although it had some fairly old
+parents, simple and humble-minded folk, who would have been greatly
+astonished to see the extraordinary development of their precocious
+offspring.
+
+Kent and Sussex were the ancestral homes of cricket, which is thus
+described by an old writer--"A game most usual in Kent, with a
+cricket-ball bowled and struck with two cricket-bats between two
+wickets. The name is derived from the Saxon word _cryc_, baculus, a
+bat or staff; which also signifies fulcimentum, a support or prop,
+whence a cricket or little stool to sit upon. Cricket play among the
+Saxons was also called _stef-plege_ (staff-play)."
+
+I fear that our old writer must have made a great mistake if he
+imagined that the Saxons ever played cricket, and I believe that the
+word was not known before the sixteenth century. In the records of
+Guildford we find that a dispute arose about the enclosure of a
+piece of land in the time of Elizabeth; and in the suit that arose
+one John Derrick stated in his evidence that he knew the place well
+"for fifty years or more, and that when he was a scholar in the free
+school at Guildford he and several of his companions did run and
+play there at cricket and other plays." Also in Cotgrave's French
+Dictionary, published in 1611, the word _crosse_ is translated "a
+cricket-staff, or the crooked-staff wherewith boys play at cricket."
+
+In the eighteenth century allusions to the game become more
+frequent, although it was still a boy's game. It had its poet, who
+sang--
+
+    "Hail, cricket, glorious, manly, British game,
+     First of all sports, be first alike in fame."
+
+It had its calumniators, who said that it "propagated a spirit of
+idleness" in bad times, when people ought to work and not play, and
+that it encouraged gambling. But the game began to prosper, and
+several noted men, poets and illustrious statesmen, recall the
+pleasurable memories of their prowess with the bat and ball. In a
+book of songs called _Pills to purge Melancholy_, published in 1719,
+we find the verse--
+
+    "He was the prettiest fellow
+     At football or at cricket:
+     At hunting chase or nimble race
+     How featly he could prick it."
+
+In the early part of the eighteenth century the game was in a very
+rudimentary condition, very different from the scientific pastime it
+has since become. There were only two wickets, a foot high and two
+feet apart, with one long bail at the top. Between the wickets there
+was a hole large enough to contain the ball, and when the batsman
+made a run, he had to place the end of his bat in this hole before
+the wicket-keeper could place the ball there, otherwise he would be
+"run out."
+
+The bat, too, was a curved, crooked arrangement very different from
+our present weapon. The Hambledon Club, in Hampshire, which has
+produced some famous players, seems to have been mainly instrumental
+in reforming and improving the game. Its members introduced a limit
+to the width of the bat, viz., four and a quarter inches--the
+standard still in force--in order to prevent players, such as a hero
+from Reigate, bringing bats as wide as the wicket. In 1775 they
+wisely introduced a middle stump, as they found the best balls
+harmlessly flying between the wide wickets. It was feared lest this
+alteration would shorten the game too much, but it does not seem to
+have had that effect, as in an All England match against the
+Hambledon Club, two years later, one Aylward scored 167 runs, and
+stayed in two whole days. England owes much to the old Club at
+Hambledon for the improvements which it wrought in the game, which
+has become our great national pastime.
+
+Miss Mitford, in her charming book, _Our Village_, describes the
+rivalry which existed between the village elevens at the beginning
+of the nineteenth century, and gives a sketch of a match between two
+Berkshire village teams, which brought about some very happy results
+of a romantic nature. She tells us, too, of the comments of the
+rustics on the "new-fashioned" style of bowling which one of the
+team had introduced from London, which did not at all commend itself
+to them, but effectually took their wickets. When that celebrated
+company of cricketers, dressed in frock-coats and tall hats, whose
+portraits adorn many a pavilion, competed for the honour of All
+England, they were quite ignorant of "round-arm" bowling, which is,
+of course, an invention of modern times. Only "lobs," or
+"under-hands," were the order of the day. It has been stated that we
+are indebted to the ladies for the important discovery of the modern
+style of delivering the ball. The story may be legendary, but I have
+read somewhere that the elder Lillywhite used to practise cricket
+all through the winter, and that his daughters used to bowl to him.
+During the bitter cold of a winter's day they wore their shawls, and
+found it more convenient to bowl with extended arms than in the old
+method. Their balls so delivered used to puzzle their father, and
+often take his wicket; so he began to imitate them, and introduced
+his new method into matches, and thus the age of round-arm bowling
+was inaugurated. I cannot vouch for the truth of the story, and only
+tell it as it was told to me.[12] At any rate Lillywhite was the
+father of modern bowling, which would have startled and considerably
+puzzled the veteran cricketers in the early part of the present
+century.
+
+The proper parent of cricket seems to have been club-ball, which is
+a very old game, and of which there is a picture in the Bodleian
+Library at Oxford, dated 1344 A.D. It represents a female throwing a
+ball to a man who is in the act of raising his bat to strike it.
+Behind the woman, at a little distance, appear several other figures
+of men and women waiting attentively to catch or stop the ball when
+hit by the batsman. There is a still more ancient picture of two
+club-ball players, representing the batsman holding the ball also
+and preparing to hit it, while the other player holds his hands in
+readiness to catch the ball. He has the appearance of a very careful
+fielder. Here we have the rudimentary idea of cricket; but how they
+scored their game, what rules they had, we cannot determine.
+Stool-ball claims also to be an ancestor of cricket, and consists in
+one player defending a stool with his hand from being hit by a ball
+bowled by another player. Here is a simple form of the modern game,
+the stool being used as a wicket, and the hand for a bat.
+
+Trap-ball is a much older game than cricket, and can be traced to
+the beginning of the fourteenth century. The modern game differs
+little from that which the old pictures describe, except in the
+shape of the trap which holds the ball. But the most ancient of all
+games of this nature is golf, or goff (as it used to be spelt),
+which was played with a crooked club or staff, sometimes called a
+bandy. Scotsmen are very fond of this game, which has lately
+migrated into England and found many admirers. It was probably
+introduced into Scotland from Holland, and was a popular pastime as
+early as 1457. In spite of proclamations encouraging archery, and
+forbidding golf, it continued to flourish; it has a long list of
+royal patrons; and the Stuart monarchs seem to have been as
+enthusiastic over the game as all true golfers ought to be. Poets
+have sung the praises of golf, and the glory of the heroes who drove
+their balls along St. Andrew's Links, or those of East Neuk. The
+object of the game is to drive the ball into certain holes in the
+fewest number of strokes. James II. was an expert golfer, and had
+only one rival, an Edinburgh shoemaker, named Paterson.
+
+[Illustration: PALL-MALL.]
+
+If you have visited London you will probably have walked along the
+street called Pall Mall, which name is derived from an old game
+fashionable in the reign of Charles II. The merry monarch and his
+courtiers frequently amused themselves with this game, which
+somewhat resembled golf, and consisted in driving a ball by means of
+a mallet through an iron hoop suspended from the ground in the
+fewest blows. The game was played in St. James's Park, where the
+street which bears its name now runs.
+
+Tennis also has a history. It commenced its career as hand-ball, the
+ball being driven backwards and forwards with the palm of the hand.
+Then the players used gloves, and afterwards bound cords round their
+hands to make the ball rebound more forcibly. Here we have the
+primitive idea of a racket. France seems to have been the original
+home of tennis, which in the thirteenth century was played in
+unenclosed spaces; but in the fourteenth it migrated to the towns,
+and walls enclosed the motions of the ball. In Paris alone there
+were said to be eighteen hundred tennis-courts. In the sixteenth
+century there were several covered tennis-courts in England, and
+some of our English monarchs were very devoted to the game. Henry
+VII. used to play tennis, and there is a record of his having lost
+twelvepence at tennis, and threepence for the loss of balls. Henry
+VIII. was also very fond of the game, and lost much money at wagers
+with certain Frenchmen; but, like a sensible man, "when he perceived
+their craft he eschewed their company, and let them go." He built
+the famous court at Hampton, which still remains. Charles II. also
+played tennis. The old game is very different from the modern
+lawn-tennis which is now so popular: it was always the game of the
+select few, and not of the many, like its precocious offspring; and
+there are only thirty-one tennis-courts in England at the present
+day. The court attached to the palace of the French King Louis XVI.
+at Versailles was the scene of some very exciting meetings in the
+early days of the French Revolution in 1789.
+
+[Illustration: PALL-MALL.]
+
+[Illustration: TENNIS.]
+
+There were some other forms of ball-play, such as balloon-ball,
+stow-ball, &c.; but of these it is hardly needful for me to speak,
+as they are only varieties of those games which I have already
+described. The history of football has been narrated in a preceding
+chapter. You will be able to trace from the descriptions of these
+old sports the ancestors of our noble game of cricket, and wonder at
+the extraordinary development of so scientific a game from such rude
+and simple beginnings.
+
+The floors of the houses and churches of old England consisted
+simply of the hard, dry earth, which the people covered with rushes;
+and once a year there was a great ceremony called "Rush-bearing,"
+when the inhabitants of each village or town went in procession to
+the church to strew the floor with newly-cut rushes. The company
+went to a neighbouring marsh and cut the rushes, binding them in
+long bundles, and decorating them with ribands and flowers. Then a
+procession was formed, every one bearing a bundle of rushes; and
+with music, drums, and ringing of bells they marched to the church,
+and strewed the floor with their honoured burdens. Long after the
+rushes ceased to be used in churches the ceremony was continued, and
+I have witnessed a rush-bearing procession such as I have described.
+There was a rush-cart with a large pile of decorated rush-sheaves,
+and some characters from the May-day games were introduced. A queen
+sat under a canopy of rushes, a few morris-dancers performed their
+antics, and a jester amused the spectators with his quaint sayings.
+A village feast, followed by dancing round a May-pole, generally
+formed the conclusion of the day's festivities. In 1884 this
+pleasant custom was revived at Grasmere in the Lake district, when
+the children of the village carried out a "rush-bearing" after the
+manner of their forefathers, and the village green again resounded
+with songs of joy.
+
+I fear that our ancestors were not always very cleanly people; they
+seldom washed their floors, and therefore they were obliged to adopt
+some device to hide their uncleanliness. The old rushes were not
+taken away before the new ones were brought in; hence the lowest
+layer became filthy, and one writer attributes the frequent
+pestilences which often broke out to the dirtiness of their floors
+and the masses of filthy rushes lying upon them. Perhaps some of the
+wise folks in Lancashire discovered this, for we find the following
+entry in the account books of Kirkham Church, 1631--"Paid for
+carrying the rushes out of the Church in the sickness time, 5._s_.
+0_d_." Straw was used in winter: it would seem very strange to us to
+have our floors covered with straw, like a stable!
+
+In this matter of cleanliness we have certainly improved upon the
+habits of our forefathers: dirty cottages are the exception, and not
+the rule, as they were in the days of "good Queen Bess"; and the
+absence of those terrible plagues which used to devastate our land
+in former times is due in a great measure to the improved
+cleanliness and more careful regard for sanitation by the people of
+England.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+AUGUST.
+
+    "Crowned with the ears of corn, now come,
+     And to the pipe sing harvest home.
+     Come forth, my lord, and see the cart
+     Dressed up with all the country art:
+     The horses, mares, and frisking fillies
+     Clad all in linen white as lilies.
+     The harvest swains and wenches bound
+     For joy, to see the hock-cart crowned."
+
+                             HERRICK'S _Hesperides_.
+
+Lammas Day--St. Roch's Day--Harvest-home--"Ten-pounding"--
+     Sheep-shearing--"Wakes"--Fairs.
+
+
+The harvest fields have begun to ripen, and the corn will soon be
+ready for the sickle; of this fact our forefathers were reminded by
+the Lammas Festival, which was celebrated on the first of this
+month. _Lammas_ is a shortened form of the word Loaf-mass, or feast
+of the loaf. A loaf of bread was made of the first-ripe corn, and
+used in Holy Communion on this day; so this feast was a preliminary
+harvest thanksgiving festival--a feast of "first-fruits," such as
+the Jews were commanded in the old Mosaic law to observe.
+
+When the harvest was gathered in there were great festivities, and
+it has been thought that August 16th, St. Roch's Day, was generally
+observed as the harvest-home. St. Roch, or Roque, was a Frenchman,
+who lived in the early part of the fourteenth century, and was
+supposed to have performed miraculous cures, but August 16th seems
+to have been rather early in the year for a harvest-home. However,
+when the feast of ingathering did take place, there were great
+rejoicings in our English villages, and the mode of its celebration
+helped to knit together the masters and labourers, and to promote
+good feeling between them.
+
+When the fields were almost cleared of the golden grain, the last
+few sheaves were decorated with flowers and ribbons, and brought
+home in a waggon, called the "Hock-cart," while the labourers, their
+wives and children, carrying green boughs, sheaves of wheat and rude
+flags, formed a glad procession. All the pipes and tabors in the
+village sounded, and shouts of laughter and of song were raised as
+the glad procession marched along. They sang--
+
+    "Harvest-home, harvest-home,
+     We have ploughed, we have sowed,
+     We have reaped, we have mowed,
+     We have brought home every load.
+         Hip, hip, hip, harvest-home!"
+
+or, as they say in Berkshire--
+
+    "Whoop, whoop, whoop, harvest whoam!"
+
+Sometimes the most comely maiden in the village was chosen as
+Harvest Queen, and placed upon her throne at the top of the sheaves
+in the hock-cart as it was drawn homewards to the farm.
+
+[Illustration: HARVEST-HOME.]
+
+The rustics receive a hearty welcome at their master's house, where
+they find the fuelled chimney blazing wide, and the strong table
+groaning beneath the smoking sirloin--
+
+                  "Mutton, veal,
+    And bacon, which makes full the meal,
+    With several dishes standing by,
+    As here a custard, there a pie,
+    And here all-tempting frumenty."
+
+Frumenty, which is made of wheat boiled in milk was a standing dish
+at every harvest supper. And then around the festive board old tales
+are told, well-known jests abound, and thanks given to the good
+farmer and his wife for their hospitality in some such homely rhymes
+as these--
+
+        "Here's a health to our master,
+           The lord of the feast;
+         God bless his endeavours,
+           And send him increase.
+
+        "May everything prosper
+           That he takes in hand,
+         For we be his servants,
+           And do his command."
+
+The youths and maidens dance their country dances, as an old writer,
+who lived in the reign of Charles II., tells us:--"The lad and the
+lass will have no lead on their heels. O, 'tis the merry time
+wherein honest neighbours make good cheer, and God is glorified in
+His blessings on the earth." When the feast is over, the company
+retire to some near hillock, and make the welkin ring with their
+shouts, "Holla, holla, holla, largess!"--largess being the presents
+of money and good things which the farmer had bestowed.
+
+Such was the harvest-home in the good old days--joy and delight to
+both old and young. The toils of the labourers did not seem so hard
+and wearisome when they knew that the farmers had such a grateful
+sense of their good services; and if any one felt aggrieved or
+discontented, the mutual intercourse at the harvest-home, when all
+were equal, when all sat at the same table and conversed freely
+together, soon banished all ill-feeling, and promoted a sense of
+mutual trust, which is essential to the happiness and well-being of
+any community. Shorn of much of its merriment and quaint customs,
+the harvest-home still lingers on in some places; but modern habits
+and notions have deprived it of much of its old spirit and
+light-heartedness. We have our harvest thanksgiving services, which
+(thank God!) are observed in almost every village and hamlet. It is,
+of course, our first duty to thank God for the fruits of His bounty
+and love; but the harvest-home should not be forgotten. When
+labourers simply regard harvest-time as a season when they can earn
+a few shillings more than usual, and take no further interest in
+their work, or in the welfare of their master, all brightness
+vanishes from their industry: their minds become sordid and
+mercenary; and mutual trust, good-feeling, and fellowship cease to
+exist.
+
+Neither did the harvest-men allow drunkenness, laziness, swearing,
+quarrelling, nor lying, to go unpunished. The labourers in Suffolk,
+if they found one of their number guilty, would hold a court-martial
+among themselves, lay the culprit down on his face, and an
+executioner would administer several hard blows with a shoe studded
+with hob-nails. This was called "ten-pounding," and must have been
+very effectual in checking any of the above delinquencies.
+
+Besides the harvest-home there was also observed another feast of a
+similar character in the spring, when the sheep were shorn. A
+plentiful dinner was given by the farmer to the shearers and their
+friends, and a table was often set in the open village for the young
+people and children. Tusser, who wrote a book upon _Five Hundred
+Points of Husbandry_, did not forget the treats which ought to be
+given to the labourers, and alludes to the sheep-shearing festival
+in the following lines--
+
+    "Wife, make us a dinner; spare flesh, neither corn,
+     Make wafers and cakes, for our sheep must be shorn;
+     At sheep-shearing, neighbours none other things crave,
+     But good cheer and welcome like neighbours to have."
+
+We have in many villages and towns a feast called "the Wakes," which
+is one of the oldest of our English festivals. The day of "the
+Wakes" is the festival of the Saint to whom the parish church is
+dedicated, and it is so called because, on the previous night, or
+vigil, the people used to watch, or "wake," in the church till the
+morning dawned. It was the custom for the inhabitants of the parish
+to keep open house on that day, and to entertain all their relations
+and friends who came to them from a distance. In early times the
+people used to make booths and tents with the boughs of trees near
+to the church, and were directed to celebrate the feast in them with
+thanksgiving and prayer. By degrees they began to forget their
+prayers, and remembered only the feasting, and other abuses crept
+in, so at last the "waking" on the eve of the festival was
+suppressed. But these primitive feasts were the origin of most of
+our fairs, which are generally held on the dedication festival of
+the parish church.[13] The neighbours from the adjoining villages
+used to attend the wakes, so the peddlers and hawkers came to find a
+market for their wares. Their stalls began to multiply, until at
+last an immense fair sprang into existence, which owed its origin
+entirely to the religious festival of "the wakes." Fairs have
+degenerated like many other good things, and we can hardly realize
+their vastness in the middle ages. The circuit of a fair sometimes
+was very great, and it would have been impossible in those days to
+carry on the trade of the country without them. The great
+Stourbridge Fair, near Cambridge, I have described in my former book
+on _English Villages_. The booths were planted in a cornfield, and
+the circuit of the fair, which was one of the largest in Europe, was
+over three miles. All kinds of sports were held on these occasions:
+plays, comedies, tragedies, bull-baiting, &c., and King James was
+very wroth with the undergraduates of Cambridge who would insist
+upon frequenting Stourbridge Fair rather than attend to their
+studies.
+
+The "Wakes," or village feast, was a great day for all sports and
+pastimes. A writer in the _Spectator_ describes the "country wake"
+which he witnessed at Bath. The green was covered with a crowd of
+all ages and both sexes, decked out in holiday attire, and divided
+into several parties, "all of them endeavouring to show themselves
+in those exercises wherein they excelled." In one place there was a
+ring of cudgel-players, in another a football match, in another a
+ring of wrestlers. The prize for the men was a hat, and for the
+women, who had their own contests, a smock. Running and leaping also
+found a place in the programme. In Berkshire back-sword play and
+wrestling were the favourite amusements for vigorous youths, and men
+strove hard to win the honour of being champion and the prizes which
+were offered on the occasion. There were "cheap jacks," and endless
+booths containing all kinds of fairings, ribands, gingerbread cakes,
+and shows, with huge pictures hung outside of giants and wild
+Indians, pink-eyed ladies, live lions, and deformities of all kinds.
+There were minor sports, such as climbing the pole, jumping in
+sacks, rolling wheelbarrows blindfolded, donkey races, muzzling in a
+flour-tub, &c.; but the back-sword play was the chief and most
+serious part of the programme.
+
+A good sound ash-stick with a large basket handle was the weapon
+used, very similar to, but heavier and shorter than an ordinary
+single-stick. The object is to "break the head" of the opponent--
+_i.e._ to cause blood to flow anywhere above the eyebrow. A slight
+blow will often accomplish this, so the game is not so savage
+as it appears to be. The play took place on a stage of rough planks
+about four feet high. Each player was armed with a stick, looping the
+fingers of his left hand in a handkerchief or strap, which he
+fastened round his left leg, measuring the length, so that when he
+drew it tight with his left elbow up he had a perfect guard for the
+left side of his head.[14] Guarding his head with the stick in his
+right hand, he advanced, and then the fight began; fast and furious
+came the blows, until at last a red streak on the temple of one of
+the combatants declared his defeat. The _Reading Mercury_ of May 24,
+1819, advertised the rural sports at Peppard, when the not very
+magnificent prize of eighteenpence was offered to every man who broke
+a head at cudgel-play, and a shilling to every one who had his head
+broken.
+
+Such was the sport which our old Berkshire rustics delighted in.
+Back-sword play, wrestling, and other pastimes made them a hardy
+race, full of courage, and developed qualities which it is hoped
+their descendants have not altogether lost. The gallant Berkshire
+Regiment, which fought so bravely at Maiwand, is composed of the
+sons of those who used to wield the back-sword on the Berkshire
+downs, and showed themselves not unworthy of their ancestry,
+although the quarter-staff and ashen-swords are forgotten. The old
+village feasts are forgotten too--more's the pity. Then old quarrels
+were healed, old bitternesses removed: aged friends met, and became
+young again in heart, as they revived old memories and sweet
+recollections of youthful days. Rich and poor, the squire and the
+farmer, the farmer and his labourers, all mingled together, class
+with class; and good-fellowship, harmony, and mutual confidence were
+promoted by these annual gatherings. It is true that these village
+feasts degenerated, because the well-to-do folk abstained from them;
+but would it not be possible to revive them, to preserve the good
+which they certainly did, and to eliminate the evil which is so
+often mingled with the good? Such a consideration is worthy of the
+attention of all who have the welfare of the people at heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+SEPTEMBER.
+
+    "Nor is there hawk which mantleth her on pearch,
+       Whether high tow'ring or accoasting low,
+     But I the measure of her flight do search,
+       And all her prey, and all her diet know."--SPENSER.
+
+Hawking--Michaelmas--Bull and Bear-baiting.
+
+
+Of all old English sports hawking is one of the most ancient and the
+most fashionable. It has almost died out now, but there are one or
+two hawking enthusiasts who have endeavoured to revive this old
+English pastime, and on the Berkshire Downs a hawking party was seen
+a few years ago. Hawking consists in the training and flying of
+hawks for the purpose of catching other birds. Kings and noblemen,
+barons and ladies of feudal times, used to delight in following the
+sport on horseback, and to watch their favourite birds towering high
+to gain the upward flights in order to swoop down upon some heron,
+crane, or wild duck, and bear it to the ground. Persons of high rank
+always carried their hawks with them wherever they went, and in old
+paintings the hawk upon the wrist of a portrait was the sign of
+noble birth. The sport was practised by our Saxon forefathers before
+the Normans came, and the first trained hawk in England is said to
+have been sent by St. Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans," as a
+present to Ethelbert, King of Kent, in the eighth century. The
+history of the sport of the kings who loved to take part in it, and
+of their adventures, would require a volume, and my space only
+allows me to give you a brief account of the manner in which the
+sport was conducted.
+
+I may mention that before the reign of King John only kings and
+noblemen were allowed to take part in hawking; but in the forest
+Charter, which that monarch was compelled to sign, every freeman was
+permitted to have his own hawks and falcons. The falconer, who took
+care of the hawks, was a very important person. The chief falconer
+of the King of France received four thousand florins a year, besides
+a tax upon every hawk sold in the kingdom. The Welsh princes
+assigned the fourth place of honour in their courts to this officer;
+but this proud distinction had its responsibilities, and this high
+official was only allowed to take three draughts from his horn, lest
+his brain should not be as clear as it ought to be, and the precious
+birds might be neglected.
+
+Sometimes the hawking party went on foot, carrying long poles to
+enable them to jump the ditches and to follow the course. Henry
+VIII. nearly lost his life on one occasion through falling (his pole
+having broken) into a bog, from which he was rescued by one John
+Moody, who happened to see the accident. But mounted on gallant
+steeds the lords and ladies were accustomed to follow their
+favourite pastime, and amid the blowing of horns and laughter and
+shoutings they rode along, galloping up-hill and down-hill, with
+their eyes fixed upon the birds, which were battling or chasing each
+other high overhead. The hawk did not always win the fight:
+sometimes a crafty heron would turn his long bill upwards just as
+the hawk was descending upon him, and pierce his antagonist through
+the body.
+
+Great skill and perseverance were required in training these birds.
+When they were not flying after their prey, they were hoodwinked,
+_i.e._ their heads were covered with caps, which were often finely
+embroidered. On their legs they had strings of leather, called
+_jesses_, with rings attached. When a hawk was being trained, a long
+thread was fastened to these rings to draw the bird back again, but
+when it was well educated, it would obey the voice of the falconer
+and return when it had performed its flight. It was necessary for
+the bird to know its master very intimately, so a devoted follower
+of the sport would always carry his hawk about with him, and the two
+were as inseparable as a Highland shepherd and his dog. The
+sportsman would feed his bird and train it daily, and in an old book
+of directions he is advised "at night to go to the mews, and take it
+from its perch, and set it on his fist, and bear it all the night,"
+in order to be ready for the morrow's sport.
+
+[Illustration: A FALCONER.]
+
+The mews were the buildings where the hawks were kept when moulting,
+the word "mew" being a term used by falconers to signify to moult,
+or cast feathers; and the King's Mews, near Charing Cross, was the
+place where the royal hawks were kept. This place was afterwards
+enlarged, and converted into stables for horses; but the old name
+remained, and now most stables in London are called mews, although
+the word is derived from falconry, and the hawks have long since
+flown away.
+
+The sport declined at the end of the seventeenth century, when
+shooting with guns became general, but our language has preserved
+some traces of this ancient pastime. When a person is blinded by
+deceit, he is said to be "hoodwinked," and this word is derived from
+the custom of placing a hood over the hawk's eyes before it was
+released from restraint.
+
+On the Feast of St. Michael, or Michaelmas, the tenants were in the
+habit of bringing presents of a fat goose to their landlord, in
+order to make him kind and lenient in the matters of rent, repairs,
+and the renewal of leases, and the noble landlords used to entertain
+their tenants right royally in the great halls of their ancestral
+mansions, roast goose forming a standing dish of the repast. This is
+probably the origin of the custom which prevails at the present time
+of eating geese at Michaelmas.
+
+When the harvest was over, and the farmers were not so busy, they
+often amused themselves by the cruel sport of baiting a bull. An old
+gentleman who lived at Wokingham was so fond of this savage pastime
+that he left in his will a sum of money for the purpose of providing
+every year two bulls to be baited for the amusement of the people of
+his native town. The bulls are still bought, but they are put to
+death in a more merciful manner, and the meat given to the poor.
+Amongst the hills in Yorkshire there is a small village, through
+which a brook runs, crossed by two bridges, and having a stone wall
+on each side. Thus, when the bridges were stopped up, there was
+formed a wall-encircled space, into which, once a year, at least, a
+poor bull was placed, to be worried to death by dogs, and within the
+memory of men now living this cruel sport has been carried on.
+
+Nor was this only a sport for ignorant rustics; kings and noble
+courtiers, and even ladies, used to frequent the bear-gardens of the
+metropolis, and witness with delight the slaughter of bulls, and
+bears, and dogs. Erasmus tells us that in the reign of Henry VIII.
+"many herds of bears were maintained in this country for the purpose
+of baiting." Queen Elizabeth commanded bears, bulls, and the
+ape to be baited in her presence, and James I. was not averse
+to the sight. The following is a description of this barbarous
+entertainment--"There is a place built in the form of a theatre,
+which serves for baiting of bulls and bears. They are fastened
+behind, and then worried by great English bull-dogs; but not without
+risk to the dogs from the horns of the one and the teeth of the
+other." Even horses were sometimes baited, and sometimes asses.
+Evelyn, in his _Diary_, thus describes the strange sight--"June
+16th, 1670. I went with some friends to the bear-garden, where was
+cock-fighting, dog-fighting, bear and bull-baiting, it being a
+famous day for all these butcherly sports, or rather barbarous
+cruelties. The bulls did exceedingly well, but the Irish wolf-dog
+exceeded, which was a tall greyhound, a stately creature indeed, who
+beat a cruel mastiff. One of the bulls tossed a dog full into a
+lady's lap, as she sat in one of the boxes at a considerable height
+from the arena. Two poor dogs were killed, and so all ended with the
+ape on horseback, and I most heartily weary of the rude and dirty
+pastime, which I had not seen, I think, in twenty years before."
+Foreigners, who have visited England in by-gone times, often allude
+scornfully to our forefathers' barbarous diversions; but on the
+whole they seem rather to have enjoyed the sport. A Spanish nobleman
+was taken to see a poor pony baited with an ape fastened on its
+back; and he wrote--"to see the animal kicking amongst the dogs,
+with the screams of the ape, beholding the curs hanging from the
+ears and neck of the pony, is very laughable!" But enough has been
+said of these terrible and monstrous cruelties. Happily for us they
+no longer exist, and together with cock-fighting, throwing at cocks
+and hens, and other barbarous amusements, cannot now be reckoned
+among our sports and pastimes. It was a happy thing for us when the
+conscience of the nation was aroused, and the law stepped in to put
+an end to such disgraceful scenes which were witnessed in the Paris
+Garden at Southwark, or in the rude bull-run of a Yorkshire village.
+The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was not known
+in the days of bear-baiting and cock-throwing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+OCTOBER.
+
+    "Rivet well each coat of mail;
+     Blows shall fall like showers of hail;
+     Merrily the harness rings,
+     Of tilting lists and tournay sings,
+     Honour to the valiant brings.
+        Clink, clink, clink!"--_Armourers' Chorus_.
+
+Tournaments--_Mysteries_--_Moralities_--_Pageants_.
+
+
+In the days of chivalry, when gallant knights used to ride about in
+search of adventures; and when there were many wars, battles, and
+crusades, martial exercises were the chief amusements of the people
+of England. We have already mentioned some of these sports in which
+the humbler folk used to show their strength and dexterity, and now
+I propose to tell you of those wonderful trials of military skill
+called tournaments, which were the favourite pastimes of the
+noblemen and gentry of England in the middle ages, and afforded much
+amusement to their poorer neighbours who flocked to see these
+gallant feats of arms. Tournaments were fights in miniature, in
+which the combatants fought simply to exhibit their strength and
+prowess. There was a great deal of pomp and ceremony attached to
+them. The lists, as the barriers were called which inclosed the
+scene of combat, were superbly decorated, and surrounded by
+pavilions belonging to the champions, ornamented with their arms and
+banners. The seats reserved for the noble ladies and gentlemen who
+came to see the fight were hung with tapestry embroidered with gold
+and silver. Everyone was dressed in the most sumptuous manner: the
+minstrels and heralds were clothed in the costliest garments; the
+knights who were engaged in the sports and their horses were most
+gorgeously arrayed. The whole scene was one of great splendour and
+magnificence, and, when the fight began, the shouts of the heralds
+who directed the tournament, the clashing of arms, the clang of
+trumpets, the charging of the combatants, and the shouts of the
+spectators, must have produced a wonderfully impressive and exciting
+effect upon all who witnessed the strange spectacle.
+
+The regulations and laws of the tournament were very minute. When
+many preliminary arrangements had been made with regard to the
+examination of arms and helmets and the exhibition of banners, &c.,
+at ten o'clock on the morning of the appointed day the champions and
+their adherents were required to be in their places. Two cords
+divided the combatants, who were each armed with a pointless sword
+and a truncheon hanging from their saddles. When the word was given
+by the lord of the tournament, the cords were removed, and the
+champions charged and fought until the heralds sounded the signal to
+retire. It was considered the greatest disgrace to be unhorsed. A
+French earl once tried to unhorse our King Edward I. when he was
+returning from Palestine, wearied by the journey. The earl threw
+away his sword, cast his arms around the king's neck, and tried to
+pull him from his horse. But Edward put spurs to his horse and drew
+the earl from the saddle, and then shaking him violently, threw him
+to the ground.
+
+The joust (or just) differed from tournament, because in the former
+only lances were used, and only two knights could fight at once. It
+was not considered quite so important as the grand feat of arms
+which I have just described, but was often practised when the more
+serious encounter had finished. Lances or spears without heads of
+iron were commonly used, and the object of the sport was to ride
+hard against one's adversary and strike him with the spear upon the
+front of the helmet, so as to beat him backwards from his horse, or
+break the spear. You will gather from these descriptions that this
+kind of sport was somewhat dangerous, and that men sometimes lost
+their lives at these encounters. In order to lessen the risk and
+danger of the two horses running into each other when the knights
+charged, a boarded railing was erected in the midst of the lists,
+about four or five feet high. The combatants rode on separate sides
+of this barrier, and therefore could not encounter each other except
+with their lances.
+
+[Illustration: A TOURNAMENT.]
+
+In the days of chivalry ladies were held in high honour and
+respect. It was their privilege to assign the prizes to those who
+had distinguished themselves most in the tournament. They were the
+arbiters of the sport; and, indeed, the jousts were usually held in
+honour of the ladies, who received as their right the respect and
+devotion of all true knights. This respect for women had a softening
+and ennobling influence, which was of great value in times when such
+influences were rare. It was probably derived (according to a French
+writer) from our ancestors, the Germans, "who attributed somewhat of
+divinity to the fair sex." It is the sign of a corrupt age and
+degraded manners when this respect ceases to be paid.
+
+Only men of noble family, and who owned land, were allowed to take
+part in the jousts or tournament; but the yeomen and young farmers
+used to practise similar kinds of sport, such as tilting at a ring,
+quintain, and boat jousts, which have already been mentioned in a
+preceding chapter. Richard I., the lion-hearted king, was a great
+promoter of these martial sports, and appointed five places for the
+holding of tournaments in England, namely, at some place between
+Salisbury and Wilton, between Warwick and Kenilworth, between
+Stamford and Wallingford, between Brackley and Mixbury, and between
+Blie and Tykehill. But in almost every part of England tournaments
+or jousts have been held, and scenes enacted such as I have
+described. Sometimes two knights would fight in mortal combat. If
+one knight accused the other of crime or dishonour, the latter
+might challenge him to fight with swords or lances, and, according
+to the superstition of the times, the victor was considered to be
+the one who spoke the truth. But this ordeal combat was far removed
+from the domain of sport.
+
+When jousts and tournaments were abandoned, tilting on horseback at
+a ring became a favourite courtly amusement. A ring was suspended on
+a level with the eye of the rider; and the sport consisted in riding
+towards the ring, and sending the point of a lance through it, and
+so bearing it away. Great skill was required to accomplish this
+surely and gracefully. Ascham, a writer in the sixteenth century,
+tells us what accomplishments were required from the complete
+English gentleman of the period. "To ride comely, to run fair at the
+tilt or ring, to play at all weapons, to shoot fair in bow, or
+surely in gun; to vault lustily, to run, to leap, to wrestle, to
+swim, to dance comely, to sing, and play of instruments cunningly;
+to hawk, to hunt, to play at tennis, and all pastimes generally
+which be joined to labour, containing either some fit exercises for
+war, or some pleasant pastime for peace--these be not only comely
+and decent, but also very necessary for a courtly gentleman to use."
+The courtly gentleman must have been very industrious to acquire all
+these numerous accomplishments!
+
+There was another form of spectacle which gave great pleasure to our
+ancestors; and often in the market-places of old towns, or in open
+fields, at the bottom of natural amphitheatres near some of the
+ancient monasteries, were Scriptural plays performed, which were
+called _Miracles_, or _Mysteries_, because they treated of scenes
+taken from the Old or New Testament, or from the lives of saints and
+martyrs. The performances were very simple and often grotesque, but
+the plays were regarded by the monks, who assisted in these
+representations, as a means of teaching the people sacred truths.
+The miracle play of Norman and mediaeval times was a long,
+disconnected performance, which often lasted many days. In the reign
+of Henry IV. there was a play which lasted eight days, and,
+beginning with the creation of the world, contained the greater part
+of the history of the Old and the New Testament. The words of the
+play seem to us strange, and sometimes profane; but they were not
+thought to be so by those who listened to them. The _Mystery_ play
+only lasted one day, and consisted of one subject, such as _The
+Conversion of St. Paul_. _Noah and the Flood_ was a very popular
+piece. His wife is represented as being much opposed to the perilous
+voyage in the ark, and abuses Noah very severely for compelling her
+to go. Sometimes the authors thought it necessary to introduce a
+comic character to enliven the dullness of the performance. But, in
+spite of humorous demons, these mysteries ceased to attract, and
+plays called _Moralities_ were introduced, in which the actors
+assumed the parts of personified virtues, &c., and you might have
+heard "Faith" preaching to "Prudence," or "Death" lecturing "Beauty"
+and "Pride." The first miracle play performed in England was that of
+_St. Catherine_, which was acted at Dunstable, 1110 A.D.; and
+another early piece was the play called _The Image of St. Nicholas_.
+These were of a religious nature and were performed in church during
+Divine service. The following is an outline of the plot of the
+latter: instead of the image of St. Nicholas, which adorned his
+shrine, a man stood in the garb of the saint whom he represented.
+The service is divided into two portions, and the play is produced
+during the interval. A stranger appears at the west door, who is
+evidently a rich heathen, and lays down his treasures before the
+image of the saint and beseeches him to take care of them. A band of
+thieves enter and steal the treasures, and when the heathen returns,
+he is so enraged that he proceeds to chastise the image of the
+saint; when lo! the figure descends, marches out of the church, and
+convinces the thieves of their wickedness. Struck with fear on
+account of the miracle, they restore the treasures, the Pagan sings
+a song of joy, and St. Nicholas tells him to worship God, and to
+praise Christ. Then, after an act of adoration to the Almighty, the
+service is resumed.[15]
+
+There were also strolling companies of minstrels, jugglers, and
+jesters, who went about the country, and acted secular pieces
+composed of comic stories, jokes, and dialogues, interspersed with
+dancing and tumbling. The whole performance was very absurd and
+often indecent, and the clergy did their utmost to suppress these
+strolling companies.
+
+The stage upon which the _Mysteries_ were played was built on
+wheels, in order that it might be drawn to different parts of the
+town. Sometimes religious plays were acted in churches before the
+Reformation; but in Cornwall the people formed an earthen
+amphitheatre in some open field, and as the players did not learn
+their parts very well, a prompter used to follow them about with a
+book and tell them what to say. Coventry, York, Wakefield, Reading,
+Hull, and Leicester were famous for their plays, and in the
+churchwardens' accounts we find many entries referring to the
+performances.
+
+1469.--_e.g._ Item paid to Noah and his wife ... ... xxi^d.
+  "          "    for a rope to hang the ship in the church ... ii^d.
+
+These performances would probably seem very foolish and childish to
+a modern audience, but they helped to enliven and diversify the
+lives of our more simple-minded forefathers.
+
+The people, too, loved pageants which were performed on great
+occasions, during a Royal progress for instance, or to welcome the
+advent of some mighty personage. Great preparations were made for
+these exhibitions of rustic talent; long verses were committed to
+memory; rehearsals were endless, and the stories of Greek and Roman
+mythology were ransacked to provide scenes and subjects for the
+rural pageant. All this must have afforded immense amusement and
+interest to the country-folk in the neighbourhood of some lord's
+castle, when the king or queen was expected to sojourn there.
+Shepherds and shepherdesses, gods and goddesses, clowns and mummers,
+all took part in the play, and it may interest my readers to give an
+account of one of these pageants, which was performed before Queen
+Elizabeth when she visited the ancient and historic castle of
+Sudeley.[16]
+
+The play is founded on the old classical story of Apollo and Daphne.
+The sun-god, Apollo, was charmed by the beauty of the fair Daphne,
+the daughter of a river-god, and pursued her with base intent. Just
+as she was about to be overtaken she prayed for aid, and was
+immediately changed into a laurel-tree, which became the favourite
+tree of the disappointed lover. The pageant founded on this old
+classical legend commenced with a man, who acted the part of Apollo,
+chasing a woman, who represented Daphne, followed by a young
+shepherd bewailing his hard fate. He, too, loved the fair and
+beautiful Daphne, but Apollo wooed her with fair words, and
+threatened him with diverse penalties, saying he would change him
+into a wolf, or a cockatrice, or blind his eyes. The shepherd in a
+long speech tells how Daphne was changed into a tree, and then
+Apollo is seen at the foot of a laurel-tree weeping, accompanied by
+two minstrels. The repentant god repeats the verse--
+
+    "Sing you, play you; but sing and play my truth;
+     This tree my lute, these sighs my note of ruth:
+     The laurel leaf for ever shall be green,
+     And Chastity shall be Apollo's Queen.
+     If gods may die, here shall my tomb be placed,
+     And this engraven, 'Fond Phoebus, Daphne chaste.'"
+
+A song follows, and then, wonderful to relate, the tree opens, and
+Daphne comes forth. Apollo resigns her to the humble shepherd, and
+then she runs to her Majesty the Queen, and with a great deal of
+flattery wishes her a long and prosperous reign.
+
+Such was the simple play which delighted the minds of our
+forefathers, and helped to raise them from sordid cares and the dull
+monotony of continual toil. In our popular amusements the village
+folk do not take part, except as spectators, and therefore lose half
+the pleasure; whereas in the time of the Virgin Queen the
+rehearsals, the learning the speeches by heart, the dresses, the
+excitement, all contributed to give them fresh ideas and new
+thoughts. The acting may not have been very good; indeed Queen
+Elizabeth did not always think very highly of the performances of
+her subjects at Coventry, and was heard to exclaim, "What fools ye
+Coventry folk are!" but I think her Majesty must have been pleased
+at the concluding address of the players at Sudeley. After the
+shepherds had acted a piece in which the election of the King and
+Queen of the Bean formed a part, they knelt before the real Queen,
+and said, "Pardon, dread Sovereign, poor shepherds' pastimes, and
+bold shepherds' presumptions. We call ourselves kings and queens to
+make mirth; but when we see a king or queen, we stand amazed. At
+chess there are kings and queens, and they of wood. Shepherds are no
+more, nor no less, wooden. In theatres workmen have played emperors;
+yet the next day forgotten neither their duties nor occupation. For
+our boldness in borrowing their names, and in not seeing your
+Majesty for our blindness, we offer these shepherds' weeds: which,
+if your Majesty vouchsafe at any time to wear, it shall bring to our
+hearts comfort, and happiness to our labours."
+
+When the Queen visited Kenilworth Castle, splendid pageants were
+performed in her honour. As she entered the castle the gigantic
+porter recited verses to greet her Majesty, gods and goddesses
+offered gifts and compliments on bended knee, and the Lady of the
+Lake, surrounded by Tritons and Nereids, came on a floating island
+to do homage to the peerless Elizabeth, and to welcome her to all
+the sport the castle could afford. For an account of the strange
+conduct of Orion and his dolphin upon this occasion, we refer our
+readers to Sir Walter Scott's _Kenilworth_, and the lover of
+pageants will find much to interest him in Gascoigne's _Princely
+Progress_. In many of the chief towns of England the members of the
+Guilds were obliged by their ordinances to have a pageant once every
+year, which was of a religious nature. The Guild of St. Mary at
+Beverley made a yearly representation of the Presentation of Christ
+in the Temple, one of their number being dressed as a queen to
+represent the Virgin, "having what may seem a son in her arms," two
+others representing Joseph and Simeon, and two others going as
+angels carrying lights. The people of England seem always to have
+had a great fondness for shows and pageants.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NOVEMBER.
+
+    "The ploughman, though he labour hard,
+     Yet on the holiday
+       Heigh trolollie, lollie loe.
+     No emperor so merrily
+     Doth pass his time away;
+       Then care away,
+       And wend along with me."--_Complete Angler_.
+
+              "The curious preciseness,
+    And all pretended gravity of those
+    That seek to banish hence these harmless sports,
+    Have thrust away much ancient honesty."--IRVING'S _Sketch Book_.
+
+All-hallow Eve--"Soul Cakes"--Diving for Apples--The Fifth of
+November--Martinmas--_Demands Joyous_--Indoor Games.
+
+
+The first of November is All Saints' Day, and the eve of that day,
+called All-hallow Even, was the occasion of some very ancient and
+curious customs. It seems to have been observed more by the
+descendants of the Celts than by the Saxons; and Wales, Scotland,
+and Ireland were the homes of many of the popular superstitions
+connected with this festival. In Scotland the bonfires were set up
+in every village, and each member of a family would throw in a white
+stone marked with his name; and if that stone could not be found
+next morning, it was supposed that that person would die before the
+following All Saints' Day. This foolish superstition may be classed
+with the other well-known superstition with regard to the sitting of
+thirteen people at one table, in which some are still foolish enough
+to believe.
+
+All-hallow Even was supposed to be a great night for witches:
+possibly it was with the intention of guarding against their spells
+that the farmers used to carry blazing straw around their cornfields
+and stacks. It was the custom for the farmer to regale his men with
+seed cake on this night; and there were cakes called "Soul Mass
+Cakes," or "Soul Cakes," which were given to the poor. These were of
+triangular shape, and poor people in Staffordshire used to go
+_a-souling_, i.e. collecting these soul cakes, or anything else they
+could get.
+
+On this night the fishermen of Scotland signed their boats, that is
+put a cross of tar upon them, in order that their fishing might
+prosper. The church bells were rung all night long for all Christian
+souls, and we find from some old account books that the good folk
+were very careful to have all their bell-ropes and bells in good
+order for All-hallow Even. This ringing was supposed to benefit the
+souls of the dead in Purgatory, and was suppressed after the
+Reformation.
+
+There were some very homely pastimes for All-hallow Even for the
+young folk in the north of England. Apples were placed in a vessel
+of water and "dived for"; or they were suspended from the roof and
+caught at by several expectant mouths. Sometimes a rod was suspended
+with an apple at one end, and at the other a lighted candle. The
+youths had their hands tied behind their backs, and caught at the
+apple, often causing the candle to swing round and burn their hair.
+The cracking of nuts was an important ceremony among the young men
+and maidens, who threw nuts into the fire, and from the way in which
+they cracked, or burned, foretold all kinds of happiness or misery
+for themselves. The nuts that burned brightly prophesied prosperity
+to their owners, but those that crackled or burned black denoted
+misfortune. In olden times, when people were more superstitious than
+they are now, they attached great importance to these omens and
+customs, but happily the young people of our times have ceased to
+believe in magic and foolish customs, and country girls strive to
+attract their swains by other charms than those of nut-cracking on
+All-hallow Even.
+
+We have still our bonfires on November 5th, but the event which
+happened on that day is very recent as compared with many of the old
+customs of which I have been writing. However, it is nearly three
+hundred years ago since Guy Fawkes and his companions attempted to
+blow up the Houses of Parliament with gunpowder; and yet we still
+light our bonfires and burn Guy Fawkes' effigy, with much
+accompaniment of squibs and crackers, just as if the event which we
+commemorate only occurred last year. Probably very few of our
+rustics think much of the origin of the customs observed on November
+the Fifth, or remember that it was instituted by the House of
+Commons as "a holiday for ever in thankfulness to God for our
+deliverance, and detestation of the Papists;" but this ignorance
+does not prevent them from keeping up the custom and enjoying the
+excitement of the bonfire and fireworks. If you are not acquainted
+with the history of the conspiracy, I would advise you to read it in
+some good history book, and--
+
+    "Pray to remember
+     The fifth of November
+       Gunpowder treason and plot,
+     When the King and his train
+     Had nearly been slain,
+       Therefore it shall not be forgot."
+
+The Berkshire boys, as they carried their Guy and collected wood for
+their bonfires, used to add the words--
+
+    "Our king's a valiant soldier,
+     With his blunderbuss on his shoulder,
+     Cocks his pistol, draws his rapier;
+     Pray give us something for his sake here.
+     A stick and a stake, for our good king's sake:
+     If ye won't give one, I'll take two,
+     The better for me, and the worse for you.
+
+     CHORUS--
+       "Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, make the bells ring,
+        Hollow, boys, hollow, boys, God save the King."
+
+Some of the rhymes tell us about the nefarious deeds of wicked Guy
+Fawkes, who
+
+      "... with his companions did contrive
+    To blow the House of Parliament up alive,
+    With three score barrels of powder down below,
+    To prove Old England's wicked overthrow;
+    But by God's mercy all of them got catched,
+    With their dark lantern, and their lighted match.
+    Ladies and gentlemen sitting by the fire,
+    Please put hands in pockets and give us our desire:
+    While you can drink one glass, we can drink two,
+    The better for we, and none the worse for you."
+
+This rhyme was concluded with the following strange jingle--
+
+    "Rumour, rumour, pump a derry,
+     Prick his heart and burn his body,
+     And send his soul to Purgatory."[17]
+
+The streets of Oxford used to be the scenes of great encounters
+between the townsmen and gownsmen (or college students) on this
+night, who, on any other night in the year, never thought of
+fighting. Happily in recent years these fights have ceased, but even
+now the gownsmen are "gated" on the night of the Fifth of November,
+_i.e._ are confined to their colleges, lest there should be a
+renewal of these encounters. So severe were the battles in ancient
+times, that the tower of Carfax Church was lowered because the
+townsfolk used to ascend thither and shoot their arrows at the
+undergraduates; and the butchers were obliged to ply their trade
+beyond the city walls, because they had used their knives and
+cleavers in their annual fight.
+
+At Martinmas, or the Feast of St. Martin, it was the custom to lay
+in a stock of winter provisions, and many cows, oxen, and swine were
+killed at this time, their flesh being salted and hung up for the
+winter, when fresh provisions were seldom to be had.
+
+And now the long evenings have set in, and our ancestors in hall or
+cottage assemble round the blazing hearth, and listen to the
+minstrel's lays, and recite their oft-told tales of adventure and
+romance. Sometimes they indulge in asking each other riddles, and
+there exists at the present time an old collection of these early
+efforts of wit and humour which are not of a very high order. The
+book is called _Demands Joyous,_ and was printed in A.D. 1511. I may
+extract the following riddles:--"What is it that never was and never
+will be? Answer: A mouse's nest in a cat's ear. Why does a cow lie
+down? Because it cannot sit. How many straws go to a goose's nest?
+Not one, for straws, not having feet, cannot go anywhere."
+
+With such feeble efforts of wit did the country folk try to beguile
+the long evenings. In those days there were no newspapers, very few
+books, even if they could be read, and the only means of gathering
+information from other parts of the country were the peddlers or
+wandering minstrels, who told them the news as they passed from
+place to place. Consequently, the above humble efforts of wit were
+not to be despised, and served to beguile the tediousness of the
+long winter's night. Besides, the villagers had the carols to
+practise for Christmas, many of which were handed down from father
+to son for many generations, and probably both words and music
+received many variations in their course. Old collections of these
+carols still exist, such as the one entitled, "Good and True, Fresh
+and New, Christmas Carols," which was made in the middle of the
+seventeenth century. As an instance of the way in which the words
+became changed as they were passed on by illiterate singers, I may
+mention a carol of which the refrain is now printed "Now Well, Now
+Well"; originally this must have been "Noel, Noel." Some of the
+carols degenerated into songs about the wassail bowl, and the
+virtues of strong ale, and our forefathers were not unlike some of
+their children, who forget the Saviour in the enjoyment of His
+gifts. And besides the carols the villagers had the ordinary hymns
+to practise, with grand accompaniment of violins, flutes,
+clarionets, etc., for each village had its own musicians, who took
+great pride and interest in their playing, and used to practise
+together in the evenings. The old instruments have vanished: we have
+our organs and harmoniums: our choirs sing better and more
+reverently; but there are no reunions of the village orchestra,
+which used to afford so much pleasure to the rustics of former days.
+
+In the lord's hall there were plenty of sedentary games, and amongst
+these pre-eminently stands the noble pastime of chess. It is very
+ancient, and is supposed to have been invented by Xerxes, a
+philosopher in the court of Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon. It was
+well known in England before the Conquest, and Canute was very fond
+of the chessboard. King John was so engrossed in this game that when
+some messengers came to tell him that the French king had besieged
+one of his cities, he would not listen to them until he had finished
+his chess. The complicated movements of the various men seem to show
+that the game was developed and improved, and not the invention of
+one man, but few changes have been made during several centuries.
+Players are checkmated now in very much the same way as they were
+five hundred years ago.
+
+Besides chess they had backgammon, or tables, as the game was
+called, Merelles, or Nine men's Morris (which also found its way to
+the shepherds' cottages), dice, and card games, some of which I have
+described before. Gambling was often carried on to a great extent,
+but evidently our modern people are not wiser than their ancestors
+in this matter; and instead of playing games for recreation, are not
+satisfied until they lose fortunes on the hazard of a dice or a
+card. Let us hope that men will at length become wiser as the world
+grows older.
+
+[Illustration: TWO INDIVIDUALS PLAYING CHESS AS TWO OTHERS LOOK ON.]
+
+Erasmus, the learned Dutchman, in his _Colloquies_ suggests some
+curious awards for victors. He represents two youths, Adolphus and
+Bernard, who begin to play a game at bowls. Adolphus says, "What
+shall he that beats get, or he that is beaten lose?" Bernard
+replies, "What if he that beats shall have a piece of his ear cut
+off? It is a mean thing to play for money: you are a German, and I a
+Frenchman: we will both play for the honour of his country. If I
+shall beat you, you shall cry out thrice, 'Let France flourish!' if
+I shall be beat (which I hope I shall not), I will in the same words
+celebrate your Germany." They bowl away: a stone represents the
+Jack: a mischievous bit of brickbat rather interferes with the
+German's accuracy, of aim, but in the end he wins, and the French
+cock has to crow thrice, "Let Germany flourish." In another game
+between two students who are contending in the play of striking a
+ball through an iron ring, it is arranged that he that is beat shall
+make and repeat extempore some verses in praise of him that beat
+him. This certainly would make many a youth keen to win the contest!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DECEMBER.
+
+    "The Darling of the world is come,
+     And fit it is we find a room
+     To welcome Him. The nobler part
+     Of all the house here is the heart,
+
+    "Which we will give Him; and bequeath
+     This holly and this ivy wreath
+     To do Him honour, who's our King,
+     And Lord of all this revelling."
+
+                       HERRICK, _A Christmas Carol_.
+
+St. Nicholas Day--The Boy Bishop--Christmas Eve--Christmas
+Customs--Mummers--"Lord of Misrule"--Conclusion.
+
+
+Now dark and chill December has arrived; and very dark and chill it
+must have seemed to our ancestors. No gaslights illuminated the
+streets, here and there a feeble oil lamp helped to make the
+darkness visible, when the oil was not frozen: the roads were deep
+with mud, and everything outside was cold and cheerless. But within
+the farmer's kitchen the huge logs burned brightly, and the
+Christmas holidays were at hand with the accustomed merrymakings, to
+cheer the hearts of all in the depths of the dreary winter.
+
+But before Christmas Day arrived, the children enjoyed a great treat
+on St. Nicholas' Day, December 6th, when it was the custom for
+parents to convey secretly presents of various kinds to their little
+sons and daughters, who were taught to believe that they owed them
+to the kindness of St. Nicholas, who, going up and down among the
+towns and villages, came in at the windows and distributed the
+gifts. St. Nicholas, who died A.D. 343, threw a purse filled with
+money into the bedroom of a poor man for the benefit of his three
+daughters, who were in sore trouble; and this story seems to have
+originated the custom which has been observed in many countries, and
+brought much enjoyment to the young folk who received St. Nicholas'
+bounty.
+
+Before the Reformation there was another very strange custom
+associated with this day; namely, the election of a boy bishop, who
+was dressed in episcopal robes, with a mitre on his head, and who
+actually was allowed to preach in the church. This was done
+regularly at many of our cathedrals and collegiate churches, and we
+find records of the custom amongst the archives of Salisbury and
+many other places; even the service which they used is in existence.
+The youthful bishop was elected by the choir-boys, and exercised his
+functions until Holy Innocents' Day. On that day in great state he
+entered the cathedral surrounded by the other boys, who played the
+part of prebendaries, and attended by the dean and canons, who on
+this occasion yielded up their dignity to the youthful prelate and
+his followers. The collect for Holy Innocents' Day in our
+Prayer-book formed part of the service. It was a strange ceremony,
+not unmixed with irreverence, and happily has long been
+discontinued, being forbidden by Royal proclamation in 1542, and
+finally abolished by Elizabeth.
+
+In the archives of the ancient town of Bristol there is a book of
+directions for the Mayor and his brethren, and on St. Nicholas' Day
+they are ordered to go to the Church of St. Nicholas and join in the
+festival of the boy bishop, to hear his sermon and receive his
+blessing. Then they dined together, and waited for the young bishop
+to come to them, playing the meanwhile at dice, the town clerk being
+ordered to find the dice, and to receive a penny for every raffle.
+The bishop was regaled with bread and wine, and preached again to
+the Mayor and corporation in the evening. I am informed that a
+curious memorial of this custom existed until recent years in one
+village at least. An old lady recollected that when she was a child
+she was allowed to play with her companions in church on St.
+Nicholas' Day.
+
+But Christmas is approaching, and we must hasten to describe that
+bright and happy festival. The holiday began on Christmas Eve, and
+perhaps you have wondered why we hang up mistletoe, and decorate our
+churches and houses with holly, why our ancestors brought in the
+Yule-log, and performed many other customs which do not seem to be
+very closely connected with the celebration of the birthday of our
+Lord. But we must remember that our forefathers were originally
+heathen, and at this period of the year they practised several
+strange customs connected with their Druidical worship, and held
+great feasts in honour of their gods. When Christian missionaries
+converted these heathen, they strove to put down some of the old
+idolatrous practices; but their efforts were in vain, for the people
+were warmly attached to these old rights and usages. So a compromise
+was effected: the old Pagan customs were shorn of their idolatry and
+transferred to our Christian festivals. Cutting the mistletoe was
+distinctly a rite practised by the Druids, who cut the sacred plant
+with a golden knife, and sacrificed two white bulls to the sylvan
+deities whom they thus sought to propitiate. We hang up our bunches
+of mistletoe now, but we do not attach any superstitious importance
+to it, nor imagine that any gods of the woods will be influenced by
+our procedure. The bringing in of the Yule-log was a Norse custom
+observed in honour of Thor, from whose name we derive our word
+Thursday or Thor's-day. The mighty log was drawn into the baronial
+hall with great pomp, while the bards sang their songs of praise and
+chanted "Welcome Yule."
+
+    "Welcome be Thou, heavenly King,
+     Welcome, born on this morning;
+     Welcome for whom we shall sing
+          Welcome, Yule."
+
+Herrick, who delighted so much in singing of
+
+    "Maypoles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes--"
+
+then bursts out in joyous strains:
+
+    "Come, bring with a noise,
+       My merry, merry boys,
+     The Christmas log to the firing;
+       While my good dame, she
+       Bids ye all be free
+     And drink to your heart's desiring.
+       With the last year's brand
+       Light the new block, and
+     For good success in his spending,
+       On your psaltries play,
+       That sweet luck may
+     Come while the log is a-teending."
+
+We can fancy that we see the ceremony, the glad procession of
+retainers and servants, the lights flaring in all directions: we can
+hear the shouts and chorus of many voices, the drums beating and
+flutes and trumpets sounding. The huge hearth receives the mighty
+log, and the flames and sparks shoot up the gaping chimney.
+
+At Court in olden times Christmas was kept right royally, if we may
+judge from the extensive _menu_ of the repasts of King Henry III.
+and his courtiers in the year 1247. He kept his Christmas at
+Winchester Castle, and the neighbourhood must have been ransacked to
+furnish supplies for the royal table. The choice dainties were as
+follows: Boars, with heads entire, well cooked and very succulent,
+48; fowls, 1900; partridges, mostly "put in paste," 500; swans, 41;
+peacocks, 48; hares, 260; eggs, 24,000; 300 gallons of oysters; 300
+rabbits, and more if possible; birds of various sorts, as many as
+could be had; of whitings, "particularly good and heavy," and conger
+eels the same; a hundred mullets, "fat and very heavy." For bread
+the king paid L27 10s., at the price of four loaves to the penny.
+When the king kept his Christmas at York in 1250, the royal treasury
+must have been very full, for he ordered for the royal banquets 7000
+fowls, 1750 partridges, besides immense numbers of boars, swans,
+pheasants, &c. Of course the king had a very large retinue of
+vassals and feudal lords to provide for; but the store seems
+sufficiently vast to supply the wants of an army of faithful, but
+hungry, subjects. Sometimes, when the king was short of money, there
+was a considerable reduction in the amount of good things consumed
+at Christmas.
+
+Our ancestors were very careful to attend the services of the
+church, which their loving hands had adorned with holly, bay,
+rosemary, and laurel. They considered it a day of special
+thanksgiving and rejoicing, as an old poet observed--
+
+    "At Christmas be merry and thankful with all,
+     And feast thy poor neighbours, the great and the small."
+
+The solemn service of Holy Communion was celebrated on Christmas
+Eve, in mediaeval times--the only night in all the year when an
+evening celebration was allowed. The halls of the knights and barons
+of ancient days were thrown open to all comers, and open house was
+kept for a fortnight. Rejoicing at Christmas time seems to have been
+universal, and it is not for us to judge whether in their mirth they
+sometimes forgot the reason of true Christmas joy, and thought more
+of their feasting than of Him who was born on Christmas Day. But by
+their hearty manner of keeping this annual festival, by the
+hospitality which the farmers and rich men showed to their labourers
+and poorer neighbours, they promoted, at any rate, "goodwill amongst
+men"--old animosities, quarrels, and bitternesses were forgotten,
+and the hearts of the poor cheered.
+
+In the North of England every farmer gave two feasts, one called
+"the old folks' night," and the other "the young folks' night." The
+old Squire used to receive his tenants and neighbours at daybreak,
+when the black-jacks were passed round, and woe betide the luckless
+cook who had overslept herself, and had not boiled the Hackin, or
+large sausage, ere the day dawned, for then she was seized by the
+arms and made to run round the market-place, or courtyard, until
+she was ashamed of her laziness.
+
+And now let us enter the hall of some great baron and see how our
+ancestors kept a merry Christmas. The panelled walls, and stags'
+horns, and gallery at one end of the great room were hung with holly
+and mistletoe. The Yule-log blazed upon the hearth, and then entered
+the vassals, tenants, and servants of the lord to share in the
+Christmas banquet. Rank and ceremony were laid aside: all were
+deemed equal, whether lords or barons, serfs or peasants--a custom
+which arose, doubtless, from the remembrance of Him who on the first
+Christmas Day, "although He was rich, yet for our sakes became
+poor."
+
+And now on the huge oaken table were placed the various dishes of
+the feast--a mighty boar's head, decorated with laurel and rosemary,
+whose approach was often heralded with trumpets as the king of the
+feast; then came a peacock, stuffed with spices and sweet herbs, and
+adorned with its gay feathers, and then followed a goodly company of
+geese, capons, sirloins of beef, pheasants, mince-pies, and
+plum-porridge. A carol was often sung when the boar's head was
+brought in; here is one from the collection of Wynkyn de Worde:
+
+            Caput Apri defero
+            Reddens laudes Domino,
+        The Boar's Head in hand bring I
+        With garlands gay and rosemary;
+        I pray you all sing merrily
+            Qui estis in convivio.
+
+        The Boar's Head, I understand,
+        Is the chief service in this land;
+        Look wherever it be fande:
+            Servile cum cantico.
+
+        Be glad, lords, both more and lasse,
+          For this hath ordained our steward
+        To cheer you all this Christmasse,
+            The Boar's Head with mustard.[18]
+
+Neither were the ale and wassail-bowl forgotten, and they circulated
+sometimes too often, I fear, and laid the seeds of gout and other
+evils, from which other generations suffer. But when the prodigious
+appetites of the company had been appeased, the maskers and mummers
+entered the hall and performed strange antics and a curious play,
+fragments of which have come down to our own time. The youths of the
+villages of England still come round at Christmas-time and act their
+mumming-drama, in which "St. George" kills a "Turkish knight," who
+is raised to life by "Medicine Man," and performs a very important
+part of the play--passing round the money-box. This is a remnant of
+the mumming of ancient days, and perhaps of some "mystery" play, of
+which I told you in a previous chapter.
+
+In Berkshire the characters are represented by "Molly," a stalwart
+man dressed in a woman's gown, shawl, and bonnet, with a besom in
+his hand, who strives in his dialogue to imitate a woman's voice;
+King George, a big burly man dressed as a knight, with a wooden
+sword and a home-made helmet; a French officer, with a cocked hat
+and sword; a Doctor, who wears a pig-tail; Jack Vinny, a jester;
+Happy Jack, a humorous character dressed in tattered garments, and
+Old Beelzebub, who appears as Father Christmas. In some parts of the
+royal county the part of King George is taken by an "Africky king,"
+and a Turkish knight instead of the French officer. Very curious are
+the words of the old play, and very ludicrous the representation
+when the parts are acted by competent players.
+
+There was also in the baron's hall a great person dressed in a very
+fantastic garb, who was here, there, and everywhere, directing the
+mummers, making jokes to amuse the company, and looking after
+everybody. He was called the "Lord of Misrule." Sometimes his rule
+was harmless enough, and did good service in directing the revels;
+but often he was more worthy of his name, and was guilty of all
+kinds of absurd and mischievous pranks, which did great harm, and
+were very profane. But these were not part of the Christmas feast,
+where all was happiness and mirth. Sir Walter Scott says, in his
+description of the festival--
+
+    "England was merry England when
+     Old Christmas brought his sports again;
+     A Christmas gambol oft would cheer
+     A poor man's heart through all the year."
+
+All the old poets sing in praise of the great day which, as Herrick
+says, "sees December turned to May," and which makes the "chilling
+winter's morn smile like a field beset with corn." Old carols chant
+in reverent strains their homage to the infant Saviour: some reflect
+time-honoured customs and social joys when old age casts aside its
+solemnity and mingles once more in the light-hearted gaiety of
+youth, and all unite in chanting the praises of this happy festival.
+The poet Withers sings--
+
+    "Lo! now is come our joyful'st feast!
+       Let every man be jolly;
+     Each room with ivy leaves is drest,
+       And every post with holly.
+
+    "Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke,
+       And Christmas blocks are burning;
+     Their ovens they with baked meats choke,
+       And all their spits are turning.
+
+    "Without the door let sorrow lie,
+     And if, for cold, it has to die,
+     We'll bury it in Christmas pie,
+       And evermore be merry."
+
+Thus the happy night was spent; and if, like grave elders, we look
+down upon these frolics of a younger age, and think ourselves so
+much wiser and better than our forefathers, we should not forget the
+benefits which come from open-handed hospitality, goodwill, and
+simple manners, nor scornfully regard honest merriment and
+light-hearted gaiety. A light heart is generally not far removed
+from a holy heart.
+
+Yes, England was merry England then; and although there were plenty
+of troubles in those days, when plagues decimated whole villages,
+when wars were frequent, food scarce, and oppression common, yet the
+Christmas festivities, the varieties of sports and pastimes which
+each season provided, the homely customs and bonds of union between
+class and class which these observances strengthened, added
+brightness to the lives of our simple forefathers, who might
+otherwise have sunk beneath the burdens of their daily toil. We have
+seen how many customs and sports, which were at first simple and
+harmless, degenerated and were abused: we have noticed some of the
+bad features of these ancient pastimes, such as cruelty to animals
+and intemperance; and are thankful that there is some improvement
+manifest in these respects. But it is interesting to witness again
+in imagination the scenes that once took place in our market-places
+and on our village greens; and, if it be impossible to restore again
+the glories of May Day and the brightness of the Christmas feast, we
+may still find plenty of harmless and innocent recreation, and learn
+to be merry, and at the same time wise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[Footnote 1: Although the 1st of January was popularly regarded as
+the beginning of the year from early times, it was not until 1752
+A.D. that the legal commencement of the year was changed from March
+25th to the former date.]
+
+[Footnote 2: These fires signified our Saviour and the Twelve
+Apostles. One of the fires, which represented Judas, the traitor,
+was extinguished soon after it was lighted, and the materials of the
+fire kicked about.]
+
+[Footnote 3: The distaff was the staff which held the flax or wool
+in spinning. All maidens were engaged in this occupation, and a
+"spinster" (_i.e._ one who spins) is still the legal term for an
+unmarried woman.]
+
+[Footnote 4: St. Blaize (or Blasius) was Bishop of Sebaste in
+Armenia, and was martyred 316 A.D. His flesh was torn with iron
+combs, so the wool-staplers have adopted him as their patron saint.]
+
+[Footnote 5: _Shrove-tide_ and _Shrove Tuesday_ derive their names
+from the ancient practice of confessing one's sins on that day. _To
+be shriven,_ or _shrove_, means to obtain absolution from one's
+sin.]
+
+[Footnote 6: It was practised as late as the end of the last
+century.]
+
+[Footnote 7: So called from the Gospel of the day, which treats of
+the feeding of the five thousand.--_Cf_. Wheatley on Prayer-book.]
+
+[Footnote 8: The caber is a small tree, or beam, heavier at one end
+than the other. The performer holds this perpendicularly, with the
+smaller end downwards, and his object is to toss it so as to make it
+fall on the other end.]
+
+[Footnote 9: _A Pleasant Grove of New Fancies_, 1637.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Sometimes the May Queen did not consort with
+morris-dancers, but sat in solitary state under a canopy of boughs.]
+
+[Footnote 11: A Correspondence in _Athenaeum_, Sept. 20, 1890.]
+
+[Footnote 12: The same story is told of Willes, who is supposed by
+some cricketers to be the inventor of the modern style of delivery.]
+
+[Footnote 13: The word _fair_ is derived from the ecclesiastical
+term, _feria_, a holiday.]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Cf._ Govett's _King's Book of Sports_, and _Tom
+Brown's Schooldays,_ to which I am indebted for the above accurate
+description of back-sword play.]
+
+[Footnote 15: I am indebted for this description to Mr. W. Andrews'
+interesting book on the _Curiosities of the Church_.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Cf. _Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley_, by Mrs.
+Dent.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Cf. _Glossary of Berkshire Words and Phrases_, by
+Major B. Lowsley, R.E.]
+
+[Footnote 18: The custom of bringing in the boar's head is still
+preserved at Queen's College, Oxford. The story is told of a student
+of the college who was attacked by a wild boar while he was
+diligently studying Aristotle during a walk near Shotover Hill. His
+book was his only means of defence, so he thrust the volume down the
+animal's throat, exclaiming, "It is Greek!" The boar found Greek
+very difficult to digest, and died on the spot, and the head was
+brought home in triumph by the student. Ever since that date, for
+five hundred years, a boar's head has graced the college table at
+Christmas.]
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+Agape, suggested origin of "Church ales," 53
+
+Ales, Church, 52, 53, 57
+
+Alfred, laws relating to holidays, 5
+
+All-hallow Eve, 105
+
+Animals to be hunted, 16
+
+April, 36
+
+Archery, 25--31
+
+Ascension Day, 50
+
+Ascham's accomplishments of English Gentleman, 97
+
+
+Back-sword play, 81
+
+Baiting bears, bulls, &c., 89
+
+Bale-fires, 50
+
+Ball games, 20, 21, 61--71
+
+Barley-brake, 39
+
+Bath, wakes at, 81
+
+Battledore, 23
+
+Bean, King of, 7
+
+Berks--Old sports, 81
+
+"Bessy," 9
+
+Blaize St., 18
+
+Boar's head at Christmas, 123
+
+Bonfires, 6, 57, 106, 108
+
+Book of Sports, 48, 50
+
+Bounds, beating, 50
+
+Bowl, 49
+
+Boy bishop, 116
+
+Bull-baiting, 89
+
+Burning wheel, 59
+
+Butts, 27
+
+
+Caber-tossing, 38
+
+Candlemas, 18
+
+Carols, 111
+
+_Catherine, St._, miracle play, 99
+
+Charlemagne, 58
+
+Chess, 112
+
+Chester, 41, 48
+
+Choirs, Old, 111
+
+Christmas holidays, 5
+  customs, 118-126
+  at Court, 120
+
+Church decoration, 37, 49, 121
+
+Churchwardens' accounts, 34, 36, 42, 54, 72, 100
+
+Church ale, 52, 53, 57
+
+Church house, 53
+
+Cloudslee, William of, 28
+
+Club-ball, 65, 66
+
+Cock-fighting, 23, 24
+
+Cock-throwing, 23
+
+Collop Monday, 19
+
+_Colloquies_ of Erasmus, 113
+
+_Conversion of St. Paul_, mystery play, 98
+
+Country parson, 51
+
+Coventry, 42, 103
+
+_Crafte of Hunting_, 16
+
+Cricket, 38, 61-65
+
+Cross-bow, 27
+
+Cudgel-play, 38
+
+Curling, 39
+
+Customs, local, 4, 5, 6, 12, 20, 24, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 50,
+  54, 60, 62, 78, 81, 106, 108, 109, 117
+
+
+Dances, country, on village green, 11
+
+Dancing with swords, 10
+
+December, 115
+
+Dedication festivals, 3
+
+_Demands Joyous_, 110
+
+Devonshire custom, 4
+
+Distaff, St., 9
+
+Dragons, 59
+
+Dues, Cock-fight, 24
+
+
+Early sport, 14, 16
+
+Easter, 36--41
+
+Eighteenth century cricket, 63
+
+Election of King of Bean, 7
+
+England "Merry," 1, 125, 126
+
+_English Villages, Our_, 3, 80
+
+Epiphany, 5
+
+Erasmus, _Colloquies_ of, 113
+
+Evelyn's _Diary_, 90
+
+
+Fairs, 3, 80
+
+Falconer, 87
+
+February, 13
+
+Festivals, 3, 36, 50, 118
+
+Finsbury, 28
+
+Football, 20, 21, 41
+
+Foot-races, 22, 38
+
+Fox-hunting extraordinary, 17
+
+France, home of tennis, 39
+
+
+Gambling, 112
+
+Games, minor ball, 71
+  "  ball, 20, 21, 64, 71
+  "  indoor, 21, 112
+
+George Herbert, 51
+
+Golf, 66, 68
+
+Good Friday cake, 33
+
+Gospel trees, 50
+
+Grasmere, 72
+
+Guildford, cricket at, 62
+
+Gunpowder Plot, 108
+
+Guy Fawkes, 107
+
+
+Hambledon Cricket Club, 63, 64
+
+Handball, 27
+
+Handball in Church, 38
+
+Harvest home, 75, 79
+
+Hawking, 84
+
+Heaving, 37
+
+Herbert, George, 51
+
+Herefordshire custom, 6
+
+Herrick, 9, 31, 74, 115, 119, 125
+
+Hobby-horse, 26
+
+Hock-cart, 75
+
+Hocking, 54
+
+Hock-tide, 41, 42
+
+Holland, golf introduced from, 66
+
+Horse-collar, grinning through a, 54
+
+Hot cross buns, 33, 34
+
+Hunting, 13, 17
+
+Hurling, 22, 23
+
+
+Indoor games, 21
+
+Ireland, 50
+
+Isaak Walton, 17
+
+
+January, 1
+
+Jersey, 59
+
+Jingling match, 56
+
+John's, St., Eve, 57
+
+Jousts, 94
+
+July, 61
+
+June, 52
+
+
+Kenilworth Castle, pageants at 103
+
+Kent and Sussex, first homes of cricket, 62
+
+King of the Bean, 7
+
+
+Lammas, 74
+
+Lancashire, 49
+
+Lawn-tennis, 70
+
+Lifting, 37
+
+Lillywhite, 65
+
+Local customs, 4, 5, 6, 12, 19, 20, 24, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41,
+  50, 54, 60, 62, 78, 81, 107, 108, 109, 117, 123
+
+"Lord of Misrule," 125
+
+
+Magdalen hymn, 45
+
+Magdalen pulpit, 60
+
+March, 25
+
+Martinmas, 110
+
+Maundy Thursday--Money, 33
+
+May--May Day, 44
+
+May-pole, 45, 46, 48
+
+May Queen, 46
+
+"Merry England," 1, 125, 126
+
+Mews, origin of word, 88
+
+Michaelmas, 88
+
+Midsummer Eve, 58
+
+Minor ball-games, 71
+
+Miracle plays, 36, 57, 98
+
+Misrule," "Lord of, 125
+
+Mitford, Miss, _Our Village_, 64
+
+_Moralities_, 99
+
+Mothering-Sunday, 31
+
+Mummers, 124
+
+_Mysteries_, 57, 98, 100
+
+
+New Year's Day, 45
+
+_Nicholas, St., The Image of_, mystery play, 99
+
+Nicholas, Day, St., 116
+
+_Noah and the Flood_, mystery play, 98
+
+November, 105
+
+
+October, 92
+
+Old songs, 4, 6, 8, 13, 14, 23, 28, 36, 46, 63, 75, 76, 77, 109
+
+Orchards, wassailing of, 4, 6
+
+Otter-hunting, 17
+
+_Our English Villages_, reference, 3, 80
+
+_Our Village_, reference, 64
+
+Outdoor winter sports, 7
+
+Oxford customs, 109, 123
+
+
+Pace, _Pasche, Paschal_, eggs, 37
+
+Pageants, 101
+
+Pall Mall, 68
+
+Palm Sunday, 32
+
+Park, St. James's, 68
+
+Parson, country, 50
+
+Pea, Queen of, 8
+
+Pig-catching, 56
+
+Pigeon-holes, 56
+
+Plagues, 72
+
+Plough Monday, 9
+
+Pole-leaping, 38
+
+Purification, 18
+
+Puritans, 47
+
+
+Quarter-staff, 38, 54, 56
+
+Queen of the Pea, 8
+
+Queen of the Play, 46
+
+Quintain, 41
+
+
+Reading town, 27, 42, 54
+
+Reformation, 9, 18, 22
+
+Refreshment Sunday, 31
+
+Relics of Sun-worship, 51, 59
+
+Revival of Bounds-beating, 51
+
+Robin Hood, 28
+
+Roch's, St., Day, 75
+
+Rogation Days, 50
+
+Royal golfers, 66
+  " tennis players, 69, 70
+
+Rush-bearing, rushes in Churches, 49, 71, 72
+
+
+Salisbury, boy bishop, 116
+
+September, 84
+
+Sepulchres, 35
+
+Sheep-shearing, 79
+
+Shere Thursday, 33
+
+Shrovetide, 19, 24
+
+Simnell-cakes, 32
+
+Single-stick, 35
+
+Skating, 10, 38
+
+"Spinster," derivation of, 9
+
+Sports, Book of, 48, 49, 50
+
+Sports, early, 14, 16
+
+Songs, old, 4, 6, 8, 13, 14, 23, 28, 36, 46, 63, 75, 76, 77, 109
+
+Soul-cakes, 106
+
+Stool-ball, 66
+
+Stuarts, 21, 48, 50, 66, 68, 80
+
+Sudeley Castle, pageants at, 101
+
+Sun-worship, relics of, 57, 59
+
+Superstitions, 5, 33, 39, 50, 59, 106, 107
+
+Sussex custom, 4
+
+Sussex and Kent, first homes of cricket, 62
+
+
+Tansy-cake, 38
+
+Tennis, 68, 71
+
+Tilting at a ring, 97
+
+Tipcat called Billet, 23
+
+Tournaments, 92
+
+Trap-ball, 66
+
+Tusser, _Five Hundred Points of Husbandry_, 79
+
+Twelfth Day Eve, 5, 6
+
+Twelfth Night, 7
+
+
+_Undershaft_, St. Andrew, 48
+
+Uncleanliness, 72
+
+
+Valentine, St., 18
+
+
+Wakes, 79, 80, 81
+
+Walton, Isaak, 17
+
+"Wassail," 4
+
+Water tournament, 39, 40
+
+Whistling match, 56
+
+White Horse Hill, 54
+
+Whitsuntide, 52
+
+Willes, 65
+
+Winter games, indoor, 10
+
+Wise men from East, 7
+
+Withers, Christmas song, 125
+
+Wrestling, 59
+
+
+Year, New, festivities, 4, 5
+
+Yule-log, 118
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay
+
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