Horns. Every great man, whether priest or laic, had in his retinue a multitude of horn-bearers, who upon any stop or disturbance sounded an alarm by blowing their horns. Thus when the keepers of the Forest took away the bows and arrows from the retinue of a certain prior, the horns sounded on either side, and the whole country rose at the signal.* Graves. It would appear to have been a custom at one time for bishops to consecrate their own graves. John Stafford, the bishop of Bath and Wells, consecrated his own tomb in a chapel that he had erected in honour of the Virgin Mary and St. Thomas the Martyr.† Candlesticks.—It was customary for priests of the higher orders to have a candlestick with seven branches sculptured on their tombs. So when John de Hotham, bishop of Ely, was buried in his cathedral church there was an alabaster image of him placed above the tomb, with a candlestick from which proceeded seven branches.‡ Kennett says that it was a fashion of the time, and that it arose from the seven candlesticks in the Apocalypse mox latè vulgatum, atque in cunctis Anglorum provinciis gratè susceptum est, campanis pro solemni lætitia concrepantibus." Id. lib: secundus, cap. 33, p. 215. This very particular mention of a circumstance, which, if usual, was much too trifling for record, certainly leads to the conclusion that it was at the time a novelty. *"In crastino S. Jacobi in via pública juxta Hersorton priore transeunte, forestarii a garcionibus suis ejus arcus et sagittas abstulerunt, et ex utraque parte cornibus ululabant; et ad hanc injuriam patria convenit." ANNALES ECCLESIE WIGORNIENSIS. Anglia Sacra, Whartoni, p. 511, folio. 1691. "Pontificalibus indutus ornamentis, quæ in consecrationis die antea gestaverat, in quibus itidem sepeliri voluit, sepulchrum suum infra dictam capellam solenniter consecravit." Idem. "Ipse autem sepultus est in ecclesia sua Cathedrali apud Ely, et honorificè collocatus sub quadam pulchrâ staturâ lapideâ, cum imagine episcopi de alabastro super tumulum ipsius erectâ, cum septem candelabris ex uno stipite decentissime procedentibus." HISTORIA ELIENSIS; Anglia Sacra Whartoni; p. 648. having been used to represent the bishops of the seven churches.* Mel. "In Yorkshire at the carrying in of the last corn― or harvest-home-the labourers and tenants by way of triumph cry "mel, mel; and 'tis a proverbial question, "when will you get your mel?" i. e. when doe you end your harvest? at which time all the workmen are treated with a supper by the farmer, where the chief fare is a roast goose called an inning goose. The word, mel, may be supposed from mæl, an end or term; or feast or banquet."+ Love-Feasts."At Danby in the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is the custom for the parishioners after receiving the sacrament to goe from church directly to the ale-house, and there drink together as a testimony of good charity and friendship, a remainder of the old Love-Feasts." Broom.-"Throwing a broom in the way of a witch, if shee does not pass over it, is thought a certain sign of her being a witch. This is now practised in Germany, and specially in Anhault."S Thunder." Iron laid on barrels in time of thunder to preserve the drink from souring. This is a common practice in Kent, and still obtains in Germany." || Bride-cake.—“At a wedding-dinner the small cakes used to be laid on top of another, and the bride and bridegroom to kiss over them; and then one to be broke over the bride's head, the bridegroom waiting all dinner. This no doubt is a remnant of the old Roman marriage-customthe confarreotio-instituted by Romulus, the cake being made of a grain called far, a species of wheat."¶ *KENNETT MS. Coll.-Bibl: Lansdown. (Brit. Mus.) p. 10-1039. Plut. 79. vol. 105. Kennett, MS. Idem, fol. 11. § Idem, f. 12. Idem, f. 11. || Idem, f. 12. ¶ Idem, f. 12. Divination by Ashes." It was a long continued custom for maids and men after supper in a winter's evening to make smooth the ashes on the earth, when one certain person with the end of a stick made breaks or gutters in the ashes, and then privately designed that each streak should signify some one unmarried person, and by this way they were to choose husbands and wives. The same way of choosing Valentines by making like furrows in the ashes, and imposing such and such names on them, is now practised in Kent and many other parts." Magpies." They have a tradition among the vulgar in the north, that all magpies are witches. Their chattering upon a tree near a house is thought to foretell a stranger's coming, like the thief in a candle."t St. Osith, corruptly called St. Sythe." In some parts of the West-I suppose where churches are dedicated to this saint the women or servants, when they went to bed, raked up their fire and made a x in the ashes, and then prayed to God and St. Sythe to deliver them from fire and from water."‡ Clock-striking.—“ Before the civil wars it was a custom for many serious people, every time they heard the clock strike, to say to this effect, 'Lord, grant my last hour may be my best hour." "§ Well-worship.“ "A custom is now yearly observed at Droitwich in Worcestershire, where on the day of St. Richard, the tutelar patron of the Salt-well, they keep holy-daie, dress the well fine with flowers and boughs, and divert themselves with eating, and drinking, and dancing. A tradition there that the custom was discontinued by the zeal of the presbyterians for one year during the late civil wars, upon which the spring soon after stopt or dried up, whereupon they renewed * Idem, fol. 12 Idem, fol. 13. Idem, fol. 14. the annual custom-notwithstanding some threats of parliament and soldiers-and the salt water again returned." St. Antonie, or Tantonie Pigs.-Between 1473 and 1476, King Edward united to the free chapel at Windsor the House, or Hospital, of St. Antony in London, which at one time had been a Jewish synagogue. In doing this he also added many valuable rights and privileges, amongst which was the privilege of sending one St. Antony's pig yearly into every village throughout England. The animal, which was vulgarly called a Tantonie Pig, had a bell about his neck, and the peasants, in the hope of obtaining St. Antony's blessing upon their own swine, did not fail to fatten these holy porkers to the best of their abilities. The consequence was that the deans and canons made more than six hundred a year by them, though in the after times of the Protestants it would seem the clergy drove their pigs to a bad market, for they could not make a penny by their herds-" so much more lucrative," says Frith angrily, "is superstition than the orthodox faith." Hence however comes the common saying of "he will follow me like a Tantonie pig."† ↑ The passage as quoted by Abp. Kennett in his MS. (Bibl. Lansdown, 1039, Plut. 79 f., vol. c.v.,) is exceedingly curious-"Inter annos 1473 et 1476, Edwardus rex domum sive hospitulam S. Antonii, London, (ubi olim synagoga Judæorum) liberæ capella de Windesor adjunxit una cum possessionibus ejusdem minutis ac privilegioru emolumentis (dum tempus tulit) amplissimis. Ex privilegio unico (inter alia plurima eademque Papalia) hoc est intromittendi porcellum S. Antonianum, vulgariter vocatu a Tantonie Pigg, in unamquamque villam per totum regnum Angliæ, cum tintinnabulo per collum dependente, cui villani pabulum abundè administraverunt, eumque in porcum crescentem quotannis saginaverunt quandiu porcos proprios benedictionem S. Antonii inde obtinere opinati sunt. Decani et canonici sexcentas libras annuas et amplius Blessing of Bacon.-" Anno 1395-33.-John Bukingham, Bp. of Lincolns, takes notice of a custom at Nettleham, near Lincoln, for the people to oblige the rector of the church, at Easter, immediately after high Mass, to bring a piece of bacon to the church, and during the time of service solemnly to bless it; and that being done it was carried from house to house through the parish velut quoddam sacramentale-as something sacred. This Bishop calls it a part of idolatry and a superstitious practice, and as such condemns and forbids it of excommunication. (Memoranda Bukingham Epi. MS.) The custom. is still observed in many, especially the western parts of England, to bring out the gammon of bacon on Easter Day to entertain their friends.”* Barbers' Sunday-Custom." It was an old custom for the barbers to come and shave the parishioners in the churchyard on Sundays and high festivals before matins, which liberty was restrained by a particular inhibition of Richard Flemmyng, Bp. of Lincoln, 1422.”† Burning of the Hill.-(Mendip Hills; Somersetshire.) "The Groviers,—for so the miners are called, as the pits they sink are called groves-living at some distance, leave their tools, and the ore they have got, sometimes open upon the hill, or at most only shut up in a slight hut. Whoever among them steals any thing, and is found guilty, is thus punished; he is shut up in a hut, and then dry fern, furz, and such other combustible matter, is put round it, and fire set to it. When it is on fire, the criminal, who has his hands and feet at liberty, may per procuratores suos percipiebant, unde ne denarium quidem hodie capiunt. Tantò magis est lucritiva superstitio quam religio orthodoxa. Unde proverbiù nunc temporis agitatum, 'he will follow me like a Tantonie pig'-FRITH; CATAL. DECAN. ET CANON, de Windesor." * IDEM, folio 16. IDEM, folio 16. |