100 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[Aug. 11. 1855. 



April 3, 1734-5- 



10, 



17, 



24, 



Mav 1, 



8, 



15, 



22, 



29, 

 June 5, 



12, 



19, 



26, 



-2200 each Day 



-2200 each Day 



-2200 each Day 



£ s. d. 



73 6 8 



91 13 4 



73 6 8 



■£1750 0' 



The particulars of the fifty thousand pounds 

 paid to political writers is set forth in an Appen- 

 dix (No. 13.) to the Report to which Pope refers; 

 and I may hereafter direct more particular atten- 

 tion to it, for the information it affords on the 

 {)olitico-literary history of the time ; but the 

 ength of the present communication warns me 

 to draw it to a close, which I will do with this 

 Query, Where can I learn any farther particulars 

 of the life of William Abnall, or find a list of 

 his political writings ? William J. Thoms. 



HAMPSHIRE FOLK LORE. 



Shrove Tuesday. — At Basingstoke, and in some 

 other parts of Hampshire, on Shrove Tuesday, the 

 boys and girls go to the houses of the well-to-do 

 classes in little companies. They knock at the 

 door, and then begin the following rhyme : 



" Knick a knock upon the block ; 

 Flour and lard is very dear, 

 Please we come a shroving here. 

 Your pan's hot and my pan's cold, 

 [Hunger makes us shrovers bold], 

 Please to give poor shrovers something here." 



They then knock again, and repeat both knocks 

 and verses until they receive something. The line 

 in [ ] is not said in Basingstoke, and many other 

 places. They have, too, a peculiar way of saying 

 these verses ; throwing a sharp accent upon the 

 caBsural pauses, and staccatoing every word. At 

 midday the children return home with their earn- 

 ings, which consist of money, &c. 



Shig-sTiag Day. — The working men of Basing- 

 stoke, and other towns in Hampshire, arise early 

 on May 29, to gather slips of oak with the galls 

 on : these they put in their hats, or anywhere 

 about their persons. They also hang pieces to 

 the knockers, latches, or other parts of the house- 

 doors of the wealthy, who take them in to place 

 in their halls, &c. After breakfast these men go 

 round to such houses for beer, &c. Should they 



No. 302.] 



not receive anything, the following verses should 

 be said : 



" Shig-shag,* penny a rag, 



[Bang his head in Croommell's bag], 



All up in a bundle" — 



but fear often prevents them. However, the lads 

 have no fear, and use it freely to any one without 

 an oak-apple or oak-leaf on some part of his per- 

 son, and visible, — ill-treating him for his want of 

 loyalty. 



After noon the loyalty ceases ; and then, if any 

 one be charged with having shig-shag, the follow- 

 ing verses are said : 



" Shig-shag's gone past, 

 You're the biggest fool at last ; 

 When shig-shag comes again, 

 You'll be the biggest fool then." 



And the one who charges the other with the oak- 

 leaf receives the ill-treatment. 



April Fool Day. — The last verses also do duty 

 after twelve o'clock on April 1, by altering "shig- 

 shag" to "April fool." The line in [], in the 

 previous verses, is not repeated at Basingstoke 

 and some other towns ; and without this I have, 

 heard them used occasionally towards a dirty 

 ragged fellow by boys in and around London. 



Satanic Lore. — At Hurley I heard a legend of 

 Winchester Cathedral. At the " Devil's dancing 

 hour" (midnight), whenever the night is dark, 

 and the wind high, or the weather stormy, his 

 Majesty of Pandemonium turns coachman, and 

 drives Oliver Cromwell and his general round the 

 cathedral, the carriage being followed by all the 

 people whom they were the means of killing, who 

 yell and shriek fearfully. Of course the noise is 

 to be explained by the wind whistling through the 

 trees, and the legend by the battle of Cheriton 

 Down, and the havock committed in the cathedral 

 by Sir William Waller's men : yet it seems that 

 the second visitation by Cromwell, after Waller 

 had gone to Oxford and Cromwell had left Naseby, 

 made a deeper impression ; seeing that the above 

 legend is sometimes told without the addition of 

 the " general." 



The above were obtained a few years since in 

 passing through Hampshire. Had I gone for the 

 purpose of collecting notes, no doubt many more 

 could have been gathered. Perhaps some of the 

 subscribers of " N. & Q." living in Hampshire 

 will add to their number, as the county is rich iu 

 folk lore ; and, as may be seen from the above, 

 their historical significance is considerable. 



Avon Lea. 



* I may mention, that the word shag among printers is 

 applied to a disgraceful compositor ; and, secondarily, to a 

 dirty, ragged, drunken one. 



