Oct. 20. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUElilES. 



297 



LONDON. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, ISaij, 



fiatti, 



THE FOLK I.OBB OF A CORNISH VU-X-AQB ; FA8T8 

 AND FESTIVALS. 



{Continued from Vol. xii., p. 38.) 



Of our village it may be said, in the words of 

 old Herrick : 



" For sports, and pageantry, and plays, 

 Thou hast thy eves and holidays." 



And of these I proceed to give some account : — 



Neiv Year's Day. — The character of the coming 

 year, with regard to good or bad fortune, is fore- 

 told by the appearance of things on the morning 

 of the new year. A trivial mishap, or slightest 

 instance of good luck, has now more than its usual 

 significance, inasmuch as it predicts, in a general 

 way, the course of events through the ensuing 

 twelve months. 



Valentine'' s Day has no local peculiarity to notice. 



Collop Monday, HaW Monday^ or Nichanan 

 Night. — The following notice of the strange cus- 

 toms which mark this day, are quoted from the 

 Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall for 

 1842, to which it was contributed by Jonathan 

 Couch, F.L.S. : 



" On the day termed Hall' Monday, which precedes 

 Shrove Tuesday, about the dusk of the evening, it is the 

 custom for boys, and, in some cases, for those who are 

 above the age of boys, to prowl about the streets with 

 short clubs, and to knock loudly at every door, running 

 off to escape detection on the slightest sign of a motion 

 within. If, however, no attention be excited, and espe- 

 cially if any article be discovered negligently exposed, or 

 carelessly guarded, then the things are carried away; 

 and on the following morning are discovered displayed in 

 some conspicuous place, to expose the disgraceful want of 

 vigilance supposed to characterise the owner. The time 

 when this is practised is called ' Nicka-nan night ; ' and 

 the individuals concerned are supposed to represent some 

 imps of darkness, that seize on and expose unguarded 

 moments." 



Further on, this custom is compared with a 

 similar one observed in Brittany, and a connexion 

 is attempted to be traced between the mischievous 

 imp and our harvest Nick. 



To this account of a custom which I have often 

 assisted in celebrating, I may add that on the 

 following eve (Shrove Tuesday) the clubs were 

 again in requisition ; but on this last occasion, the 

 blows on the door kept time to the following 

 chant : — 



" Nicka, nicka nan ; 

 Give me some pancake, and then I'll be gone; 

 But if you give me none, 

 I'll throw a great stone, 

 And down your door shall come," 



In Hugh Miller's delightful volume on the tra- 

 No. 312.] 



ditionary lore of Cromarty, mention is made of a 

 custom too much like our own not to have had 

 the same origin : 



" After nightfall, the young fellows of the town formed 

 themselves into parties of ten or a dozen, and breaking 

 into the gardens of the graver of the inhabitants, stole 

 the best and heaviest of their cabbages. Converting 

 these into bludgeons by stripping off the lower leaves 

 they next scoured the streets and lanes, thumping at 

 every door as they passed until their uncouth weapons 

 were beaten to pieces. When disarmed in this waj^ all 

 the parties united into one, and, providing themselves 

 with a cart, drove it with the rapidity of a chaise and 

 four through the principal streets."— S'cenes and Legends 

 of the North of Scotland. 



Lent. — The beorinning of Lent was once marked 

 by a custom which is now defunct. A figure, 

 made up of straw and cast-off-clothes, was drawn 

 or carried through the streets amid much noise 

 and merriment ; after which it was either burnt, 

 shot at, or thrown down a chimney. This image 

 was called "Jack o' Lent," and was, as I have 

 heard, intended to represent Judas Iscariot. 



Palm Sunday. — The observance of Palm Sun- 

 day is almost discontinued. The substitute for the 

 palm is the willow, which at this time is covered 

 with catkins, locally termed " cats and dogs." I 

 have been told it was formerly* the practice to 

 allow the parish 'prentices a holiday on this fes- 

 tival, that they might visit their parents or friendau 



April Fool's Day. 



Good Friday brings a holiday and hot- cross 

 buns. In some of our farmhouses the Good 

 Friday cake may be seen hanging to the bacon- 

 rack, slowly diminishing until the return of the 

 season replaces It by a fresh one. It is of sove- 

 reign good in all manner of diseases that may 

 afflict the family or the cattle. I have seen a little 

 of this cake grated into a warm mash for a sick 

 cow. 



Easter Day. — I have heard the elderly folk 

 speak of their rising early on the morning of this 

 day to see the sun dance. 



May Day is hailed by the juveniles as "dippinor 

 day." On May morning the children go out into 

 the country and fetch home the flowering branches 

 of the white thorn, or boughs of the narrow-leaved 

 elm which has just put forth its leaves, both of 

 which are called " may." At a later hour, all the 

 boys of the village sally forth with bucket, can, 

 syringe, or other instrument, and avail themselves 

 of a licence which the season confers, to " dip," or 

 well nigh drown, without regard to person or cir- 

 cumstance, the passenger who has not the protec- 

 tion of a piece of " may" in his hat or button-hole 

 The sprig of hawthorn or elm is, I sup{)Ose, held 

 to be a proof that the bearer has not failed to rise 

 early " to do observance to a morn of May." Thig 

 manner of observing May Day is, I believe, com- 



