40 LITTLE HUCKLOW : ITS CUSTOMS AND OLD HOUSES. 



Now and then one hears a curious saying in the village, as " We 

 shall all be on a level when we get into a bed without a pillow." 

 An old inhabitant can remember that his father had a cart 

 drawn by a bull. The bull used to lie down in the cart shafts 

 when he was tired. As soon as the cows were milked, one of 

 the milkers went round with an " aftering-can," into which 

 the last drops were pressed from the udders. This was 

 regarded as the best milk. 



A rope is tied across the road to impede the progress of 

 a wedding party and make the bridegroom pay something. 

 This is also done at Castleton, Bradwell, Edale, and Bamford. 

 At Castleton a hay rope was used, and the bridegroom and 

 bride had to jump over it. On the 6th of September, 1901, 

 I saw a newly-married pair returning to Castleton after their 

 honeymoon. A rope was tied across the road, the bells were 

 rung, and people came out of their houses to throw rice at 

 them.* 



Sods were thrown at the bride and bridegroom at Castleton. 

 People kicked these up with their feet or pulled them up with 

 their hands in the churchyard. Horse-beans and hen-beans 

 are still thrown by the farmers at Castleton, and these often 

 hurt or cut the face. I have heard people say that sods mean 

 luck in the produce of the earth, shoes plenty of clothes, and 

 rice plenty of children. In some places they now throw bits 

 of paper instead of rice. 



At weddings they had bunches of ribbons tied into love-knots, 

 the men wearing theirs on their hats. On the morning after 

 a wedding the neighbours came into the bedroom where the 

 bride and bridegroom lay and pelted them with anything they 

 could lay their hands on, such as brooms or clothes-brushes. 



* At New Mills, in Lancashire, the bride and bridegroom paid a fine 

 called " pass money " on coming' out of church, the gate being fastened 

 until payment. In Livonia the bridegroom held in his hand " a stick 

 cleft at the upper end, where he puts a piece of brass money, which is 

 given as a reward to the person who opens the wicket, through which he 

 passes." — Scheffer's History of Lapland, ed. 1704, p. 399. Is not this 

 English custom a survival of the old merchet or fine paid on the marriage 

 of a daughter? 



