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OLD CUMBERLAND CUSTOMS. 



By F. HARRISON. 

 (Read at Carlisle, December 2.2nd, 1885. J 



In the old customs, as in the ballads and poetrj', can be traced 

 the history of the people. In those old customs we see reflected 

 much of the life of long past ages. I will place a few old customs 

 before you, which, though in irregular order, and very imperfectly 

 described, may call attention to some customs that are passing 

 away. From the isolated position of this northern county, before 

 the days of railways, many old customs lingered and remained 

 which elsewhere would have long since passed away. Many of 

 them showed that our ancestors knew how to enjoy life, and also 

 that they sympathised one with another in times of sorrow and 

 rejoiced together in times of joy and gladness. 



The first custom I will draw your attention to is that of Boon 

 Days, or given days, in Cumberland, when one man helped another 

 in a new undertaking without fee or reward. Who has not heard 

 of Cumberland ploughing days ? From time immemorial it was 

 customary, when a man entered on a new farm, for his neighbours 

 to give him a day's service — and grand days they used to be in the 

 olden time; and wherever the ploughing day is observed and 

 carried out on the old lines, it is still a grand day. The same 

 remark applies to clippings, house-warmings, clay daubins, and 

 other kindred institutions. I know a village not above one 

 hundred miles from Carlisle, where many of the houses were 

 erected in this way. When a man wanted to build, he did not 



