1822.] 
with acclamations and good cheer. 
In Yorkshire they have a harvest- 
dame; in Bedfordshire a Jack and a 
Gill; in Durham they dress up a 
figure calleda Kern Baby; and per- 
haps in no part of the country was the 
harvest reaped without being comme- 
morated by some mark of rejoicing or 
gratitude. 
The harvest-treasures all 
Now gather’din, beyond the rage of storms, 
Sure to the swain ; the circling fence shut 
ae 
And Sdand winter’s utmost rage defy’d: 
While loose to festive joy the country round 
Laughs with the loud sincerity of mirth, 
Mock to the wind their cares. 
THOMSON. 
Country wakes are another rural fes- 
tival, generally observed formerly in 
the northern and southern parts of the 
country; consisting of feasting, dan- 
cing on the green, wrestling, cudgel- 
ing, and other pastimes. Spelman 
ealls them Bacchanal feasts, the Saxon 
word wak signifying drinking. They 
were originally intended to commemo- 
rate the dedication of the parochial 
church, when the people went to pray 
with lighted torches, and returned to 
feast the remainder of the night. The 
only relics of this jollification are pa- 
rish dinners; and in Yorkshire and 
Lancashire, too, I believe, it is usual 
in autumn, when the working-people 
begin to light up, as it is termed, to 
have a wake-supper. 
May games are of great antiquity, 
and formerly were of general obser- 
vance, especially in the metropolis. 
Stow tells us, in his ‘Survey of Lon- 
don,” that on May-day, in the morn- 
ing, the citizens used to walk “ into 
the sweet meadows and green woods, 
there to rejoice their spirits with the 
beauty and savour of sweet flowers ;” 
and he quotes from Hall an account of 
Henry VIII. riding «a Maying, from 
Greenwich to the high ground of 
Shooter’s-hill, with Queen Katherine, 
accompanied with many lords and 
ladies. He further says, that “‘ every 
parish, or sometimes two or three 
parishes, joining together, had their 
several Mayings, and did fetch in May- 
poles, with diverse warlike shows, 
with good archers, morrice-dancers, 
and other devices, for pastime, all the 
day long; and towards evening they 
had stage-plays and bone-fires in the 
streets.” The May-pole in some vil- 
Jages stood the whole year without 
On Ancient popular Games and Diversions. 
501 
molestation. Our ancestors held an 
anniversary assembly on May-day ; the 
Column of the May was the great 
standard of justice in the Ly-Commons, 
or Fields of May, where the people, if 
they saw cause, deposed or punished 
their governors. JMay-pole seems a 
pleonasm; in French it is simply the 
Mai, which corresponds to the homely 
verse quoted by Mr. Brande, and 
which he says he has frequently heard 
in the streets at Newcastle :— 
Rise up, maidens! fie, for shame, 
I’ve been four long miles from hame, 
I’ve been gathering my garlands gay : 
Rise up, fair maids, and take your May. 
The only remains of May-games in 
the south is Jack-in-the-green, a very 
trumpery representation of the old 
sports. 
On Midsummer-eve fires were light- 
ed, round which the old and the young 
amused themselves with running, dan- 
cing, wrestling, and other rustic amuse- 
ments. The fires were designed to 
scare away birds of prey, dragons, and 
other unwelcome visitors, supposed to 
infest the air about this season. Pa- 
rochial perambulations, or riding the 
parish boundaries, are still observed in 
many country-places, and the nature 
of which may be easily understood. 
Sheep-shearing, next to the harvest- 
home, was a noted time for mirth and 
good cheer. Indeed, it must be al- 
lowed, that “ belly cheer” formed the 
chief element in the enjoyments of 
our ancestors. The common saluta- 
tion of a “good day,” according to 
Mr. Bourne’s interpretation, signified 
no more than “‘a day of plentiful eat- 
ing and drinking,” which satisfactorily 
expounds their notions of earthly 
felicity. 
The advent of the New Year is still 
marked by the observance of some old 
customs; the old year being consi- 
dered well ended by hearty potations, 
and the new by sending presents, 
termed New-year gifts, to friends and 
acquaintances. ‘The . Scotch, being 
proverbially a frugal people, instead 
of presents, bestow kisses on all they 
meet. Young women formerly went 
about with the famous wassail-bowl, 
that is a bowl of spiced ale, on New 
Year’s eve, with some verses, that 
were sung by them in going from door 
to door. Wassail is derived from the 
Anglo Saxon, Wer, hal, that is, “be 
in good health.” They accepted pre- 
sents, of which Selden, in his ‘“‘ Table 
Talk,” 
