CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



in which Crispin, Crispinian, an Indian prince, 

 and some other personages whom tradition has 

 associated with their history, are represented in 

 splendid antique dresses. Sometimes a corona- 

 tion of Crispin is part of this ceremony, for there 

 is a notion that he was a royal personage ; and 

 hence we find the shoemakers, in Scotland at 

 least, assuming for their arms a leather-knife sur- 

 mounted by a crown, and styling themselves ' the 

 royal craft.' Whether they celebrate the day by 

 processions or not, they are sure to distinguish it 

 by giving themselves up for the time to jollity. It 

 is to be hoped, however, for the honour of 'the 

 royal craft,' that there is no foundation for the 

 scandalous censure conveyed against them in the 

 following doggrel couplet : 



On the twenty-fifth of October, 

 There was never a souter sober ! 



28. The day of Si Simon and St Jude, a festival 

 of the English Church. Simon, usually surnamed 

 the Canaanite, remained with the other apostles 

 till after Pentecost ; it has been surmised that 

 he visited Britain, and there suffered martyrdom. 

 Jude, otherwise called Thaddeus, and thought to 

 have been a son of Joseph by a former wife, is 

 said to have suffered martyrdom in Persia. 



On this day, formerly, it was considered proper 

 to indue winter vestments. It was always ex- 

 pected to be rainy. A character in an old play 

 called the Roaring Girl, says : ' As well as I 

 know 'twill rain upon Simon and Jude's day.' In 

 another production of the Elizabethan stage, 

 some one exclaims : ' Now a continual Simon and 

 Jude's rain beat all your feathers as flat down as 

 pancakes.' 



Natural History. During this month, the 

 average temperature of which is 495 degrees, there 

 are usually decided symptoms of the approach of 

 winter ; yet the weather of the month is often of a 

 steady and agreeable character. Bare harvest- 

 fields, some of which are in the course of being 

 ploughed for winter-wheat, form a conspicuous 

 feature of external nature. The foliage of the 

 trees becomes changed from green into a variety 

 of tints, which gives the woods a beautiful appear- 

 ance, and is generally admired, although felt to 

 betoken that they are soon to be stripped of their 

 summer honours. The migratory birds assemble, 

 and commence their annual flight to more genial 

 climes the swallow to the coasts of Africa, the 

 nightingale to the southern shores of the Mediter- 

 ranean, and the puffin and some others either to 

 Africa or to Spain. Towards the end of the 

 month, if high winds prevail, the trees are a good 

 deal bared. In the gardens, less decline is to be 

 remarked. The flower-borders still have a gay 

 appearance ; the hollyhock, dahlia, and some 

 other flowers, being yet in good condition. This 

 is the time of the laying up of potatoes. In 

 England, it was the favourite time for brewing, on 

 account of the equable temperature ; and October 

 is a secondary name for the yeoman's brown 

 beverage. 



NOVEMBER, 



November obtained its name from being the 

 ninth (novem) month of the Roman year, before 

 the reform effected by Caesar. Our Anglo-Saxon 

 ancestors called it Wint-monath (wind-month). 



460 



I. All-saint^ Day, a festival of the Romish an 

 English Churches otherwise called All-halU 

 Day. The evening of the 3ist October is call 

 All-hallow Even, or Hallowe'en, as being the vigil 

 or eve of All-hallow Day. Hallow-tide is a com- 

 prehensive name for both days. The Rom 

 Church designed this day to be held in honour 

 all those saints who had not particular da' 

 appointed for them. 



It does not appear that All-saints' Day, or its 

 eve, was ever marked by very particular observ- 

 ance in the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, there 

 is scarcely any time more distinguished by the 

 common people throughout the British Islands 

 than All-hallow Eve or Hallowe'en. This is prob- 

 ably owing to the fact of November ist having 

 been one of the four great festivals of our pagan 

 ancestors. The ist of February, the ist of May, 

 and the ist of August, were the other three ; the 

 ancient names of the latter two are still in vogue 

 Beltane and Lammas. These four days were 

 celebrated by the kindling of fires in conspicuous 

 places, and performing certain ceremonies. The 

 fires of Beltane and Lammas have already been 

 spoken of ; it is probable that those of the Feb- 

 ruary festival are kept up in the Candlemas Blaze, 

 with a slight change of day. Fires were kindled 

 in Wales, Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, and 

 even in England, on the ist of November, till a 

 very recent period ; and the custom may still be 

 kept up in some remote places. 



Pennant states as follows : ' In North Wales 

 there is a custom upon All-saints' Eve of making 

 a great fire called Coel Coeth, Every family, about 

 an hour in the night, makes a great bonfire in the 

 most conspicuous place near the house, and when 

 it is almost extinguished, every one throws a white 

 stone into the ashes, having first marked it ; then 

 having said their prayers turning round the fire, 

 they go to bed. In the morning, as soon as they 

 are up, they come to search out the stones, and if 

 any of them are found wanting, they have a notion 

 that the person who threw it in will die before 

 he sees another All-hallow Eve.' The Welsh also 

 practise many of those rites for divining the future 

 which are so prevalent on Hallowe'en in other 

 parts of the United Kingdom. 



The Rev. Mr Shaw, in his History of Moray, 

 written in the latter part of the last century, speaks 

 of the Hallow-eve fire being still kindled in Buchan. 

 In the Statistical Account of Scotland, published 

 at the close of the century, the same fire is spoken 

 of as kept up in various parts of the Highlands. 

 In the parish of Callander, for instance, ' on All- 

 saints' Eve, they set up bonfires in every village. 

 When the bonfire is consumed, the ashes are care- 

 fully collected in the form of a circle. There is a 

 stone put in near the circumference, for every 



Eerson of the several families interested in the 

 onfire ; and whatever stone is moved out of its 

 place, or injured, before the next morning, the 

 person represented by that stone is devoted or fey, 

 and is supposed not to live twelve months from 

 that day.' 



These ceremonies appear to be amongst 

 earliest connected with the ist of November. 

 They are, or have recently been, everywhere 

 prevalent throughout these islands. As they are 

 obviously of a pagan character, we conclude 

 that the notability of this season is of older date 

 than the introduction of Christianity, and that its 



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