' Skick-shack Day* 83 



its charm ; the harness bells, too, are disappearing ; hardly 

 one team in twenty carries them now. 



Those who labour in the fields seem to have far fewer 

 holidays than the workers in towns. The latter issue from 

 factory and warehouse at Easter, and rush gladly into the 

 country ; at Whitsuntide, too, they enjoy another recess. 

 But the farmer and the labourer work on much the same, 

 the closing of banks and factories in no way interfering 

 with the tilling of the earth or the tending of cattle. In 

 May the ploughboys still remember King Charles, and on 

 what they call ' shick-shack day ' search for oak-apples 

 and the young leaves of the oak to place with a spray of 

 ash in their hats or button-holes : the ash spray must have 

 even leaves ; an odd number is not correct. To wear these 

 green emblems was thought imperative even within the 

 last twenty years, and scarcely a labourer could be seen 

 without them. The elder men would tell you — as if it had 

 been a grave calamity — that they could recollect a year 

 when the spring was so backward that not an oak-leaf or 

 oak-apple could be found by the most careful search for 

 the purpose. The custom has fallen much into disuse 

 lately : the carters, however, still attach the ash and oak 

 leaves to the heads of their horses on this particular day. 



Many village clubs or friendly societies meet in the 

 spring, others in autumn. The day is sometimes fixed by 

 the date of the ancient feast. The club and fete threaten, 

 indeed, to supplant the feast altogether: the friendly 

 society having been taken under the patronage of the 

 higher ranks of residents. Here and there the feast-day, 

 however (the day on which the church was dedicated), 

 is still remembered, as in this village, where the elder 

 farmers invite their friends and provide liberally for the 

 occasion. Some of the gipsies still come with their stalls, 



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