Folklore of Lincolnshire (33 page)
Read Folklore of Lincolnshire Online
Authors: Susanna O'Neill
As in all counties, there are many similarities between certain festivities, Christmas of course being one of these. Mince pies were always popular, sometimes called coffin pies because they are covered with a lid. It was thought to be lucky to eat at least twelve mince pies before Christmas Day, as then you would have a happy following twelve months, but to eat fewer meant you would only have as many
months’ luck as the number of pies you ate. Sounds like a good excuse to me! They also participated in a tradition of Church Sticking in December, which was an old way of decorating the church. Each family had a certain pew that they used every visit and there was a hole or loop cut into the wood at the end, where they usually hung their umbrellas or walking sticks. At Christmas time the families would decorate this area of their pew with seasonal evergreens, holly and ivy and it became quite a competitive custom which made the churches look lovely.
Grimsby Christmas Eve Market takes place every year. There was an old superstition in Lincolnshire that on Christmas Eve, all the animals in the stables would go down on their knees at midnight to worship the baby Jesus and show reverence for him. There seem to be many accounts of people saying this, but not as many accounts of eye witnesses.
If the sun doth shine at 12 o’clock on Christmas Day, it will be a good year for apples.
Christmas Day, a day of feasting and presents the country over, and pork pies were a favourite amongst the food in Lincolnshire as was plum cake, served in strips and dipped in beer! A Yule log, or Yule clog, was traditionally burnt on the grate throughout the festive season and if it did not burn completely over Christmas, the remains were saved and used to start the fire on the following Yule period. This was thought to guarantee continuity of good fortune for the household.
There was an annual Christmas Day swim at Cleethorpes and Grimsby Docks before dinner and in some places this still occurs, although the date can differ. It was a popular event to swim in the sea on Boxing Day, and many people still indulge in this tradition.
New Year’s Eve was apparently the day Judas was born and thus it was seen as very bad luck to start any new business on this day. Silver, wood and coal were placed outside houses ready for the first guest after midnight to bring in the New Year, and it was traditional to leave the front door open for the New Year to come in and open the back door to let the old one out. Festivities and drinking were customary, just as they are today.
Of course, Lincolnshire folk celebrate many more festivals other than those listed here, both past and present, and Maureen Sutton’s
A Lincolnshire Calendar
is an excellent place for more detailed information. There are some that have been passed over here, as they are celebrated all over the country and are not particularly specific to Lincolnshire, but are still, or were, celebrated in the county none-the-less: 6 January, Twelfth Night; 20 January, St Agnes Eve; 17 March, St Patrick’s Day; Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter Equinox/Solstice; 25 March Lady Day; Lent; Palm Sunday; Maundy Thursday; Good Friday; Easter Day and Easter Monday; 19 April, Primrose Day; 23 April, St George’s Day; 24 May, Empire Day; 29 May, Royal Oak Day; Ascension Day and Well Dressing; Whitsunday; Corpus Christi Eve; Father’s Day; 24 June, Mid-Summer’s Day; 15 July, St Swithun’s Day; 1 August, Lammas Day; Chestnut Sunday in September; 20 October, Trafalgar Day; 11 November, Remembrance Sunday; 30 November, St Andrew’s Day; Advent; 26 December, St Stephen’s Day.
Life in the past was hard and it is pleasing to know that during each month the common folk had some pleasurable occasion to look forward to. Today we still need our breaks from a hectic work schedule or busy home life. We often choose much more sophisticated pastimes, but it is strangely comforting to know that some of the old traditions and festivals are still celebrated today with vigour and enthusiasm equal to that of our forbears.
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OTES
Introduction
1
‘The Lincolnshire Poacher’, traditional folk song, as cited in Judith Spelman’s collection of prose and poetry,
Lincolnshire Bedside Book
, p.112.
2
Taken from John Betjeman’s speech to the inaugural meeting of the Lincolnshire Association (1963) – quoted in John Ayto and Ian Crofton’s
Brewer’s Britain and Ireland
, p.668.
3
Quote from John Ayto and Ian Crofton’s
Brewer’s Britain and Ireland
, p.668.
4
Lincolnshire Life
, June 1998, p.44.
5
Katharine M. Briggs,
British Folk Tales and Legends, A Sampler
, p.17.
